With the rising cost of living, it is not just members of the public that are affected.

Some of Oldham’s MPs have had their energy bills go up too.

MPs are allowed to expense energy bills, as well as other utilities and rent, of their London accommodation and constituency office – meaning changes to the bill are footed by the taxpayer.

ALSO READ: What Oldham MPs earned on top of their salaries in 2022.

Angela Rayner

The MP for Ashton and Failsworth has seen her London accommodation’s energy bill more than quadruple since 2019.

While payments were £21.50 a month in 2019, these shot up to £47.95 in early 2020, before rising to £87.93 a month later that year – or more than £1,000 a year – where the figure has stuck until the latest data, in June 2022.

Overall, the MP expensed £697.49 on energy bills for her London accommodation in 2020, rising to £1,055.16 in 2021. From January to June 2022 she expensed £527.48 – on track to match the cost in 2021, assuming no further price rises.

Jim McMahon

The Oldham West and Royton MP spent £1,117.99 on gas and electricity for his London accommodation in 2020, going down to £775.03 in 2021.

However, from January to June 2022 the MP has expensed £506.76 – higher than the equivalent period in 2021 (£482.45), but lower than the equivalent period in 2020 (£742.37), suggesting the MP’s bills will be higher than the previous year, but lower than the 2020 high.

Debbie Abrahams

The Oldham East and Saddleworth MP has energy bills included within the rent of her London accommodation – but she does expense the energy bills for her constituency office separately.

Unlike households, which are entitled to government energy bill support, commercial premises, such as the constituency office, are not – meaning prices may be higher.

The MP’s figures are harder to compare, due to an error in billing.

Debbie Abrahams said: “I’m mindful that energy prices are rising across the country and for my constituents, and of course of the need to reduce our fossil fuel consumption because of the climate emergency.

“That’s why I have asked my team to be considerate and cautious with their consumption of energy in my Oldham constituency office.

“This is reflected in the office’s electricity and gas bills being lower than they were this time last year. For example, my gas in November 2022 was less than £50 and for electricity £30 – this is without the Energy Bill Relief scheme, which my office is not entitled to.

“It is worth noting that there were some irregularities in the reported energy costs my office spent in previous years due to a long-running meter reading issue that inflated these costs. This was eventually resolved, but this isn’t reflected in these figures.”

With these caveats in mind, the MP’s energy bill in 2020 was reported at £2,887.89. In 2021, the bill was just £62.81 – but this included a £430.84 refund due to a meter error in previous years.

The MP’s 2022 energy bill expenses stand at £757.48, from January to June.

Angela Rayner and Jim McMahon were contacted to comment on this story.