House of Commons speaker has kept nearly 300 gifts

The speaker of the House of Commons has kept nearly 300 gifts, including skincare sets, presents for his pets and dozens of bottles of alcohol, over the past four years.

- KATE DEVLIN

The man charged with keeping MPs in line also held on to drinking glasses, cufflinks, chocolates and a rug.

The details of the presents come at a tricky time for Sir Lindsay Hoyle, as he comes under fire for his overseas trips amid allegations he spent more than £180,000 of taxpayers’ money on first-class and business-class flights with stays at five-star resorts.

The issue of “freebies” has also hit the headlines, with chancellor Rachel Reeves facing fire from MPs for receiving hospitality at the Sabrina Carpenter concert as she prepared to slash £5bn from the welfare bill. Last year, she and other ministers pledged they would not accept any more free clothes from donors after days of negative reports over “wardrobe-gate”.

The speaker received a large number of gifts from foreign dignitaries such as ambassadors, MPs and sometimes private companies.