South Suffolk MP James Cartlidge, who serves Hadleigh and the surrounding villages, is among a number of politicians and political associations criticised for using a loophole allowing them to take £10,000 Covid grants.

Huffington Post used a freedom of information request to find out which political organisations benefited from the grants, while many ordinary people and businesses were frozen out.

Mr Cartlidge is the figurehead leader at the South Suffolk Conservative Association has a branch in Hadleigh and throughout the Babergh District Council, which administered the grant ordered by chancellor of the exchequer Rishi Sunak.

The Conservative MP was among a number of Tories that voted against free school meal vouchers last year, while his association was accepting the £10k tax payer funded grant.

A Conservative Party spokeswoman told Huffington Post that councils decide whether a Conservative Association branch was eligible.

They added: "Local political associations are no different from other organisations in facing challenging times. The purpose of the coronavirus support schemes is to protect small organisations and prevent local job losses.

"The funding from these schemes is in line with government guidance."

They Labour Party groups also received and kept the £10k grants, while Stella Creasy in Walthamstow, ensured her association returned the money.

Among those locally that accepted the Covid grant include:

South Suffolk Conservative Association (Tory MP James Cartlidge): £10,000

Ipswich Labour Party £10,000 (no Labour MP)

South Suffolk Labour Party £10,000 (no Labour MP)

Suffolk County Labour Party £10,000 (no Labour MP

Walthamstow Labour Party £10,000 (Stella Creasy, payment returned)

Democracy campaigners have hit out at the trend of local party branches claiming public cash and told Huffington Post.

Steve Goodrich, senior research manger with anti-corruption group Transparency International UK, said: "There are heightened sensitivities about the use of public funds during the current crisis, and especially so when they are received by political parties.

"Whilst it may be permissible for constituency parties to accept government support, doing so may risk appearing as self-serving, especially by those who have not been eligible for assistance.

"Given the current low levels of trust in politics, it would be prudent for them to think carefully about the broader impacts of them applying for this funding, especially when these organisations would be ineligible for similar relief in other parts of the UK."

Tom Brake, director of Unlock Democracy, a non-partisan pressure group campaigning for a written UK constitution, said: "People will be really unimpressed to learn that politicians, often already in receipt of taxpayers' support, have seen their parties benefit from covid business grants too.

"The UK government would have been well advised to look over the border to Scotland, where such payments were prohibited."

For full story and list of politicians and parties involved go to Huffington Post expose.