Star of leader’s party used MPS’ expenses for lingerie

A RISING star in Emmanuel Macron’s party has been forced to resign after a review of her expenses found she spent €2,000 (£1,670) of her monthly parliamentary allowance on lingerie and clothing.

The disclosure is an embarrassment for Mr Macron’s party, which is facing an uphill battle to win a majority in next month’s parliamentary election.

Coralie Dubost, an MP and deputy vice-president of Mr Macron’s LREM party, has been accused of mismanaging her team and abusing her expense allowance, in a report submitted to parliament and published by Mediapart, an online investigative journal.

She has been accused of ordering her parliamentary staff to fulfil domestic tasks in her home and using demeaning language towards them.

Analysis of her spending showed she paid €1,500 to €2,000 for lingerie, clothing and trips to the beach from an allowance of €5,733, which is meant to cover expenses related to her mandate. French MPS earn €7,239 per month.

“The time had come for me to withdraw from political life and devote myself to my family.

“I will not be a candidate for my reelection,” 39-year-old Ms Dubost announced on Twitter on Sunday, after remaining silent for 48 hours when the story came out.

“For the past few days, I have been targeted by unfair attacks, which do a disservice to my political group, to electoral deadlines and [to] democracy.”

In 2019, Ms Dubost, an MP in the 3d district of Hérault, in the south of France, took out a bank loan to cover an overdraft of €7,000 and has since regularly taken out loans to pay for her lifestyle, according to the undisclosed ethics report.

The MP told Mediapart: “There are parliamentary outfits and personal outfits. I do not wear the same clothes in my personal and my professional life.”

She also blamed an assistant at the time for this situation: “He advised me badly, I was stupid, I am not a cheater.”