THE gifts and benefits made to Oxford's MPs have been revealed.
MPs are required to declare their financial interests within 28 days of the start of a new Parliament and they must also disclose any gifts or benefits they receive that could be reasonably considered to influence what they say or do as MPs.
Newly-elected MPs must disclose any relevant financial interests from the year prior to their election.
The figures show Anneliese Dodds, Labour MP for Oxford East, received £755 in gifts and benefits in the last year.
And Liberal Democrat MP for Oxford West and Abingdon, Layla Moran declared a total of £49,086 for last year.
READ MORE: Missing Oxford man is located safely, police confirm
Of this, £41,650 were in donations, £717 in gifts and benefits and £6,719 to pay for visits overseas.
In total, 498 MPs reported donations they received.
Labour MPs received the highest amount, totalling £9.3 million, followed by the Liberal Democrats with £3.2 million, and the Conservatives with £1.7 million.
Labour's Yvette Cooper was the top recipient, securing £393,000, including £210,000 from former Autoglass CEO Gary Lubner to fund "three additional members of staff for my office over the next 18 months".
Labour MPs Ed Miliband and Rachel Reeves each received over £300,000 in donations.
Gifts such as tickets to football games and concerts were also declared as well as costly overseas visits by several MPs.
Rose Whiffen, senior research officer at Transparency International UK, said: "Politicians should be careful when accepting gifts and hospitality from private interests.
"Enjoying the generosity of companies and wealthy individuals risks the appearance of benefitting personally from their public role and damages trust in our political system.
"Decision makers should ask themselves why they're being taken care of so generously and what expectations of them may follow."
Unlock unlimited local news for just £3 for 3 months today.
— Oxford Mail (@TheOxfordMail) August 28, 2024
Enjoy access to our ad-free mobile and tablet app, as well as the digital edition of the paper. 🗞
Don’t miss out – subscribe now! 👇https://t.co/Irlx3rhCCJ pic.twitter.com/tV3D139TQq
She added: "To avoid perceptions of undue influence it should be clear that any decisions they make are in the wider public interest and not just their financial backers.
"This would be greatly assisted by a comprehensive lobbying register.
A cap on individual donations would also help improve the perception that money can buy access."
Data for how much MPs earned from paid employment was also included in the release.
READ MORE: GALLERY: Cowley Road Carnival returns after five years
The figures show Reform's Nigel Farage is the highest-earning MP.
He declared receiving almost £98,000 a month for presenting GB News, for a reported 32 hours a week.
A statement posted on X said: "To be clear… The GB News sum paid to me and declared includes VAT, and was for several months of work.
"It was paid to my company, which has significant expenses."
In addition to his work with GB News, he received £16,600 from the paid video app Cameo and £4,000 for writing articles for The Telegraph.
Comments: Our rules
We want our comments to be a lively and valuable part of our community - a place where readers can debate and engage with the most important local issues. The ability to comment on our stories is a privilege, not a right, however, and that privilege may be withdrawn if it is abused or misused.
Please report any comments that break our rules.
Read the rules hereLast Updated:
Report this comment Cancel