Conservative Party chairman Caroline Spelman has admitted using her MP's parliamentary allowance for payments to her former children's nanny.

Mrs Spelman told BBC's Newsnight that the money, paid in 1997 and 1998, was for secretarial work the nanny did.

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Mrs Spelman has recently taken charge of improving the Conservative party's record on expenses.

Conservative Central Office said that the nanny - Tina Haynes - was working 30 hours a week as a secretary during 1997-98.

A spokesman said when the Tory chief whip became aware of what Mrs Spelman was doing he told her to "separate her arrangements".

When Newsnight contacted Ms Haynes she said she took the occasional phone message and posted documents when needed.

She told Newsnight's political editor Michael Crick: "Once or twice a week you'd get the odd phone call from other MPs. Mr Hague rang a couple of times and obviously I took messages if he rang and passed them on."

As chairman of the Conservative Party, Caroline Spelman has taken a leading role in investigating expenses claimed by MPs and MEPs.

On Thursday, the party's leader in Brussels, Giles Chichester, resigned after Mrs Spelman asked him to answer allegations that he had broken European Parliament rules on expenses.

(BBC)

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