George Galloway is the most costly backbencher in parliament in terms of his voting record between 2001 and 2004, new research found.

A London School of Economics report on MP's expenses says he spent almost £1,500 for every vote he cast in his previous term as Labour MP for Glasgow Kelvin.

Only Tony Blair and three other ministers were more expensive than Mr Galloway, who is currently in Channel 4's Big Brother house.

The study said the high cost of cabinet members was "not surprising", as other responsibilities often prevented them from voting.

MP's expenses were "mostly justifiable", wrote researchers Timothy Besley and Valentino Larcinese.

The amount Mr Galloway claimed was average for an MP, as he came 333th out of 659. But he cast the least votes compared to his expenses.

Last year Mr Galloway, newly elected as the Respect party's MP for Bow and Bethnal Green, found himself at the centre of an Iraqi oil scandal.

Ahead of him on the expenses table were Prime Minister Tony Blair, who cost £3360 for each Commons vote, Chancellor Gordon Brown (£3,114), Foreign Secretary Jack Straw (£2,043) and Energy Minister Brian Wilson (£1,596).

"Expensive" backbenchers included Labour committee chair Gwineth Dunwoody (£1187), Conservative Michael Mates (£1070) and SNP leader Alex Salmond (£1043).

The cheapest MPs claimed just £ 257 in expenses for each vote.

Overall, the cost of votes differed across parties. Taxpayers forked out £58 more for a Conservative vote than for those by Labour. For SNP and PC this figure rises to £123.

The authors admitted their performance measure was "crude", but said it is "probably no cruder" than other indicators used in the public sector.

"Up until now MPs have not themselves been subject to performance targets," they added. "But this does raise the wider issue of whether (as public servants) they should."