Britain’s most parsimonious politician has been revealed as Margo MacDonald, an independent MSP.

As Westminster politicians struggle to explain their expenses, Ms Mac-Donald totted up her quarterly claim for attending the Scottish Parliament and found that she had spent only £32 — making her the lowest claimant of the 129 MSPs at Holyrood.

Ms MacDonald, who served as the Nationalist MP for Glasgow Govan from 1973-74 and represents the Lothians in the Scottish Parliament, billed for only the costs involved in sending her press releases. Ms MacDonald, who has Parkinson’s disease and difficulty walking, also turned down an official car and a driver. Because she sometimes uses a taxi, her expenses bill for the full year has almost reached a heady £2,000.

Ms MacDonald says that she will not tell others how they should run their affairs, although she did offer five top tips for saving money. Politicians could follow her example by making their own office curtains, shopping at supermarkets after 5pm when food is often reduced, and using garden furniture in offices. They could further cut costs by reading newspapers online, rinsing out teabags, and buying the fabric for curtains in the sales.

“Being an MP or MSP is a very individual job fitted round the personality, the talents and handicaps of the person involved. I live and work in my constituency and you have to allow for other people’s situations, but there have been obvious abuses at Westminster,” she said.

Charlie Gordon, a Labour MSP, claimed the most in Holyrood in the last quarter, charging £9,869.19 for office running costs and travel.

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