It is a decade since the biggest Parliamentary scandal in a generation came to light. Day after day of Daily Telegraph headlines, each more lurid than the last, brought extraordinary news of duck houses, moat cleaning and house flipping and left the public with a new and deeper contempt for politicians.
More than half the members of the House of Commons were ordered to repay money totaling £1.1million, and five MPs went to jail. Ten years on, a few stories still stand out:
Anthony Steen
The Conservative MP for Totnes said he would not stand for re-election after it was revealed in 2009 that he had spent £87,729 in four years towards the upkeep of his £1 million mansion.
Costs passed on to the public purse included tree surgery and a wrought-iron fireplace, but Mr Steen said he did not know 'what the fuss is about'.
He said people were 'jealous' of his 'very, very large house', adding: 'What right does the public have to interfere with my private life? None.'
He was later given a CBE for his work tackling human trafficking.
Anthony Steen was presented with a CBE in 2015 (John Stillwell/PA)
Margaret Moran
The former Luton South MP falsely claimed more than £50,000 in expenses, a jury ruled, but it was unable to find her guilty of the offence as she was deemed not fit to stand trial in 2012.
She previously announced that she was standing down after days of public anger over claims of £22,500 for treating dry rot at her partner's home in Southampton, 100 miles from both her constituency and Westminster.
Moran said the 'understandable public anger' over MPs' expenses had caused her 'great stress' and 'seriously worsened my existing health problem', resulting in her not formally standing trial.
Marion Little
Not an MP, but a senior Conservative Party official, Little was found guilty in January 2019 of falsifying election expenses in a bid to defeat then-Ukip leader Nigel Farage.
The 63-year-old was convicted in the trial of Tory MP Craig Mackinlay, who was acquitted of breaking electoral rules in his 2015 South Thanet campaign against Mr Farage.
Little, who had worked for the party since 1974 and was held in high regard by Tory top brass, was handed a nine-month suspended jail sentence and ordered to pay £5,000 towards the 'very substantial' prosecution costs.
Marion Little arrives at Westminster Magistrates´ Court in London, where she was convicted of falsifying expenses (Victoria
