A petition has been launched calling for the resignation of Maidstone and the Weald MP Helen Grant after details emerged about her £20,000-a-year second home expenses claim.

Mrs Grant, who no longer has a permanent home in the constituency, claims the maximum expenses for a second home – a flat in central London, even though her own £1.8m house near Reigate, Surrey, is only 19 miles from Westminster.

Her Surrey home is in a London zone where constituency MPs are not allowed to claim for a second base in the capital as they are deemed too close. But Mrs Grant’s claims are paid as her constituency of Maidstone is outside the zone.

Now the leader of Maidstone Green Party, Stuart Jeffery, one of the candidates who lost to Mrs Grant in the 2010 election, has set up the electronic petition.

mean she must go and are the reasons we have started the petition.He said “Her callous attitude towards Maidstone and the Weald constituents, her broken promises and her expense claims against the spirit of the rules, all

"In a government that is destroying the lives of those most in need, the equalities minister is busy making her life very comfortable.”

The MP described many of the comments in the petition preamble as untruths and defamatory.

She said: "I am now taking legal advice and reserve my rights to take action against Mr Jeffery and indeed anyone who publishes, or republishes statements that are wrong or misleading for the purpose of trying to damage my reputation.”

She now says her Surrey home has been on the market since October 2010, reiterating that she stays at her mother’s house in Sutton Valence, when she is required to be in the constituency.

She added: "Mr Jeffery’s comments disgust me. My family and I have given a huge commitment to this constituency. My mum’s moved here, my son’s moved here and is at school here and I do everything I can for the people who I really care about.”

Mr Jeffery will relay the petition to the speaker of the House of Commons, John Bercow, but acknowledged it carries no legal weight, in spite of the number of signatures.

www.gopetition.comThe petition can be found at