Tudor Evans spends £5K on luxury hotels, first-class travel and conferences while Plymouth families go hungry

While Plymouth families struggle with the cost of living and nearly one in five children live in poverty, Labour Council Leader Tudor Evans OBE has been living it up in luxury hotels across the country - all funded by Plymouth taxpayers.

Exclusive documents obtained by Plymouth Plus reveal that Cllr Evans has racked up an eye-watering £5,265.48 in expenses in just over a year, staying in premium hotels while his own city faces a financial meltdown.

On Thursday, 17th July, you can help preserve democracy by voting in your Plymouth referendum for a Mayor.

Learn more

The Scandal in Numbers

Between April 2024 and July 2025, Cllr Evans has claimed expenses for:

13 separate trips to luxury conferences and meetings
£3,422.93 in hotel bills alone
£1,853.60 in conference fees
£276.95 in first-class train travel

The most shocking expense? A staggering £1,189.15 for accommodation at the UKREiiF conference in Leeds - enough to feed a Plymouth family for months.

Living Like a Lord While Plymouth Suffers

This lavish spending comes as Plymouth faces its worst financial crisis in decades:

£1 billion debt projected by next year
18.6% of children living in poverty
Council tax increases of 4.99% hitting hard-pressed families
Service cuts affecting the most vulnerable residents

Yet Cllr Evans thinks nothing of charging taxpayers £538 for a hotel stay in London, or £327 for accommodation in Harrogate. These aren’t budget Travel Lodge stops - these are premium rates that most Plymouth families could never afford.

The expenses reveal a pattern of extravagant spending:

April 2024: £538 hotel bill for “LGA Meetings” in London - more than many Plymouth families spend on food in a month.

May 2025: £2,209.15 for the UKREiiF conference in Leeds (£1,189.15 hotel + £1,020 conference fee) - enough to fund a family’s entire annual council tax bill.

July 2025: £1,016.60 for the LGA Conference in Liverpool - while Plymouth residents face service cuts to balance the books.

What makes this spending scandal even more outrageous is Cllr Evans’ constant lecturing about “tough choices” and “financial pressures.” While he’s demanding austerity from Plymouth residents, he’s living like royalty on their money.

Consider this: Cllr Evans spent more on hotels in Leeds (£1,189.15) than a full-time minimum wage worker earns in a month. Yet he has the audacity to increase council tax and cut services for the very people funding his luxury lifestyle.

Most telling is that several trips were to “LGA Labour Conference” events - purely political gatherings that should be funded by the Labour Party, not Plymouth taxpayers. While Cllr Evans marked these costs as “to be reclaimed from Labour Group”, the fact remains that Plymouth Council initially paid for his political activities.

This raises serious questions about whether taxpayer money is being used to subsidise Labour Party activities while essential services face the axe.

Off to that London for 3 events. @lgiu board in Victoria, meeting at the @DefenceHQ about Devonport then to @HouseofCommons for a reception with @LGAcomms. pic.twitter.com/w1zJ7Tdy7o
— Tudor Evans (@CouncillorTudor) January 28, 2025

What £5,265 Could Have Bought Plymouth

To put Cllr Evans’ spending spree in perspective, his luxury expenses could have funded:

2,190 school meals for Plymouth children
17 years of winter fuel payments for a vulnerable pensioner
17 weeks of minimum wage employment for a young person
Equipment and supplies for struggling community centres
Support services for homeless residents facing crisis

Instead, it went on ensuring Cllr Tudor Evans could sleep comfortably in premium hotels while lecturing Plymouth about tightening belts.

Readers have said that this spending reveals a council leader completely disconnected from the reality facing his constituents. While Plymouth families choose between heating and eating, Cllr Evans chooses between the Hilton and the Marriott.

The expenses show a man who believes his comfort and convenience are more important than the struggles of the people he’s supposed to serve. No wonder Labour is fighting desperately against a directly elected mayor - they know voters would never tolerate this level of hypocrisy from someone they chose directly.

Plymouth residents deserve answers:

Why is Cllr Evans staying in premium hotels when budget alternatives would save thousands?
What tangible benefits have these expensive trips delivered for Plymouth?
Why are taxpayers funding Labour Party political events?
How can Cllr Evans justify this spending while cutting services?
What other expenses are being hidden from public scrutiny?

This scandal perfectly illustrates why Plymouth needs a directly elected mayor. Cllr Evans was chosen by a handful of Labour councillors, not by Plymouth voters. He answers to his party, not to the people whose money he’s spending.

A directly elected mayor would face voters every four years and would have to justify every penny spent. They couldn’t hide behind party politics or committee structures - they’d be directly accountable to the taxpayers funding their lifestyle.

While Tudor Evans jets around the country staying in luxury hotels, Plymouth children go to school hungry. While he enjoys expensive conference dinners, Plymouth families visit food banks. While he travels first-class, Plymouth residents struggle with bus fare.

This isn’t leadership - it’s an insult to every hard-working Plymouth family struggling to make ends meet.

The referendum on July 17th offers Plymouth a stark choice:

Vote NO: Keep Cllr Tudor Evans and his luxury lifestyle funded by your taxes while services are cut and debt mounts.

Vote YES: Choose a directly elected leader who answers to you, not to party bosses, and who would face voters directly if they spent your money this recklessly.

Cllr Evans’ spending scandal shows exactly why Labour is so desperate to stop a directly elected mayor. They know that no directly elected leader could survive this level of financial hypocrisy.

Vote YES on July 17th.

Regardless of the political party in power, Plymouth Plus will continue investigating how your council tax is being spent while you’re told to tighten your belts. The people deserve transparency.

EXPENSES BREAKDOWN: