Second Tory MP caught in Commons staffing row after employing daughter, ex-wife and ex-lover's girl

Ashleigh Sharp has been Bob Spink's parliamentary assistant since 2006, when she was just 17 and enrolled at a sixth-form college in Benfleet, Essex.

Miss Sharp, the daughter of Mr Spink's former partner, Gail Boland, is now paid more than £5,000 a year by the MP – despite also being a student at Buckingham University.

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Mr Spink's taxpayer-funded payroll also includes his ex-wife, Janet, whom he divorced in 2002 and who now carries out her duties from Dorset, and his daughter, Charlotte.

The Mail on Sunday has established that Miss Sharp received £1,218 from the Commons authorities in January 2006, when she was 17 years and four months old, a further £936 in March that year and then £750 in July.

Miss Sharp was appointed while Mr Spink's relationship with Ms Boland, a Tory councillor, was ongoing, but the pair have now split up.

Last night, Miss Sharp confirmed she had worked two-and-a-half days a week in Mr Spink's Commons office when she was 17, adding: "At the moment, I'm doing weekends, Wednesdays, Thursdays and Fridays, so that's five days a week – a working week."

She refused to answer further questions about how she juggled her work and studies.

Mr Spink, the MP for Castle Point in Essex, said: "The public have got excellent value for money from all my staff, including Ashleigh.

"She is no relation but her mother and I became close friends some time after my split from my wife.

"She is at university for two half-days a week. She attends to constituency work while I am at Westminster and does work at my Westminster office when necessary.

"She works on average for two days a week – more during vacations and less during term time, which is reflected in her varying monthly pay. She has never worked full-time.

"Her total pay for 2007/08 is £5,500, equivalent to an annual salary of £15,000 [had she been full-time]."

Mr Spink said he had ensured that all his staffing arrangements were legitimate and said he would campaign for more transparency over MPs' allowances.

He said he continued to employ his ex-wife, despite her move to the West Country, because she was a "professionally qualified secretary and PA".

"I got specific clearance from the Fees Office for her continued employment, in Dorset. This arrangement is widely known in my constituency," he added.

He also employs his daughter, Charlotte, on a casual basis and paid her £4,400 in the past financial year.