Newly-appointed MEP Joseph Cuschieri did not resign from his Labour Party job but stayed on the staff list while taking “long unpaid leave”, The Sunday Times has learnt.

The former St Julian’s deputy mayor had given up his parliamentary seat in 2008 so that party leader Joseph Muscat could be co-opted to Parliament.

In return he was given an unspecified full-time position at Labour’s Mile-End Headquarters and documents submitted to the European Parliament’s administration reveal he never quit the job.

According to Mr Cuschieri’s financial declaration, submitted to the EP last month, his Labour salary for the three years before he became an MEP in December was between €1,000 and €5,000 a month, although he did not give a specific figure.

After this newspaper reported he had not resigned, both Mr Cuschieri’s office and the Labour Party declined to reply to questions by The Sunday Times.

Labour has to date refused to state Mr Cuschieri’s job title and his annual salary.

Sources close to Labour told The Sunday Times that Mr Cuschieri did not have a specific role at the headquarters and his employment was a compromise swap for his parliamentary seat so that Dr Muscat could become opposition leader.

“Mr Cuschieri’s job was just the result of a deal struck with Mr Muscat,” a Labour official said.

“No one really knows how much Mr Cuschieri’s salary was or what his designation was. He used to spend some time at the party’s electoral office.”

Mr Cuschieri is also refusing to give details about employees at his private offices in both Malta and Brussels. The EP grants MEPs more than €16,000 a month to pay such staff. According to EP records, the only accredited assistant in Mr Cuschieri’s office is a Bulgarian citizen.