The people of North East Hertfordshire are overwhelmingly opposed to taxpayer-funded second homes for Members of Parliament who live close enough to London to commute to Westminster, according to a survey conducted by the Liberal Democrats, who will be ca

The people of North East Hertfordshire are overwhelmingly opposed to taxpayer-funded second homes for Members of Parliament who live close enough to London to commute to Westminster, according to a survey conducted by the Liberal Democrats, who will be campaigning on this issue locally.

Fully 92% of respondents agreed with the statement that "MPs should not have publicly funded second homes if they live close enough to commute to London" (Please see diagram).

72% of respondents indicated that the expenses scandal remained an "important" issue to them.

Hugh Annand, the Liberal Democrat candidate for Parliament (PPC), has recently promised to commute to London if he is elected. This follows the example of other Lib Dems who have refused to spend public money on London accommodation, such as David Howarth, the MP for Cambridge.

Commenting on the surveys' emphatic results, Hugh Annand said: "People are absolutely right to be angry, when so many locals commute into London themselves."

The surveys were conducted in the wards of Letchworth East, Baldock East, Baldock Town, and North Herts Rural in order to reach a representative cross-section of constituents.