MPs’ business costs

Andy McDonald

IPSA paid £2,512,365 against 1,563 published rows for Andy McDonald between 2012-13 and 2025-26 as the member for Middlesbrough BC, then Middlesbrough and Thornaby East 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

55 claims, £212,243 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.	11	£159,413	75.1%
Office costs	Renting and running a constituency office: rent, utilities, equipment, stationery and postage.	37	£25,785	12.1%
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.	2	£21,890	10.3%
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.	5	£5,154	2.4%

Every year in the register

Andy McDonald’s own years, not the register’s: the first is 2012-13 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	Starting up and winding up	Total
2012-13	173	£23,631	£4,455	£8,617	£4,064	£543	£41,311
2013-14	216	£128,113	£17,598	£19,144	£7,225	£815	£172,895
2014-15	81	£126,953	£14,039	£22,734	£7,314	—	£171,039
2015-16	86	£139,351	£19,024	£20,794	£6,888	—	£186,057
2016-17	324	£134,292	£22,686	£20,800	£8,207	—	£185,985
2017-18	72	£143,368	£15,139	£22,969	£4,086	—	£185,561
2018-19	89	£145,030	£20,089	£21,681	£5,257	—	£192,057
2019-20	133	£144,480	£22,096	£22,340	£4,417	—	£193,334
2020-21	77	£152,270	£22,921	£18,932	£2,314	—	£196,437
2021-22	55	£159,413	£25,785	£21,890	£5,154	—	£212,243
2022-23	79	£171,013	£17,111	£21,533	£5,500	—	£215,157
2023-24	57	£203,845	£19,026	£23,150	£4,659	—	£250,680
2024-25	80	£238,313	£26,617	£24,264	£7,737	—	£296,930
2025-26	41	—	£9,781	£2,896	—	—	£12,677

A year in which Andy McDonald 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	£149,413
Bought-in services	10	£10,000

Office costs

Cost type	Claims	Paid
Rent	1	£7,336
Landline phone & internet - rental & usage	11	£5,344
Pooled staffing services	1	£4,200
Stationery & printing	18	£3,058
Equipment - purchase	2	£1,859
Working From Home Allowance	1	£1,560

Accommodation

Cost type	Claims	Paid
Rent	1	£21,286
Council tax	1	£604

Travel

Cost type	Claims	Paid
Rail	4	£4,921
Air travel	1	£233

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	£149,413	£149,413
31 March 2022	Accommodation	Rent	Aggregated figure for this business cost and budget category in 2021-22	£21,286	£21,286
31 March 2022	Office Costs	Rent	Aggregated figure for this business cost and budget category in 2021-22	£7,336	£7,336
27 April 2021	Office Costs	Pooled staffing services	Parliamentary Research Service (Labour)	£4,200	£4,200
31 March 2022	MP Travel	Rail	Aggregated figure for travel during 2021-22	£4,052	£4,052
31 March 2022	Office Costs	Working From Home Allowance	Aggregated figure for this business cost and budget category in 2021-22	£1,560	£1,560
17 June 2021	Office Costs	Equipment - purchase	Office furniture	£1,440	£1,440
28 February 2022	Office Costs	Training - staff	Social Media and Video making training	£1,051	£1,051
25 March 2022	Staffing	Bought-in services	Professional & consultancy	£1,000	£1,000
17 February 2022	Staffing	Bought-in services	Professional & consultancy	£1,000	£1,000
24 January 2022	Staffing	Bought-in services	Professional & consultancy	£1,000	£1,000
14 December 2021	Staffing	Bought-in services	Professional & consultancy	£1,000	£1,000
22 November 2021	Staffing	Bought-in services	Professional & consultancy	£1,000	£1,000
8 October 2021	Staffing	Bought-in services	Professional & consultancy	£1,000	£1,000
15 September 2021	Staffing	Bought-in services	Professional & consultancy	£1,000	£1,000

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 Andy McDonald 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 · Andy McDonald’s register of interests and votes · Sources