A MINISTER has been criticised for using her parliamentary expenses to pay a former agent and Tory candidate to host a jobs fair.

Amber Rudd, Conservative MP for Hastings and Rye, pictured right, paid thousands of pounds of public money to Events Office, a company run by former agent Terri Lock.

Political opponents said the MP needed to go “above and beyond” to prove tax- payers’ money was being spent fairly and have called for an investigation.

Sarah Owen, Labour parliamentary candidate for Hastings and Rye, said: “Amber Rudd and the other Conservative MPs involved have some serious questions to answer.

“Jobs fairs are important events and many people support them in good faith but, given the previous fiasco over expenses, we should be going above and beyond to prove that MPs are spending taxpayers’ money fairly.

“I echo the call from colleagues for David Cameron to investigate the use of taxpayers’ money by his minister, Amber Rudd and the other Conservative MPs.”

Mrs Lock, a former Hastings Borough Council candidate for the Conservatives and wife of Hastings councillor Matthew Lock, denied any impropriety.

She said: “She has paid for jobs fairs, but it’s gone to me because that’s what I do.

“I happen to live here and I do them all over the country.

“It’s completely open. I have no concerns at all. It’s all above board and legitimate.”

Mrs Rudd was contacted but her office declined to comment.

The Independent Parliamentary Standards Authority said the rules did not prevent MPs from buying services from former associates but did prevent against buying services from a “connected party”.

A spokesman said: “It is up to MPs to show that any arrangements they enter into do not lead to a conflict of interest.

“If anyone has concerns that expenditure is untoward, i.e. is not for parliamentary purposes, then we would look closely at it.”

It is not the first time the Tory MP has courted controversy.

Last year, the former JP Morgan banker told a national newspaper that Hastings was a “bit depressing”.

She said: “You get people who are on benefits, who prefer to be on benefits by the seaside.

“They’re not moving down here to get a job. They’re moving down here to have easier access to friends and drugs and drink.”