The number of ex-MPs still holding exclusive passes for Parliament has surged to a new high.
Some 449 former politicians are listed as having privileged access rights to the Westminster estate – up more than a third since the election.
That is thought to be the most on record despite promises of a crackdown, and outnumbers the 404 current members on the Labour benches.
Some 328 passes had been allocated as of July, but there has been a surge following the brutal Tory cull when the nation went to the polls.
In total 350 MPs were either defeated or stood down from the Commons.
Former Cabinet ministers Penny Mordaunt, Alex Chalk, Andrea Leadsom and Shailesh Vara are among the names now on the list. Ex-ministers Steve Baker, William Wragg and Damian Collins also feature.
Labour veterans retaining passes include Lloyd Russell-Moyle, Jon Cruddas and Kevin Brennan.
There is no suggestion that any of the current individuals have breached rules – which explicitly ban lobbying.
The number of former MPs holding passes for the Parliamentary estate has spiked by more than a third since July
Former Cabinet ministers Penny Mordaunt (right) and Alex Chalk (left) are among the names on the list from January
In recent years the system has been tightened in a bid to bring down numbers with the so-called ‘Category X’ passes. The previous peak, in records going back to 2015, is believed to be 431 in January 2020.
Ex-MPs are meant to have served at least two Parliamentary terms or six years – whichever is longer – to apply for the privilege.
However, Aidan Burley appears on the Commons list despite only serving a single term between 2010 and 2015.
The former Tory MP resigned as a ministerial aide after being embroiled in a scandal about attending a Nazi-themed stag do, and recently joined Reform UK.
Emma Dent Coad, who was a Labour MP between 2017 and 2019, also has a pass, according to the list.
The Commons authorities have confirmed that ex-MPs who were granted passes under previous looser rules, which only required serving a single term, are not subject to the new restrictions.
Passholders are able to enter the estate unescorted, have meetings and use subsidised bars and restaurants within certain hours.
The scheme is intended to smooth the process of returning to civilian life – but questions have been raised about the potential for lobbying of former colleagues and whether individuals should retain access to the estate.
A House of Commons spokesman said: ‘As with all pass applications, eligibility is rigorously scrutinised and processes are in place to ensure applications can only be made by those with an approved requirement.
‘There are limits on the facilities former Members may use within Parliament, and they are forbidden from using their pass in connection with lobbying activity.’
John O’Connell, chief executive of the TaxPayers’ Alliance, said: ‘Brits will be sceptical at the number of former MPs now holding Parliamentary passes.
‘While many former MPs still have a role to play, it’s not a stretch to think that many simply miss the taxpayer funded bars and restaurants.
‘Parliament needs to ensure that access to the estate is used to continue engaging with the legislative process, not to simply allow ex MPs to reminisce over subsidised booze.’
Passholders are able to enter the estate unescorted, have meetings and use the subsidised bars and restaurants within certain hours (file picture of Strangers’ Bar)
The ex-MPs who still have passes for Parliament
