Until March 2007, David Ruffley had claimed MPs' expenses for his London flat, which he had designated as his second home.
But when he moved addresses in his constituency, he flipped his second home to the new rented flat and began to furnish it, much of it at taxpayers’ expense.
The MP for Bury St Edmunds in Suffolk, claimed £1,674 for a sofa and £2,175 for a 46in Sony widescreen HD
television, bought from Harrods.
When he submitted a claim to the Parliamentary fees office, Mr Ruffley was told that while he would receive the full cost of the sofa he would be getting only a fraction of the sum he spent on the television set.
A validation officer wrote to Mr Ruffley in April 2007 stating: “It is the policy of the Department of Finance and Administration to reduce costs relating to the purchase of a television set if it is greater than a recommended maximum of £750.
“Your claim has therefore been reduced by £1,425.”
The MP also went shopping for bedroom furniture.
He visited And So to Bed where he spent £6,765 on several items, including a £3,350 “lightly distressed” solid limewood “Cezanne Socle” bedstead, a £1,000 traditional bedstead and two bedside cabinets, each costing £799.
On receiving Mr Ruffley’s expenses claim the fees office again refused to pay the full amount.
It agreed to reimburse him only the maximum £1,000 allowed for a bed under its guidelines and £100 for each bedside cabinet.
An official informed him by letter: “It is the policy of the Department of Finance and Administration to reduce costs relating to furniture if they are greater than a recommended maximum. Your claim has therefore been reduced by £4,748.”
Six months later, shortly after being appointed shadow minister for police reform by David Cameron, Mr Ruffley claimed £229.83 for household cleaning materials, including 46 anti-moth sachets at a total cost of £146.45.
He also claimed for rubber gloves, fabric whitener, sweater bags and a 99p dish brush.
He was also reimbursed £675.63 in costs for moving between the two flats in Bury St Edmunds.
Mr Ruffley paid £800 a month in rent for his new flat in the town, which was less than the £1,136.08 in mortgage interest payments he claimed for his flat in Pimlico. This was reimbursed by taxpayers under the Additional Costs Allowance (ACA) system.
Last year Mr Ruffley claimed a total of £13,760 under the ACA, down from the £17,021 he claimed in 2006/07 - most of which was claimed against his Pimlico flat.
He said: “I voted for the Maclean Bill to protect the privacy of constituents’ personal details contained in their letters to me, not because I wanted to stop the disclosure of MPs’ expenses.
“In March 2007 I nominated a rented property in my constituency as my second home because my job meant that I had to spend more time in London. It was logical that I designated London as my main home, which it has been ever since. There was a saving to the taxpayer as a result.
“For the unfurnished rented property I required a sofa, a bed and a TV. I asked the fees office what was an appropriate reimbursement. As a result, I paid from my own pocket two thirds of the cost of the TV and 70 per cent of the cost of bedroom furnishings.
“I made the claim for anti-moth sachets because of moth infestation at my second home.”