'Nannygate' Tory sacked secretary who shopped her

Tory chairman Caroline Spelman sacked the Commons secretary who 'shopped' her to party chiefs for using her parliamentary expenses to pay her nanny.

And she also got rid of another Commons secretary who worked for her while she was paying the nanny from public funds.

Pressure on Mrs Spelman to resign intensified after the latest disclosures about the row over her payments to nanny Tina Haynes.

The Mail on Sunday has learned that Mrs Spelman fired Georgina Perry and Sally Hammond after spectacular fallouts.

It prompted speculation last night that she got rid of full-time secretary Miss Perry, replacing her with parttimer Mrs Hammond, to free up more Commons funds to pay her nanny.

When Mrs Hammond found out what was going on, she reported Mrs Spelman to Tory chiefs, who ordered her to stop the payments.

Mrs Spelman, Britain's most senior woman Tory politician called in Mrs Hammond and told her, 'It is not working between us.'

Mrs Hammond was forced to quit. Commons sleaze watchdog John Lyon is investigating Mrs Spelman's £14,000-a-year payments to Miss Haynes.

Mrs Hammond is prepared to give evidence against her former boss.

The extraordinary revelations come after several weeks of controversy about Mrs Spelman's payments to her nanny ten years ago.

Well placed sources said Australian-born Miss Perry was dismissed after a series of warnings from Mrs Spelman.

They allegedly included refusing to switch from a typewriter to a computer.

A parliamentary source said: 'Georgina was very angry at the way she was treated by Caroline.'

Miss Perry, who is in her 60s, was followed by Mrs Hammond, who was employed on a part-time basis.

Mrs Hammond later discovered to her horror that Mrs Spelman was using public money to employ a nanny.

Mrs Hammond was further shocked to learn that she earned only slightly more than the nanny.

She reported Mrs Spelman to Tory whips. The payments to the nanny were stopped and Mrs Hammond, who is wife of and secretary to Wimbledon MP Stephen Hammond, was sacked.

Miss Perry and Mrs Hammond are both popular figures at the Commons. Miss Perry is now secretary to Tory grandee Sir Peter Tapsell.

One MP said: 'They are charming, efficient and hardworking. It is hard to see how anyone could fall out with them.'

But friends of Mrs Spelman say she is the victim of a 'hate campaign'. One senior Conservative said: 'Some MPs are jealous of the fact that Caroline has reached such a prominent position and think that it has more to do with her face fitting and having the right kind of image than any political acumen.'

Publicly, Tory leader David Cameron showed his support for Mrs Spelman yesterday.

But senior party officials say her future is less certain.

One said: 'Elements of her story appear to have unravelled and some of us are losing patience. If the inquiry goes against her, David will get rid of her instantly.'

A spokesman for Mrs Spelman said: 'Caroline initiated the parliamentary inquiry and will be happy to provide all the necessary information.'