The Commons has disclosed a list of former MPs who held passes as of January. They are:
Tasmina Ahmed Sheikh
Rupert Allason
Graham Allen
Heidi Allen
David Anderson
Robert Marshall Andrews
Caroline Ansell
Jacques Arnold
Jonathan Ashworth
Charlotte Atkins
John Austin
Richard Bacon
Norman Baker
Steve Baker
Jacqueline Ballard
Gordon Raymond Banks
Hannah Bardell
John Baron
John Barrett
Kevin Barron
Spencer Batiste
John Battle
Hugh Bayley
Nicholas Jerome Bennett
Paul Beresford
Keith Best
Andrew Bingham
Gordon Birtwistle
Ian Blackford
Thomas Blenkinsop
Paul Blomfield
John Bowis
Benjamin Bradley
Thomas Brake
Gyles Brandreth
Julian William Hendy Brazier
Kevin Brennan
Jack Brereton
Deidre Brock
Alan Brown
Lyn Brown
Michael Brown
Jeremy Richard Browne
Fiona Bruce
Ian Bruce
Karen Buck
Aidan Burley
Simon Burns
David Burnside
Paul Burstow
Alistair Burt
John Cable
Richard Caborn
Lisa Cameron
Anne Campbell
Ivor Caplin
Kenneth Carlisle
Neil Carmichael
William Cash
Maria Caulfield
Ian Cawsey
Alex Chalk
Colin Robert Challen
Ben James Keith Chapman
Douglas Chapman
Atta Chishti
Johanna Churchill
Michael Clapham
Colin Clark
Gregory Clark
Helen Clark
Charles Clarke
Thomas Clarke
David Clelland
Therese Coffey (now sits in the House of Lords as a peer)
Damian Collins
Anthony John Colman
Anthony Coombs
Simon Coombs
John Corrie
Robert Courts
Stephen Crabb
David Crausby
Jonathan Cruddas
Constance Cryer
Margaret Curran
David Maurice Curry
Claire Curtis Thomas
Simon Danczuk
Wayne David
Ian Graham Davidson
David Davies
James Davies
Thomas Hilton Dawson
Martyn Day
Nick De Bois
Gloria De Piero
Janet Dean
Thangam Debbonaire (now sits in House of Lords as a peer)
John Denham
Emma Dent Coad
Niranjan Deva
Parmjit Dhanda
Andrew Hartley Dismore
Jonathan Djangoly
Thomas Docherty
Brian Donohoe
Stephen Double
Densmore Dover
Jacqueline Doyle Price
David Drew
Felicia Drummond
James Duddridge
Alan Duncan
Philip Dunne
John Mark Durkan
Huw Edwards
Timothy Eggar
Julie Elliot
Michael Ellis
Jane Ellison
Louise Ellman
Tobias Ellwood
Charles Eustice
Jonathan Evans
Nigel Evans
David Anthony Evennett
Michael Fabricant
Michael Fallon
Anthony Favell
Marion Fellows
Jim Fitzpatrick
Robert Flello
Adrian Flook
Daphne Follett
Victoria Ford
Kevin Foster
Michael Foster
Michael Foster
Yvonne Fovargue
Liam Fox
Christopher Fraser
Lucy Frazer
Michael Freer
Douglas French
Marcus Fysh
Neil Gerrard
Nicolas Gibb
Patricia Gibson
Sandra Gidley
Linda Gilroy
Patricia Glass
Charles Goodson Wickes
Robert Goodwill
Patrick Grady
Richard Graham
James Gray
Damian Howard Green
Katherine Green
John Greenway
Margaret Greenwood
Conal Gregory
Jane Griffiths
Nigel Griffiths
Winston Griffiths
John Grogan
Samuel Gyimah
Robert Halfon
Luke Hall
Michael Thomas Hall
David Hamilton
Stephen Hammond
Gregory Hands
Mark Harper
Evan Harris
Tom Harris
Trudy Harrison
Simon Hart
Nicholas Harvey
Nicholas John Hawkins
Jeremy Hayes
Sylvia Heal
Oliver Heald
David William Heath
Doug Henderson
Gordon Henderson
Ivan Henderson
Charles Hendry
Stephen Hepburn
Keith Hill
David Hinchliffe
Michael Hirst
Philip Hollobone
Adam Holloway
Kelvin Hopkins
Kristian Hopkins
Martin Horwood
George Howarth
James Gerald Douglas Howarth
Edmund Hughes
Robert Hughes
Simon Hughes
Tristram Hunt
Ifor Huw Irranca Davies
Alister Jack
Helen Jackson
Margot James
David Jamieson
Ranil Jayawardena
Melanie Jane Johnson
Andrew Jones
Gwilym Haydn Jones
Helen Jones
Ieuan Wyn Jones
Lynne Jones
Marcus Jones
Daniel Kawczynski
Sally Keeble
Gillian Keegan
Ann Keen
Christopher Kelly
Ruth Kelly
Seema Kennedy
Stephen Kerr
Sadiq Khan
Simon Kirby
Roger Knapman
