ONE of Scottish Labour’s new intake of MSPs claimed almost £15,000 in allowances for the final three and a half months of last year as a member of the Lords, the latest data from the House reveals.
Katy Clark, a former senior aide to Jeremy Corbyn, became Baroness Clark of Kilwinning in September 2020 after being nominated as a life member by her former boss.
Her leave of absence from the House of Lords was approved last week but under the rules she can end this period of leave by giving one month’s notice in writing to its authorities.
A former MP, Clark took up the post of Corbyn’s political secretary after she lost her seat of North Ayrshire and Arran in 2015 to the SNP’s Patricia Gibson.
The list of allowances claimed by peers is published every five months with the most recent information revealing that from mid September to the end of December last year Baroness Clark claimed £14,699 for attending and taking part in business in the chamber.
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A spokesperson for Clark defended her participation in the Lords saying she made 20 oral contributions in that period, referring The National to ones she made made on the Internal Market Bill, Covid and amendments to the spy cops bill, including on protecting the rights of journalists.
He said: “In the period between mid-September and the end of December last year, Katy Clark made 20 oral parliamentary contributions.
“During the period between 28 September for her maiden speech and 18 November, she made eight parliamentary oral contributions.”
But the SNP MSP for Strathkelvin and Bearsden Rona Mackay hit out at Clark for taking up the seat in the House of Lords after being rejected by voters.
“She is not the first and, sadly, she won’t be the last opposition politician to fill their boots with taxpayers’ cash from the Lords after being rejected by Scotland’s voters,” said Mackay.
Baroness Clark of Kilwinning is listed on the Lords' website as having taken leave of absence on May 26. She last voted in the Lords on April 28 and last spoke there April 14.
She is a founding member of the group Campaign for Socialism and along with a number of other new Scottish Labour MSPs including Carol Mochan, Paul Sweeney and Mercedes Villalba, she is regarded as being on the left of the party.
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Under the leave of absence rules Baroness Clark is not allowed to vote in the Lords. She can end her leave of absence at any time by giving the Lords’ authorities one month’s written notice.
Currently members of the Lords can claim a daily allowance of £323 for attending the House in person and sitting in the chamber. Remote participation is also allowed with the daily allowance being £162.
SNP politicians do not have any members of the House of Lords, as they maintain a position of objecting to an unelected upper house.
Several other former Scottish Labour MPs are peers. Among them is George Foulkes (above), who represented Carrick, Cumnock and Doon Valley, formerly South Ayrshire, from 1979 to 2005.
According to the latest data from the House of Lords’ allowances’ register Lord Foulkes claimed a total of £22,659 from the beginning of September to the end of December last year. He claimed a total of £18,745 for attending the Lords in this period and £3914 for travel costs to the House. Most of his attendances were in person.
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