BRIDGWATER and West Somerset MP Ian Liddell-Grainger has defended employing his wife Jill as a parliamentary assistant.

With new legislation coming in making it so newly elected MPs can no longer hire family members, the local Labour Party has said Mr Liddell-Grainger should not be paying public money to his wife.

The Independent Parliamentary Standards Authority says employing family members is ‘out of step’ with modern employment practices. 

The 61 MPs who were elected for the first time this year are banned from paying salaries to their spouses, children or other relatives. But the ban doesn’t apply yet to members elected before 2017. Of those, 122 have said they are employing family members.

County Labour leader Cllr Leigh Redman said: “There is a double standard here. Some MPs have been made to accept that they cannot employ family members. All MPs – including Mr Liddell-Grainger – should recognise that this is an unacceptable practice. Our MP should recruit his staff in an open manner and should not be paying public money to his wife.” 

However Mr Liddell-Grainger said Labour were well aware he employed his wife and never made an issue of it before.
“She does the job she is paid to do very professionally and always has done,” Mr Liddell-Grainger said.