Matthew Torbitt, a 35-year-old former Labour aide, pleaded guilty at Thames magistrates court on Monday to two counts of fraud by false representation over parliamentary expenses. He was granted unconditional bail and will be sentenced at Snaresbrook crown court later this year.
Thames magistrates court
The court heard that the offences ran between 2022 and 2024, while he was working for Christian Wakeford, the MP for Bury South. Maisha Mannan said the rail tickets were booked between 23 August 2022 and 29 September 2024 through the parliamentary travel system, and that on 2 October 2024 Torbitt submitted a separate claim for reimbursement of travel and accommodation expenses.
According to an early estimate by the Crown Prosecution Service, the claims totalled more than £6,000. The exact worth of the claims will be determined when he is sentenced.
Matthew Torbitt
Torbitt once described himself as “Britain’s favourite lefty” and said he championed “positive social change”. He had also built a public profile through appearances on GB News, the ’s Newsnight, Sky News, TalkTV and podcasts, which made the guilty plea land beyond the narrow circle of parliamentary staff and legal watchers.
His route into Westminster started in 2014, when he said he was “invited to shadow” Andy Burnham. He later said the internship followed a documentary filming assignment that impressed Burnham, before he worked as a caseworker for various Labour MPs between 2018 and 2024 and no longer worked in parliament.
Metropolitan police inquiry
The Metropolitan police began investigating Torbitt in April last year after a report that a parliamentary staffer had made unauthorised purchases through a travel booking system. Torbitt was charged on 9 June and granted unconditional bail by district judge Navneet Sher, who told him he would be sentenced at Snaresbrook crown court later this year.
The case now turns on the sentence and on the final valuation of the claims, which will be fixed at the hearing rather than by the early estimate. For readers following the case, the guilty plea is the point at which the allegations stop being disputed and move into punishment.
