Speaker John Bercow has raised eyebrows after spending £30,000 on overseas travel in two years.
The figures were revealed in a freedom of information request by the Telegraph.
The Commons chief and his team have used £1,000 per month of taxpayers' cash on nine overseas jaunts in the two years to September 2011.
Taxpayers' alliance spokesperson Emma Boon told the paper that it was "astonishing" taxpayers were footing the bill for the Speaker's trips to countries including Kenya, Poland, Greece, India, Hungary, France, Slovenia, Canada and Rome.
“Members of the public will rightly wonder what on earth he needs to go to so many conferences for and why we had to pay for his wife to accompany him on one occasion."
But a spokesperson for Bercow said that the Speaker "always tries to ensure value for money".
"When travelling overseas on official visits he is representing the UK Parliament and on arrival is often expected to go straight into an intensive schedule of meetings.”