Tory MP Lee Anderson
(Picture: PA Media)A Tory backbencher has come under fire after he shared a colleague’s personal information and salary details on Twitter.
Lee Anderson posted a picture of Katy Colthup, a parliamentary researcher, and detailed how she did not need to use a food bank despite earning less than £30,000 a year.
Katy works for me. She is single & earns less than 30k, rents a room for £775pcm in Central London, has student debt, £120 a month on travelling to work saves money every month, goes on foreign holidays & does not need to use a foodbank.
— Lee Anderson MP (@LeeAndersonMP_) January 19, 2023
Katy makes my point really well. pic.twitter.com/8nrwTSQ4Qs
It came after Tory ex-minister Simon Clarke was rebuked by Michael Gove and opposition MPs after he said nurses earning £35,000 who use food banks should “budget better”.
In his tweet, Mr Anderson shared how much Ms Colthup budgets each month.
He said: “Katy works for me. She is single and earns less than £30,000, rents a room for £775pcm in central London, has student debt, £120 a month on travelling to work, saves money every month, goes on foreign holidays and does not need to use a food bank. Katy makes my point really well.”
But his tweet was met with a backlash as social media users hit out at the tone of his message, and the hashtag “Poor Katy” started trending on Twitter.
Labour MP Dawn Butler said the tweet was “a form bullying and harassment”, urging the Ashfield MP to delete his message and revealing that she was reporting him to the Commons authorities.
“Whether Katy agreed to this, it is unacceptable to use a young female employee this way,” the Labour backbencher tweeted.
Ms Butler added: “I will also be writing to the House of Commons authorities to stress that this is a very dangerous political strategy.”
Liberal Democrat MP Jamie Stone said Mr Anderson’s tweet had been in “really bad taste”.
One Twitter user quipped: “Really hope someone offers Katy a better job on the back of his tweet.”
Another wrote: “She doesn’t make your point really well at all, because she’s single and childless, and can therefore rent a room rather than a family property, presumably shares utility bills with housemates, and hasn’t got to feed and clothe a family or pay for childcare.”
