EXCLUSIVE: Douglas Lumsden is living in ex MSP Peter Chapman’s property.
Douglas Lumsden(Image: Daily Record)
A former Tory MSP has made over £40,000 from the Holyrood expenses system by renting his Edinburgh flat to a Conservative colleague.
Peter Chapman is receiving £1,200 a month from the taxpayer so that serving Tory MSP Douglas Lumsden can live in his property.
MSPs who live far from Edinburgh are able to rent accommodation in the Capital to help carry out their parliamentary duties.
But the system has been tightened over the last twenty years to protect Holyrood’s reputation.
MSPs cannot rent from a close relative or a fellow member of the Parliament, but there is no bar on former MSPs being landlords.
According to the online expenses system, which is available online, Lumsden’s rent costs were £12,100 in 2021/22, £13,900 twelve months later and £14,400 in 2023/24.
The “payee” for the £40,400 of claims in this period is “Peter and Edith Chapman”.
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Peter Chapman
Peter Chapman, who owns a flat around fifteen minutes from the parliament, receives the rent, not Lumsden.
Chapman was a Tory MSP for the North East between 2016 and 2021 before he stood down.
He is now a councillor in Aberdeenshire and declares rent from an Edinburgh flat on his register of interest.
Lumsden, a former councillor, has been a Tory MSP on the North East list since 2021.
Former Labour MSP Neil Findlay said of renting from ex MSPs: “This practice should be reviewed. The allowances that are paid to allow MSPs whose home is far from Holyrood to live in Edinburgh during the week are funded by taxpayers’ money.”
Lumsden was criticised earlier this year after he tabled nearly 1,000 written questions to the parliament in a single month.
The question blitz was estimated to have cost the taxpayer £100,000 and he was urged to pay back the money. Some of the questions were about flagpoles, bees and jars of honey in the Holyrood shop. He denied using AI for the bombardment.
When he was an MSP, Chapman quit his front bench role after lobbying councillors over a planning application he had a financial interest in.
He admitted at the time he had been “foolish” but he was cleared of breaching Holyrood’s code of conduct.
A Scottish Conservative spokesperson said: “These claims were declared properly and within the rules.”
A Scottish Parliament spokesperson said: “The Scottish Parliament’s rules on Edinburgh accommodation for MSPs are already robust and take account of an independent review to ensure public confidence.
“At the end of each five-year session, the SPCB conducts its own review of the Members’ expenses scheme to ensure it remains fit for purpose. That review provides an opportunity to reflect on whether any further changes are appropriate.”
Chapman and Lumsden were contacted.
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