FORMER Conservative MP for Henley Boris Johnson claimed for an art book, some cans of Diet Coke and £16.50 for the cost of a Remembrance Sunday wreath on his Parliamentary expenses.

Mr Johnson’s expenses published on parliament.uk last week, show he also claimed for a BlackBerry, office stationery, leaflet distribution and the room hire for his surgeries in Thame, Watlington and Henley.

The £49 book entitled Who’s Who in Art – Biographies of Leading Men and Women in the World of Art in Britain, was claimed in 2004, during his time as Shadow Minister for the Arts.

The expense claims of every MP for the past four years have been made available online following The Daily Telegraph’s month-long revelations, but with some key details blacked out.

The addresses that claims relate to – and correspondence – have been removed on privacy and security grounds.

Earlier this month, Mr Johnson, who stepped down as Henley’s MP after his election as Mayor of London in May last year, said the £16.50 claim submitted for the wreath – which was rejected by the Commons authorities – had been “mistakenly added” to his expenses.

He said he had paid for it with his own money when it was pointed out to him.

Between 2004 and 2008, Mr Johnson claimed £85,299 on his second-home allowance for his constituency home in Henley-on-Thames.

In his last two years as an MP, he claimed the maximum second-home allowance, which he said covered only a proportion of his mortgage interest payments. Mr Johnson said: “Voters outside London rightly expect their MPs to have a home in the their constituency.

“For that reason, I bought a family home in Henley, more than 50 miles from the House of Commons, and spent a considerable amount of time there with my wife and four children.

“South Oxfordshire is one of the most expensive areas in the UK for property, and my claims under the second- home allowance covered only a proportion of my mortgage interest payments.

“I have not sold the house nor changed its designation. I claimed my council tax and utilities, but otherwise did not claim a single thing -– not even a bath plug.”

Mr Johnson made no claims for hotels.

He did claim for several train tickets and taxis. In June 2005, he claimed £143 for an office refrigerator.

eallen@oxfordmail.co.uk