David Michael Chaytor (born 3 August 1949)[2] is a former British Labour Party politician, who was the member of parliament (MP) for Bury North from 1997 to 2010.
[3][4] On 3 December 2010 he pleaded guilty to charges of false accounting in relation to Parliamentary expenses claims and he was sentenced to 18 months' imprisonment on 7 January 2011.
He contested the parliamentary constituency of Calder Valley at the 1987 General Election, but was defeated by 6,045 votes by the sitting Conservative MP Donald Thompson.
However, Chaytor contested the marginal seat of Bury North at the 1997 General Election which he won, defeating the then Social Security minister Alistair Burt by 7,866 votes.
In the 1997–2001 Parliament he was a Member of the Environmental Audit Select Committee and in January 2000 he received the Green Ribbon award as best environmentalist backbencher in the House of Commons.
[12] On 7 January 2011, Chaytor was sentenced by Mr Justice Saunders sitting in the Crown Court at Southwark to 18 months' imprisonment.
[15] The primary grounds of appeal (and the main mitigation in the original hearing) – that according to the UK Parliament's 'Green Book' expenses guidelines, Chaytor's situation would have entitled him to claim more than he had done but on a different property – was dismissed as not relevant.