Baroness Warsi, the Conservative Party Chairman, has written to each of Labour's leadership candidates asking them to forfeit the £20,000 severance pay they each received following defeat at the General Election.
Current laws allow ministers leaving office to automatically receive three months' worth of pay, funded by the taxpayer, even when they continue to serve as MPs and draw a parliamentary salary of over £60,000. Former ministers are under no obligation to take the severance pay and could, if they wish, refuse the payment.
Baroness Warsi said: "At a time when people across the country are being asked to tighten their belts because of Labour's wasteful legacy, it is simply unacceptable that the very people responsible for the mess each walk away with a £20,000 reward for failure."
And she added, "If Labour leadership candidates are serious about reconnecting with ordinary people, then they should show leadership on this issue and voluntarily forfeit their severance pay."
Read Baroness Warsi's speech.
Copies of the letters to Ed Balls, Andy Burnham, Ed Miliband and David Miliband can be viewed below: