Toby Perkins , deputy chairman of the Labour election campaign , revealed in an email that his interns are paid just £4 per day for 12-hour shifts . Labour has been accused of 'utter hypocrisy ' after it was revealed interns working for one of their election chiefs are paid just £4 per day while the party claims to champion the low paid . An email sent by Toby Perkins , who is deputy chairman of the Labour election campaign as well as MP for Chesterfield , revealed that interns are paid just £25 per week for working 12-hour days . Now Labour is trying to get around the problem by saying the interns will be paid nothing at all , making them volunteers rather than workers . The email , published in The Sun , reveals that alongside their measly wage , interns could expect to be reimbursed for travel , as well as being put up in accommodation during the campaign . Mr Perkins had last week denied employing any interns , despite advertising for five 'enthusiastic , motivated and hard-working Campaign Interns ' online on March 8 . The advert , which says the interns will be paid for travel , food and accommodation , adds : 'This is an excellent opportunity to receive training in and get first hand experience of Labour Campaigns , as part of a driven and highly motivated team . ' Labour 's 2015 manifesto has sought to champion working-class Britons by increasing the minimum wage to £8 per hour , promoting the Living Wage , and banning zero-hours contracts . Julia Cambridge , who is running against Mr Perkins in Chesterfield , said : 'This smacks of utter hypocrisy . 'You ca n't one day bang on about giving workers a living wage , and then do the exact opposite . ' Mr Perkins , who was first elected MP in 2010 , is defending a narrow majority of just 500 votes over the Lib Dems in Chesterfield . He said that the email , entitled 'The Interns Are Coming ' was intended to drum up support and give the impression campaigners are working hard . Julia Cambridge , a Lib Dem who is running against Mr Perkins in his Chesterfield constituency . In a statement he added : 'The people working on my election campaign are doing so in a voluntary capacity . 'Two of the volunteers are students on four-year politics degrees who have during their third year been based in my office in Westminster and wanted to volunteer in the General Election campaign . 'The other two are local young party members who were between jobs and were wanting to dedicate themselves to the General election campaign . 'The local party arranged to cover their expenses . '
Email from MP Toby Perkins reveals that interns are paid £25 per week . That equates to £4 per day for putting in a 12-hour shift helping campaign . Comment: Party denies using interns and said the group are actually volunteers .