Angela Knight
Kwasi Kwarteng
Norman Lamb
Pauline Latham
Ivan Lawrence
Mark Lazarowicz
Andrea Leadsom
Karen Lee
Jeremy Lefroy
David Lepper
Charlotte Leslie
Tom Levitt
Brandon Lewis
Ivan Lewis
Ian Liddell Grainger
David Roy Lidington
David Linden
John Martin Linton
Timothy Loughton
Caroline Lucas
Ian Lucas
Peter Luff
Iain Luke
Andrew Mackinlay
Rachel Maclean
Mary Macleod
Fiona Mactaggart
William Madel
Shahid Rafique Malik
Clare Mallaber
Scott Mann
Keith Mans
Robert Marshall Andrews
Eric Martlew
Michael Mates
Tania Mathias
Sarah Mccarthy Fry
Jason McCartney
Karl McCartney
James McGovern
Anne Mcguire
Ann Mckechin
Elizabeth McLaughlin
John Mcnally
Anthony Mcnulty
Tony Mcwalter
Michael Meadowcroft
Joseph Alan Meale
James Mearns
Mark Menzies
Stephen Metcalfe
Alun Michael
Alan Milburn
Maria Miller
Amanda Milling
Anne Milton
Laura Moffatt
Carol Monaghan
Madeleine Moon
Damien Moore
Penelope Mordaunt
Anne Morris
David Morris
James Morris
David Mowat
George Mudie
Gregory Mulholland
Christopher Mullin
William Mullin
Margaret Munn
Sheryll Murray
Richard Francis Needham
Robert Neill
Gavin Newlands
Brooks Newmark
Sarah Newton
Patrick Nicholls
David John Nicholson
David Nuttall
Stephen Obrien
Michael Ollerenshaw
Matthew Orford
George Osborne
Sandra Osborne
Richard Geoffrey James Ottaway
Albert Owen
James Edward Thornton Paice
Ian Paisley
Nicholas Douglas Palmer
Mark Pawsey
Teresa Pearce
Ian Phares Pearson
Michael Penning
John Penrose
Andrew Percy
Linda Perham
Christopher Pond
Gregory Pope
Michael Portillo
Daniel Poulter
Stephen Pound
Rebecca Pow
Bridget Prentice
Victoria Prentis
Adam Price
Mark Prisk
Thomas Pursglove
Jeremy Quin
William Quince
Lawrence Quinn
Denys Race
William Rammell
Sydney Rapson
Wyvil Raynsford
John Redwood
Andrew Reed
Jamieson Ronald Reed
Christina Rees
Simon Reevell
Graham Riddick
Malcolm Rifkind
Hugh Robertson
Laurence Robertson
Mark Robinson
Mary Robinson
Marion Audrey Roe
Terence Rooney
Steven Rotheram
Paul Rowen
Danielle Rowley
Christopher Ruane
Joan Ruddock
David Ruffley
Robert Russell
Lloyd Russell Moyle
David Rutley
Joan Ryan
Timothy Sainsbury
Martin Salter
Antoinette Sandbach
Adrian Mark Sanders
Laura Sandys
Malcolm Savidge
Lee Scott
Paul Scully
Andrew Selous
Grant Shapps
Virendra Sharma
Barry Sheerman
Thomas Sheppard
Debra Ann Shipley
Alan Simpson
Dennis Skinner
Chloe Smith
Henry Smith
Royston Smith
Amanda Solloway
Caroline Spelman
Mark Spencer
Robin Squire
Anthony Steen
Michael Stephen
Andrew Stephenson
Michael Stern
Andrew Stevenson
George Stevenson
David Stewart
Iain Stewart
Ian Stewart
Robert Stewart
Howard Stoate
John Straw
David Sumberg
Hugo Summerson
Gerry Sutcliffe
Ian Swales
Paul Sweeney
Walter Sweeney
Joanne Swinson
Robert Syms
Daria Taylor
Michelle Thomson
Owen Thompson
Maggie Throup
Anthony Timpson
Kelly Tolhurst
Michael Tomlinson-Mynors
Craig Tracey
Anne Marie Trevelyan
Elizabeth Truss
Andrew Turner
Ian David Twinn
Shailesh Vara
Theresa Villiers
Robin Walker
Thelma Walker
Robert Wallace
Joan Walley
Robert Walter
Lynda Waltho
Claire Ward
John Watson
Giles Watling
Steven Webb
Petrie Wells
Heather Wheeler
Eilidh Whiteford
Craig Whittaker
Ann Widdecomb
William Wiggin
Alan Williams
Betty Helena Williams
Mark Williams
Paul Williams
Roger Hugh Williams
Stephen Roy Williams
Brian Wilson
Robert Wilson
Philip James Woolas
William Wragg
Derek Wyatt
Timothy Stephen Kenneth Yeo
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Remember us? Nearly 450 ‘zombie’ ex-MPs now hold coveted Parliamentary passes – outnumbering Labour benches and up a third since election
