MPs’ business costs
Alex Sobel
IPSA paid £2,034,359 against 718 published rows for Alex Sobel between 2017-18 and 2025-26 as the member for Leeds North West BC, then Leeds Central and Headingley BC. These are the costs of running an office and employing staff under IPSA’s rules. They are not salary, and the largest part of them is wages IPSA pays to the member’s employees rather than money the member receives.
By category, 2021-22
66 claims, £264,225 paid. The headings are IPSA’s own categories grouped; the categories inside each are named on the register page.
| Category | What it covers | Claims | Paid | Share |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Staffing | The salaries and employment costs of the people an MP employs to run their office and casework. IPSA pays these directly; they are not money an MP receives. | 3 | £201,677 | 76.3% |
| Office costs | Renting and running a constituency office: rent, utilities, equipment, stationery and postage. | 31 | £25,294 | 9.6% |
| Accommodation | The cost of somewhere to stay for an MP whose constituency is far enough from Westminster that IPSA's rules allow it. An MP representing a London seat is not eligible on the same terms. | 14 | £31,304 | 11.8% |
| Travel | Journeys between the constituency and Westminster and within the constituency. Until 2018-19 IPSA published one travel category; from 2019-20 it publishes travel by the MP, by staff and by a dependant separately. | 18 | £5,950 | 2.3% |
Every year in the register
Alex Sobel’s own years, not the register’s: the first is 2017-18 and the last is 2025-26. Figures are not adjusted for inflation, so a rise between two distant years is partly a rise in prices. Select a year to read it on its own.
| Year | Claims | Staffing | Office costs | Accommodation | Travel | Total |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2017-18 | 58 | £93,368 | £26,003 | £14,003 | £6,995 | £140,369 |
| 2018-19 | 70 | £153,608 | £24,846 | £23,219 | £12,005 | £213,677 |
| 2019-20 | 80 | £142,982 | £26,104 | £25,271 | £14,127 | £208,484 |
| 2020-21 | 85 | £184,740 | £20,598 | £25,346 | £5,844 | £236,527 |
| 2021-22 | 66 | £201,677 | £25,294 | £31,304 | £5,950 | £264,225 |
| 2022-23 | 82 | £218,824 | £41,146 | £31,200 | £15,478 | £306,648 |
| 2023-24 | 94 | £233,576 | £31,191 | £32,000 | £15,208 | £311,974 |
| 2024-25 | 142 | £236,910 | £33,288 | £36,007 | £26,030 | £332,234 |
| 2025-26 | 41 | £12,300 | £7,920 | — | — | £20,220 |
A year in which Alex Sobel joined or left the House part-way through is a part year, and is not comparable with a full one.
What each category is made of, 2021-22
The cost types IPSA records inside each heading, largest first by what it paid.
Staffing
| Cost type | Claims | Paid |
|---|---|---|
| Payroll | 1 | £195,977 |
| Pooled staffing services | 1 | £4,200 |
| Bought-in services | 1 | £1,500 |
Office costs
| Cost type | Claims | Paid |
|---|---|---|
| Rent | 1 | £19,299 |
| Working From Home Allowance | 1 | £1,880 |
| Software & applications | 10 | £1,394 |
| Landline phone & internet - rental & usage | 3 | £781 |
| Stationery & printing | 4 | £551 |
| Landline phone & internet - installation & equipment purchase | 1 | £395 |
Accommodation
| Cost type | Claims | Paid |
|---|---|---|
| Rent | 12 | £31,200 |
| Utilities | 2 | £104 |
Travel
| Cost type | Claims | Paid |
|---|---|---|
| Rail | 6 | £3,421 |
| Mileage - car | 3 | £1,780 |
| Hotel - UK Not London | 2 | £576 |
| Parking | 3 | £88 |
| Other public transport | 4 | £85 |
Largest claims, 2021-22
The 15 rows IPSA paid most against, with IPSA’s own description of each. Read the description before the amount: IPSA publishes most of a member’s staffing as one row for the whole year — “Total Staffing budget payroll costs for the ⟨year⟩ year” — so the largest row here is usually a year of wages for the member’s employees and not something bought.
| Date | Category | Cost type | Description | Claimed | Paid |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 31 March 2022 | Staffing | Payroll | Total Staffing budget payroll costs for the 2021-22 year | £195,977 | £195,977 |
| 31 March 2022 | Office Costs | Rent | Aggregated figure for this business cost and budget category in 2021-22 | £19,299 | £19,299 |
| 27 April 2021 | Staffing | Pooled staffing services | Parliamentary Research Service (Labour) | £4,200 | £4,200 |
| 31 March 2022 | MP Travel | Rail | Aggregated figure for travel during 2021-22 | £2,602 | £2,602 |
| 8 March 2022 | Accommodation | Rent | — | £2,600 | £2,600 |
| 8 February 2022 | Accommodation | Rent | — | £2,600 | £2,600 |
| 11 January 2022 | Accommodation | Rent | — | £2,600 | £2,600 |
| 9 December 2021 | Accommodation | Rent | — | £2,600 | £2,600 |
| 9 November 2021 | Accommodation | Rent | Rent | £2,600 | £2,600 |
| 12 October 2021 | Accommodation | Rent | Rent | £2,600 | £2,600 |
| 9 September 2021 | Accommodation | Rent | Rent | £2,600 | £2,600 |
| 10 August 2021 | Accommodation | Rent | Rent | £2,600 | £2,600 |
| 8 July 2021 | Accommodation | Rent | — | £2,600 | £2,600 |
| 8 June 2021 | Accommodation | Rent | — | £2,600 | £2,600 |
| 11 May 2021 | Accommodation | Rent | — | £2,600 | £2,600 |
What this page does not show
Whether any of it was justified. IPSA accepted these claims under its own rules and the register records what was paid, not whether it should have been. A large total is not a finding about the member.
Nor how Alex Sobel compares with another member. After staffing the largest headings are accommodation and travel, and both are decided mostly by where a constituency is: a member several hundred miles from Westminster is eligible for costs a member with a London seat is not. Two members’ totals are two sets of rules as much as two sets of choices, and the length of service differs too.
It is also not pay. IPSA sets and publishes MPs’ salaries separately and they are not in this register; the staffing figure here is the salaries of the member’s employees.
All MPs’ business costs · Alex Sobel’s register of interests and votes · Sources