Sir Lindsay Hoyle's travel expenses have reportedly surged above £300,000 after £25,000 was spent on the Speaker of the House of Commons' latest long-haul trip. This was a journey to Malaysia in February, which incurred a £23,264 bill for business class flights and £1,163 for hotels for him and two staff. The taxpayer also forked out for £418 worth of "meals and subsistence", as well as nearly £300 on taxis and other transport once in the country. It comes after Sir Lindsay took a trip to Canberra in Australia, in January 2023. This cost £40,599.
Altogether, since taking up his role as Speaker in November 2019, he has spent £324,874 on 25 "non-regular" voyages, the MailOnline reports. The majority of this, more than £250,000, has been spent over the last couple of years after Covid-19 travel restrictions were lifted.
John O’Connell, chief executive of the TaxPayers’ Alliance, said: "Clearly weeks of dreadful headlines hasn’t deterred Sir Lindsay from tapping up taxpayers to fund his life of luxury.
"The Speaker clearly has a wildly outsized view of his role, which should be focused on acting as the presiding officer of the House of Commons."
He added: "His role as ambassador for the institution is important for visiting dignitaries, but this does not require the four seasons foreign diplomacy for which he is now known.
"MPs should be making it clear to him that they expect a significant reining in of foreign travel and significant reductions in cost when travel is genuinely necessary."
It has been reported that Sir Lindsay has spent more than £180,000 on first and business class plane tickets alone, and acrued a bill with thousands more on chauffeur-driven cars, stays at five-star resorts and high-end restaurants.
A spokesman for Sir Lindsay said yesterday: "The Speaker visited Malaysia in February to further strengthen the ties between the two Commonwealth nations... and it was an opportunity to share best practice on parliamentary governance - including Malaysia’s recent introduction of PMQs - and the functioning of select committees in how they scrutinise the work of government."
