Taxpayers have stumped up the cash for veteran MP Richard Ottaway to buy a who’s who guide to the new coalition Government.

Mr Ottaway, who has been Conservative member for Croydon South for 18 years, claimed £44 back on expenses after grabbing a copy of the Times Guide to the House of Commons in July.

The 2010 general election almanac features results, analysis and details of every new MP in the UK, as well as the full coalition agreement between the Lib Dems and Tories.

Mr Ottaway has filed claims for more than £7,300 in expenses since he stopped collecting a second home allowance in March 2009.

They include £425 on buying newspapers, £578 in mobile telephone charges and £2,400 signing up to the Conservative Parliamentary Resources Unit.

Mr Ottaway declined to comment on any of his recent expenses, which he said had been approved, authorised and audited by the new Independent parliamentary standards agency.

Despite vowing to publish his monthly claims at richardottaway.com, none have been uploaded since November 2009.

Mr Ottaway said: “My expenses up to the end of Dec 09 are on the parliamentary website.

“We were advised that they would be then published quarterly so I stopped putting them on my website.

“Since then the authorities have got themselves in a mess and nothing has been published.”

The Times guide is now available at a knock-down £37.52, including free delivery, from internet bookseller Amazon.