Jon Cruddas files formal complaint against Andrew Rosindell

Labour MP Jon Cruddas has reported Mr Rosindell to the parliamentary standards commissioner, saying the phone number on a Conservative election leaflet was answered by Mr Rosindell’s office staff.

But Mr Rosindell has said it could have been an accident, as the election campaign is being run from the office next door to his constituency office.

The leaflet was for Sam Holland, the Tory prospective parliamentary candidate (PPC) in Mr Cruddas’s constituency.

Mr Cruddas accused Mr Rosindell of “using the privileges of parliamentary office to prop up the campaign of the Conservative PPC in the neighbouring constituency”.

He wrote: “I have concerns that the phone line is paid for by the public purse and when called during working hours to speak with Mr Holland it is Independent Parliamentary Standards Authority (IPSA) employed staff who answer the phone.”

Mr Rosindell and Mr Holland both said it was factually incorrect to suggest the phone line was taxpayer-funded.

Mr Rosindell’s constituency office number is 01708 766700.

The number on Mr Holland’s leaflet was 01708 766581 – the number of the Romford Conservative Association.

Both are located within Margaret Thatcher House in Western Road, Romford.

A leaflet distributed on behalf of Tory PPC Sam Holland had an 01708 phone number on it. Jon Cruddas MP's office claims that when staff dialled it, the person who answered said, 'Andrew Rosindell's office' (Image: Dagenham & Rainham Conservatives)

A spokesperson for Mr Cruddas later clarified: “The concern is that even though the line is allegedly paid for by the Romford Conservative Association, the member of staff answering the phone is paid for by the public purse.”

Mr Cruddas’s office said staff noticed that the address on Mr Holland’s leaflet was 8-12 Salisbury Road, Dagenham, but the telephone number was an 01708 Romford number.

They dialled the number and claimed the voice that answered said: “Andrew Rosindell’s office”.

Mr Rosindell told this paper that the two separate offices in Margaret Thatcher House have portable phones, so it was conceivable that a member of his staff could have picked up and answered the wrong one.

Mr Holland said he had “no reason to doubt the accuracy of Mr Rosindell’s explanation”.

Mr Rosindell said: “I’m surprised they have done this because they’re living in a big glass house themselves. I think it’s all rather petty, to be honest.

“They are having a little go at me because someone might have answered the wrong phone, but I don’t employ any parliamentary candidates. He (Mr Cruddas) employs two PPCs and one of them’s husband.”

Both Romford MP Andrew Rosindell and the Romford Conservative Association have their offices at Margaret Thatcher House in Western Road (Image: Google Streetview)

Labour’s PPC for Dagenham and Rainham, who will contest the seat when Mr Cruddas steps down at the next election, is Margaret Mullane, who has been Mr Cruddas’s office manager for 15 years.

Mr Cruddas's office did not deny that Ms Mullane's husband also works in the MP's office.

But Mr Rosindell added that this was not a particular attack on Mr Cruddas.

He said it was normal for MPs’ offices to be in the same buildings as their local party offices and that MPs tend to hire members of their own parties, who are likely to juggle voluntary political tasks for the party with their paid work for the MP.

He said MPs’ staff work long and irregular hours and might well carry out party volunteer work in office hours, then work on constituency case work during evenings or weekends, or vice versa.

“I do take the point about staff working long and often irregular hours given the nature of tasks in a parliamentary office,” said Mr Cruddas, adding that Ms Mullane worked “with great diligence and professionalism”.

He continued: “I also understand that people involved in politics juggle different hats. However, that being said, there is an issue when a supposed ‘campaign number’ on party political literature is answered by, presumably, an IPSA staffer stating that it is the office of an elected representative.

"Transparency in politics is more important than ever and regardless of outcome, the concern has been raised so should be investigated – particularly when it relates to the use of taxpayers’ money.”

The parliamentary standards commissioner’s office said it would not comment on a specific case unless via a decision notice or formal report.

It said the commissioner would, upon receipt of any complaint, determine whether a complaint was within his remit and then whether there was sufficient evidence to begin an investigation.