At least 30 Conservative Members of Parliament are set to stand down before the next election rather than face voter rage over their theft from the public purse via the ongoing expenses swindle.

The news comes as a new blow to the Tories after a Populus poll revealed that a large amount of support for the party is negative and based on disaffection with Labour, rather than support for Conservative policies.

The poll, commissioned by The Times, showed a lack of genuine enthusiasm for the Tories. Some 68 percent of voters believe the Tories are doing better “mainly just because the Labour government has become so unpopular.”

Tory chairman Eric Pickles has already acknowledged that he expects 30 MPs from his party to stand down. Some 17 have already publicly confirmed that they will.

Meanwhile, it has been announced that a fresh review of expenses by a team of Commons officials under Sir Thomas Legg has been undertaken of hundreds of thousands of expense claims by every MP for the past five years.

According to reports, 80 percent of all MPs will now be cross questioned on their expenses claims next week.

The focus of Sir Thomas’s investigation has been the fact that MPs have used allowances to repay the full cost of mortgages on their second homes, rather than just the interest.

Apparently there are numerous claims which show that the crooked MPs — from all the Westminster parties — have used the expenses racket to improve their properties, and not just maintain them, as the rules state.

Sir Thomas has also focussed on claims for gardening and cleaning. MPs are allowed to claim for basic garden maintenance, including lawn-mowing and hedge trimming, but claims include bills for plants, shrubs and other decorations.

Some MPs have claimed cleaning costs way above the basic entitlement to employ a person to vacuum carpets twice a week.

The results of Sir Thomas’s investigation will be published before the end of this year.

* MPs who step down at the next election will still receive a £64,000 “resettlement” grant when they leave.

The British National Party’s policy with regard to “second homes” is that there should not be any. A BNP government would build a Travelodge type accommodation for MPs near Westminster where MPs could stay while Parliament is in session and the whole “second house” swindle would be abolished.