Green party MP to give part of salary to charity

MP Ellie Chowns said her salary of £91,346 was more than she needed

North Herefordshire's recently elected Green MP has said she will donate a large part of her salary to charities.

Ellie Chowns wrote on her website that the standard MP's salary of £91,346, amounting to take-home pay of £63,538, was "a really large sum of money.

She said it was more than she had "ever earned before, and certainly more than I need".

She said she would only keep £2,000 a month after tax from her parliamentary pay and donate £10,000 a year to each of the Green Party, a charity supporting poor families in Africa and to a "constituency fund" to tackle inequality locally.

"I feel it's important for me to live on an average income so that I can remain in touch with what life is like for ordinary people," she wrote.

Ms Chowns said she would also publish details of all her work meetings, which she said was "standard practice" in her previous role as member of the European Parliament, and "should be for all UK MPs too".

She said she would also repay a final payment of £975 she received in July for her work as Herefordshire ward councillor, which she has since stepped down from.

The Green MP won the North Herefordshire seat by almost 6,000 votes in July.

This news was gathered by the Local Democracy Reporting Service which covers councils and other public service organisations.