The Frome MP has defended employing his wife on his official staff, despite a recent change in the rules surrounding family members working for MPs.

David Warburton, who has represented the Somerton and Frome constituency since 2015, is one of two Somerset MPs (and nearly 100 overall) to employ a member of his family – the other being Bridgwater and West Somerset MP Ian Liddell-Grainger.

The Independent Parliamentary Standards Authority (IPSA) brought in new rules in 2017, providing no funding to pay the wages of "connected parties" – effectively banning new MPs from recruiting staff from their own families.

However, MPs elected before 2017 can still employ a family member if they were in position before the rule change – meaning neither MP has broken any rules.

Harriet Warburton has worked for her husband as his communications officer since his election in 2015, when he achieved the largest Conservative swing in the country.

Mr Warburton said that his wife earned "very, very considerably less" in her current capacity than she had from her previous 30 years in the private sector, where she worked in public relations.

He said: "As with every member of my staff, her employment is paid from the staff budget given to MPs.

"She is paid less than any other member of my staff, and very, very considerably less than she previously earned doing the same job for the past 30 years in the business world.

"I'm delighted that with her 30 years of experience in the field, Harriet's been managing my PR and communications since I was appointed parliamentary candidate for Somerton and Frome in 2013.

"Since being elected, she's added to that all marketing and press, PR, my constituency diary, all administration, liaison with local groups, schools, businesses, campaigns, management of all staff and expenses.

"As a connected party joining my staff in 2015, this is of course entirely within the rules."

Mr Warburton said his wife's appointment offers "pretty tremendous value" to both him and taxpayers, and he was not intending to make any changes any time soon.

He said: "The rules changed in 2017, and I don't intend to make any changes other than add additional staff, as IPSA have increased the staff budget given the vastly increased workload since Brexit and then the pandemic."

Mr Liddell-Grainger, who employs his wife as a parliamentary assistant, did not respond to the Local Democracy Reporting Service's request for comment on this matter.

According to the Reach Shared Data Unit, around one in eight parliamentarians employ their partner, spouse, child or even a parent at taxpayers' expense.

The MPs' register of interests lists 86 politicians who currently employ a partner, spouse or other relative in roles such as office manager, secretary, parliamentary assistant or researcher.

Almost two-thirds of these (63 per cent) are Conservatives, with a total of 55 Tory MPs employing a spouse, partner, child or parent compared to 25 Labour, four DUP and two SNP MPs.

A spokesperson for IPSA said: "Since 2017, MPs have not been able to employ connected parties.

"We acknowledge the great work carried out by connected parties but their recruitment is out of step with modern working practices.

"MPs should follow a recruitment process that is transparent and encourages diversity."