How commons speaker Sir Lindsay Hoyle blew £250k of your cash on first class flights & 5-star hotels for him & his WIFE

FEIGNING reluctance, as is the centuries-old tradition, Sir Lindsay Hoyle had to be dragged to the chair as he became Speaker of the House of Commons.

But it seems there is a seat you really would struggle to coax Sir Lindsay into — one in economy class on an aeroplane going somewhere fancy.

Lifelong socialist Speaker, Sir Lindsay Hoyle, who is MP for down-to-earth Chorley, Lancs, likes to travel in style at the front of the plane — with taxpayers footing the billPA

AP:Associated PressDespite feigning reluctance to take the Speakers’ chair, there is a seat you really would struggle to coax Sir Lindsay into — an economy class one on an aeroplane[/caption]

Taxpayers picked up Hoyle’s ‘subsistence’ bill at The St Regis hotel in Qatar – totalling more than £800

The lifelong socialist, who is MP for down-to-earth Chorley, Lancs, likes to travel in style at the front of the plane — with taxpayers, of course, footing the bill.

Freedom of information requests reveal he lavished more than £180,000 on First Class and Business Class flights in just two years.

Now dubbed “Long Haul Lindsay”, the 67-year-old really doesn’t like turning right when he boards a plane.

A posh seat was even deemed necessary for hops to Dublin — flight time one hour 20 minutes from London — and Verona, Italy.

Sir Lindsay’s opulent travel arrangements had him run up a bill of £250,000 of taxpayers’ money on 19 jaunts since October 2022.

None of his flights were in economy.

The expenditure is unprecedented for a modern-day Speaker. It took predecessor John Bercow a decade to rack up a similar amount.

Some of Sir Lindsay’s expenditure at times seems more appropriate for a head of state — or a rock star — with five-star hotel stays and chauffeur-driven cars at his beck and call.

Among Hoyle’s eye-watering expenses were luxurious stays at New Delhi’s Taj Mahal, the Four Seasons in Amman, The St Regis in Doha, Westin Grand in the Cayman Islands and the Ritz-Carlton in Los Angeles.

‘Exquisite rooms and spacious suites’

The Speaker also stayed at Chateau Laurier in Canada’s capital Ottawa which boasts of being “one of the nation’s most recognisable landmarks”. His room cost £893 per night.

A busy Parliamentarian, of course, needs feeding when away on business.

Taxpayers picked up Hoyle’s “subsistence” bill at The St Regis totalling more than £800 — and he spent £400 on meal and drinks at the five-star Hotel Due Torri in Verona, Italy.

Then there were the plush motors.

In February 2023, Hoyle spent more than £3,000 on chauffeur-driven cars in Los Angeles as well as another £270 on taxi firm Lyft.

Often the destinations he visits while representing British democracy couldn’t be further removed from musty, grey Westminster.

Last summer Hoyle and his team incurred £15,805 visiting the sun- dappled Cayman Islands, the British Overseas Territory in the Caribbean.

And Sir Lindsay claimed £23,643 for a nine-day trip to South Africa and St Helena, another British Overseas Territory.

The First and Business Class flights with British Airways and South African carrier Airlink cost £21,300 for Hoyle and two aides.

There was also another £504 paid to bring “an extra suitcase onboard”.

A spokesperson for the Speakers office said: “The baggage allowance on the Airlink flight from South Africa to St Helena was smaller than the London to Johannesburg leg, so the cost set by the airline for one suitcase had to be paid separately.”

But they declined to say what the extra weight allowance was needed for, adding that it “contained necessary resources to support the trip”.

Former Tory Brexit minister David Jones said: “How many clothes do you need for St Helena?

“It’s in the middle of the Atlantic. I wouldn’t have thought there would be many black tie events there.”

The former Clwyd West MP added: “We’ve got lots of people finding it difficult to make ends meet with the cost of living.

“I think they’ll be concerned at repeated use of taxpayers’ money on what might be described as jaunts to exotic parts of the world.”

On a visit to Australian capital Canberra for a conference for “Speakers and Presiding Officers” from Commonwealth countries in January 2023, Sir Lindsay incurred a £4,400 bill at Crown Chauffeurs.

The firm provides a “VIP limousine service” in the city which ferried him around in an air-conditioned Audi.

Yet Hoyle’s hotel was just 400 yards from the conference venue in a city with a large fleet of taxis.

Hoyle stayed amid the “exquisite rooms and spacious suites” of the five-star Hotel Realm.

During the three-night stay, he spent £318 at flashy Chinese restaurant Wild Duck.

