United Kingdom parliamentary expenses scandal "The Daily Telegraph" obtained a full copy of all expenses claims. The "Telegraph" began publishing, in instalments from 8 May 2009, certain MPs' expenses. The "Telegraph" justified the publication of the information because it contended that the official information due to be released would have omitted key information about re-designating of second-home nominations. The information in the leaks published by "The Daily Telegraph" originated from the parliamentary fees office, and had been offered to other newspaper organisations for more than £150,000. In September 2009, the assistant editor of the "Telegraph", Andrew Pierce, revealed in an interview that the newspaper had
First-past-the-post voting dramatic change in voting behaviour. In the UK, the Electoral Reform Society estimates that more than half the seats can be considered as safe. It has been claimed that MPs involved in the 2009 expenses scandal were significantly more likely to hold a safe seat. However, other voting systems, notably the party-list system, can also create politicians who are relatively immune from electoral pressure. The winner-takes-all nature of FPTP leads to distorted patterns of representation, since party support is commonly correlated with geography. For example, in the UK the Conservative Party represents most of the rural seats, and most of