Commons Speaker Sir Lindsay Hoyle has been branded ‘Long Haul Hoyle’ after it was revealed he has spent thousands of pounds of taxpayers’ cash on first class flights, chauffeurs and five-star resorts. The Mail has the story.
A list of Sir Lindsay Hoyle’s expenses reveals he blew more than £180,000 of taxpayers’ cash on flights in two years.
It shows he never travels in economy, opting for first or business class seats – even for short-haul trips to Dublin and Italy.
He also chartered a private plane during a jaunt to the paradise Caribbean island of Montserrat, a British Overseas Territory.
The MP for Chorley has shelled out thousands of pounds to stay at luxurious resorts and hotels around the globe, including the St Regis in Doha, Westin Grand in the Cayman Islands and Ritz-Carlton in Los Angeles. The hotels and resorts Sir Lindsay stayed in were up to £900 a night.
The list, obtained exclusively by the Daily Mail, shows that during the LA trip in February 2023 he lavished more than £3,000 on chauffeur-driven cars.
Despite this, he also racked up a bill of £270 with local taxi app Lyft.
He also splashed more than £4,500 on chauffeur-driven vehicles during a trip to Canberra, Australia a month earlier.
One ‘subsistence’ bill at the St Regis in Doha totalled more than £800.
He also racked up a £400 meal and drinks bill at the five-star Hotel Due Torri in Verona, Italy. His room at the Hotel Due Torri for the G7 Speakers’ Conference in September last year was £630 a night.
In December, the Mail revealed Sir Lindsay has billed taxpayers more than £250,000 for trips in just two years.
He has splashed the sum on 19 foreign jaunts since October 2022, making him the most well-travelled Commons Speaker in history.
John Bercow, his predecessor, took 10 years to rack up the same bill for ‘non-regular’ foreign travel.
It led to him being branded ‘long-haul Hoyle’ and sparked accusations that he had been “swanning around like he’s the Foreign Secretary”.
But the list, obtained via Freedom of Information requests, breaks down the extravagant sums.
His five-day trip to the Cayman Islands last summer was among the more eye-catching, totalling £22,785.
This included £15,806 on business class flights with British Airways for him and two staff.
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