Election candidate wants to donate five-figure MP salary to charity
An independent candidate has promised to donate all of his salary to charities and grassroots sport if elected to Parliament.
Shaun Sadler, who is standing for Jarrow in Tyne and Wear, puts donating the £79,468 he would receive as an MP at the top of his pledges list on his website.
Mr Sadler, who has run business UTS Engineering for 49 years, wrote in a letter to voters: “We have all witnessed first-hand or directly experienced the struggles and issues within our area.
“With the average salary within the constituency being £26,000 and the basic MP’s salary at around three times that at £79,000, if elected, I will not take my salary, instead donating 50% to local charities and 50% to grassroot sport and clubs.”
He also lists the closure of palliative care and hospice services, antisocial behaviour, the potential loss of green belt and a “general lack of opportunity for all ages” as local issues.
“I have chosen to stand as an independent as this is the only way I can freely and unreservedly speak for the constituency of Jarrow.
“I am not bound to any party. My only stance will be what is best for the population of the area.”
Jarrow has not returned a non-Labour candidate since 1931.
Its last MP, Stephen Hepburn, has been dropped by Labour after he was suspended while a sexual harassment claim is investigated.
Mr Hepburn denies the claim.
A new candidate has been chosen by the party.
MP’s salaries were given a 2.7% pay rise in April 2019 – worth £2,089 – after the Independent Parliamentary Standards Authority made the announcement in February.
The increase is automatic and not voted on by the House of Commons.
It was criticised by the right-wing pressure group the TaxPayers’ Alliance and trade unions.
