Credit: Ian Morris
One of Herefordshire’s MPs is giving away a large chunk of her salary because it is ‘more than she needs’.
Dr Ellie Chowns, the Green MP for North Herefordshire, described the £91,346 annual MP salary as a ‘really large sum of money’ and ‘more than she has ever earned before’.
She added: “I feel it’s important for me to live on an average income so that I can remain in touch with what life is like for ordinary people.
“I therefore keep only £2k per month of my salary (equivalent to the national average salary of £35k, after tax) and I use the rest to address poverty and inequality.”
Dr Chowns said that £10,000 of her salary will go to a constituency fund that she has set up to support local causes while the same sum would also go to Give Directly, a charity helping poor families in East Africa.
A further £10,000 will be given to the Green Party to support campaigns to get more Greens elected at both local and national level.
The Green MP, who was elected at this year’s general election, said she took the ‘Giving What We Can’ pledge a few years ago to donate a significant proportion of her income.
“I did this as an MEP and I am doing it again as an MP,” she said.
“I work full time (and more!) as the MP for North Herefordshire and do not do any other paid work.
“I do a small amount of volunteering for a couple of local charities with which I have been involved for some time.”
