340 MPs claim £200,000 on expenses for energy bills Among them is Maria Miller, the Culture Secretary, who claimed £2,011 on electricity bills for her constituency home in Basingstoke. Conservative MP Nadhim Zahawi, founder of market research firm YouGov, claimed the most with a bill totalling £5,822.27 to cover electricity and heating oil for his estate in Warwickshire. The MPs' utility bills expenses are disclosed in documents submitted to the Independent Parliamentary Standards Authority between April 2012 and March 2013. MPs are allowed to claim for gas, electricity and oil for their second homes. But the disclosure comes at a time when many are struggling with the rising cost of energy and follows price rises by four of the big six energy firms. Bills costing more than £1,000 were submitted by 41 MPs while 78 made claims for £500 in the 12 months up to March this year, analysis by the Sunday Mirror found. Dave Prentis, General Secretary of Unison, told the newspaper: "It's disgraceful that well-paid MPs should claim expenses for heating costs at the same time that thousands of families are struggling to pay to turn the oven on to cook dinner for their families. These are the same hypocritical MPs who have failed to get a grip on soaring fuel and energy costs, rising food bills and pay freezes.