And Hoyle managed to snaffle First Class flights when travelling between Britain and Australia.

He flew Qantas which promised “a journey of unsurpassed luxury”, with gourmet food and guests waited on by “sommeliers in the sky who can advise on our selection of award-winning wines and champagne”.

AlamyThe Speaker also stayed at Chateau Laurier in Canada’s capital Ottawa, where his room cost £893 per night[/caption]

Instagram/commons_speakerSir Lindsay at a mosque in Jakarta, Indonesia, as part of a £24,920 jolly in October 2022[/caption]

The bill was £11,589 for a return flight, with the total for his party of three coming to £33,403.

A spokesman for Hoyle argued that he has little choice but to travel via Business and First “to ensure he is able to work effectively while travelling, because the visit starts as soon as he lands”.

They added: “While getting value for money is obviously a key consideration, Business Class flights may be taken in order to be prepared for a busy series of engagements that get underway immediately upon arrival or upon return.

“It also allows for working with a small team of officials or subject specialists during the flight.”

But John O’Connell from the Tax-Payers’ Alliance said: “It’s possible to travel in comfort at a much lower cost than this.

“Sir Lindsay’s life of luxury is looking increasingly unsustainable, given the stratospheric credit card bills he’s tapping up taxpayers for.”

It’s all a long way from the old coal mining village of Adlington, Lancs, where Hoyle was born.

Imbued with socialist values from birth, his dad Doug was also a Labour MP.

Bolton Wanderers fan Hoyle ran his own textile and screen printing business before entering politics as a Labour councillor for Chorley in 1980.

In 1997 he became a Labour MP at Tony Blair’s landslide.

‘Makes Downing Street look like Travelodge’

In 2010 he was elected Deputy Speaker of the House of Commons and impressed with his common sense character and firm hand in silencing windbag MPs.

It was no surprise that he was elected Speaker — an ancient role which predates that of Prime Minister by many centuries — in 2019.

By Parliamentary convention, each new Speaker is dragged to the chair pretending they do not want the job — the reason being that it was once a precariously dangerous role.

Between 1471 and 1535, six Speakers were executed.

With the role comes lavish apartments overlooking the Thames. The rooms were described by the Sunday Times as making “10 Downing Street look like a motorway Travelodge”.

Undoubtedly the grandiose lodgings — and the key role the Speaker plays in Britain’s democracy — could go to the heads of the unwary.

So why does Hoyle find it necessary to jet around the globe thousands of miles from Westminster?

Sir Lindsay’s spokesperson says part of the Speaker’s job is “to be an ambassador for the House of Commons.”

They added: “This includes representing the House on the international stage, especially at a time when international affairs are so central to political life, and dialogue between legislatures and parliamentarians plays an ever-important role.”

Hoyle’s spokesperson said that the trips “had tangible outcomes and demonstrate the important role of the Speaker’s soft power in international diplomacy”.

On some of his travels he was accompanied by his wife Catherine. Sir Lindsay’s office said he and his spouse footed the bill for her travel and expenses on these occasions.

Hoyle’s annual trips to British Overseas Territory Gibraltar have also faced questions.

Sir Lindsay likes to stay at the luxury Rock Hotel where Winston Churchill, John Lennon and Sean Connery have also been patrons.

Made Chancellor of the University of Gibraltar in 2020, he attends its annual graduation ceremony.

The University paid for the Speaker and Lady Hoyle’s expenses in 2021 and for Sir Lindsay in 2022.

Aides accompanying the MP were paid for from the public purse.

In the following two years the bill for the Speaker and his officials was picked up by taxpayers.

Since 2021 the total tab has been £15,707.27, including £1,694.23 on food. The flights were Business Class.

Hoyle’s spokesperson told The Sun that as well as his duties with the University of Gibraltar, he has also undertaken a variety of engagements in his role as Speaker.

Marco ChowA luxury room at the Fairmont hotel in Jakarta, Indonesia where the Speaker enjoyed a stay[/caption]

Among Hoyle’s eye-watering expenses were luxurious stays at New Delhi’s Taj MahalTajhotels.com

They include visits to the Speaker of Gibraltar and its parliament, the Governor of Gibraltar, ministers there and the Royal Gibraltar Regiment.

There will undoubtedly be sniggers in the House over Hoyle’s exotic travels as he tries to keep order.

But you’re about as likely to hear a chorus of disapproval about his travel arrangements from MPs as you are seeing Sir Lindsay flying Ryanair for his official duties.

That’s because he decides which members speak and which bill amendments are selected for debate.

So look out for Long Haul Lindsay in a BA lounge soon.

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