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gmb45
25th May, 2009, 10:02 AM
MORE than HALF the current crop of MPs will be out of a job as voters exact revenge at the next election.

The Commons is set for its biggest shake-up since the Second World War as voters punish MPs for their expenses greed, a shock poll reveals.

At least 325 of the 646 MPs will be swept aside in the mass clearout, either as a result of quitting, being sacked by party bosses or being booted out by the angry electorate.

?It?ll be a bloodbath,? one Westminster source said. ?If people think the atmosphere here is bad, they haven?t seen anything yet.?

Research by Prof Colin Rallings at Portsmouth University?s Elect ions Centre found about 170 Labour MPs would not defend their seats.

He estimates a further 55 Tories will retire, 30 will be deselected by local party chiefs because of their expenses claims and up to 90 will lose at the ballot box.

Prof Rallings said: ?If, as the polls suggest, the Conservatives were to win the general election with an overall majority of 80 seats, it is likely half of MPs in the new House of Commons will be new. This would be without parallel since 1945.?

As the full extent of the potential political slaughter emerged, Tory leader David Cameron issued a rallying cry for people with no previous involvement in politics to stand as candidates. The call for new members came amid reports that some MPs had managed to claim for two houses on expenses.

As well as cash for second homes, some members cashed in on the grounds they used their main
residence as their office.

Disgraced MP Derek Conway, who overpaid his son Henry for working for him, was named as one of these.

Conway, who was booted out of the Tory party, claimed for a home in Northumberland, more than 300 miles away from his Old Bexley & Sidcup constituency and Westminster.

Other office claims disclosed included one by Labour MP Michael Clap ham, who bought a ?210 pair of glasses for his wife, Yvonne, who is employed as his office assistant.

Labour?s Quentin Davies demanded ?10,000 to repair windows at his 18th-century mansion, while Angela Smith, Labour MP for Sheffield Hillsborough, claimed for four beds in two years for a one-bedroom flat.