NEW figures outlining how much our part of Essex's MPs cost the taxpayer in a single year have been released. Figures from the Independent Parliamentary Standards Authority show MP's total business costs for the 2019-20 financial year. The average for members of parliament elected before December 2019 was £188,295. New MPs are likely to have claimed less as they did not have existing costs such as staff to cover from the start of the new Parliament. Braintree MP James Cleverly claimed the most of MPs across north and mid Essex with a total of £190,000. To give a sense of comparison Speaker Lindsay Hoyle cost £259,057 over the same time, and Philip Hollobone, Conservative MP for Kettering, just £78,960.