Julie Marson: Opposition question Stortford MP about her media advice expenses of £7,260 amid cost-of-living crisis

Bishop’s Stortford’s Conservative MP is under fire from Labour, Liberal Democrats and the Green Party over her £7,000-plus expenses for media advice.

Julie Marson, who earns £84,144 a year as an MP, has been urged to give answers about why taxpayers are “footing the bill for burnishing her image” while some constituents are having to choose between heating and eating in the cost-of-living crisis.

According to IPSA (Independent Parliamentary Standards Authority) records, her claims published so far for 2022-23 include four monthly payments of £1,320 to Halfpenny Communications. Invoices totalling £5,280 were settled for March, April, May and June.

Halfpenny Communications is marketed as a “highly experienced media advisory company with a national news journalist background able to offer confidential top-quality strategic media advice, crisis communications and the best copywriting”.

IPSA records for 2021-22 show Mrs Marson – who was appointed an assistant Government whip on October 27, five weeks after losing the same role – also made payments of £1,320 in March 2022 for “bought in communications services” and £660 the month before for “consultancy support media” – bringing the total for PR services to £7,260.

These payments for “bought-in services” represent a significant proportion of her office costs.

So far, Mrs Marson’s overall office costs total £15,227. She shares a base in Harlow with the new town’s Tory MP, education minister Robert Halfon; according to IPSA, his claims so far are £6,503. Their Conservative colleague Kemi Badenoch, the MP for Saffron Walden and International Trade Secretary, President of the Board of Trade and women and equalities minister, has claimed £4,371 in office costs in the same period.

Hertford and Stortford Labour Party’s parliamentary spokesman, Josh Dean, said: “As the cost-of-living crisis forces some residents in Hertford and Stortford to choose between heating and eating this winter, and the Tory Government pursues a programme of austerity across the board, Hertford and Stortford’s Tory MP appears to be asking the taxpayer to foot the bill for over £7,000 of expenses to a public relations firm based in Hampshire.

“MP’s expenses are often the subject of controversy, sometimes rightly and sometimes not, but these latest figures raise concerns about Julie Marson’s use of the public purse that she must answer.

"Why does she feel it is appropriate to ask the taxpayer to foot her bill to a firm whose self-described role is to ‘raise the profile’ of their clients, in the midst of a serious cost-of-living crisis?

“All of this will only remind residents just how disconnected from our community Julie Marson is – her constituency office is in Harlow, she has previously failed to share press statements with local media and now the taxpayer is being asked to pay the bill for a PR firm based in Hampshire.

“A Labour MP for Hertford and Stortford would proudly open their constituency office in the heart of our community, would carefully consider the suitability of all taxpayer-funded expenses and would ensure that money relating to the running of their office is spent in the community wherever possible.”

The parliamentary spokesman for Hertford and Stortford Liberal Democrats, Andrew Porrer, commented: “Hard-working taxpayers living in Hertford and Stortford deserve to know why their MP is buying in expensive consultancy services during a cost-of-living crisis.

“Julie Marson needs to explain why she has lavished more than £7,000 of taxpayers’ money on communication consultancy in the first half of 2022."

“Assuming she has kept paying, she will have spent over £15,000 this year. By comparison, Hertfordshire’s Liberal Democrat MP, Daisy Cooper in St Albans, has not spent anything at all on any bought-in services.

“I can only assume Ms Marson needs the help of a professional marketing consultancy to present herself as a local MP when she actually lives in Kent.

"However, it is a disgrace that taxpayers, many of whom are choosing between heating and eating this winter, should foot the bill for burnishing her image.”

East Herts Green Party spokesman Cllr Martin Butcher said: "Rather than spending thousands of pounds on glossy, but meaningless fluff pieces from a PR agency in Hampshire, Julie Marson should talk to her constituents, hold regular in-person surgeries and engage with the people of Hertford and Stortford."

The Indie has asked Mrs Marson about the media services and why she considered them necessary for her work as a constituency MP. Halfpenny Communciations has also been invited to comment. Neither has responded.

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