MPs’ business costs

Dame Chi Onwurah

IPSA paid £3,019,953 against 2,874 published rows for Dame Chi Onwurah between 2010-11 and 2025-26 as the member for Newcastle upon Tyne Central BC, then Newcastle upon Tyne Central and West 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, 2010-11

141 claims, £107,842 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.	9	£73,857	68.5%
Office costs	Renting and running a constituency office: rent, utilities, equipment, stationery and postage.	94	£14,516	13.5%
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.	37	£10,442	9.7%
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.	1	£9,028	8.4%

Every year in the register

Dame Chi Onwurah’s own years, not the register’s: the first is 2010-11 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	Miscellaneous	Total
2010-11	141	£73,857	£14,516	£10,442	£9,028	—	£107,842
2011-12	151	£114,060	£19,087	£11,301	£14,487	—	£158,936
2012-13	196	£123,873	£18,196	£11,361	£16,334	—	£169,764
2013-14	179	£132,663	£17,232	£11,137	£15,547	£314	£176,892
2014-15	135	£141,906	£18,467	£10,736	£11,445	—	£182,554
2015-16	136	£135,646	£18,482	£9,998	£11,921	—	£176,046
2016-17	186	£137,510	£19,532	£11,091	£15,419	—	£183,552
2017-18	186	£136,357	£22,443	£14,284	£15,515	£863	£189,462
2018-19	175	£152,418	£22,282	£13,294	£17,377	—	£205,371
2019-20	178	£138,316	£18,224	£12,368	£19,512	—	£188,419
2020-21	217	£188,531	£23,828	£13,205	£5,130	—	£230,694
2021-22	195	£170,440	£18,563	£14,374	£10,661	—	£214,037
2022-23	217	£178,835	£20,134	£15,192	£15,484	£960	£230,605
2023-24	274	£216,276	£30,719	£19,014	£14,173	£816	£280,998
2024-25	220	£237,596	£22,830	£20,486	£22,739	—	£303,650
2025-26	88	—	£17,200	£3,931	—	—	£21,131

A year in which Dame Chi Onwurah 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, 2010-11

The cost types IPSA records inside each heading, largest first by what it paid.

Staffing

Cost type	Claims	Paid
Payroll	1	£69,564
Professional Services (Staff.)	7	£4,182
Public Tr RAIL Int/Volntr - RT	1	£111

Office costs

Cost type	Claims	Paid
Const Office Rent	6	£2,969
Stationery Purchase	31	£2,951
Computer HW Purchase	5	£2,647
Const Office Hire of Premises	3	£1,191
Const Office Tel. Usage/Rental	9	£792
Payment Telephone/Mobile	7	£520

Accommodation

Cost type	Claims	Paid
Accommodation Rent	13	£7,766
Council Tax	2	£963
Electricity	8	£509
Service Charges	2	£501
Water	1	£335
Telephone Usage/Rental	4	£187

Travel

Cost type	Claims	Paid
Aggregated Travel Costs	1	£9,028

Largest claims, 2010-11

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 2011	Staffing	Payroll	Total payroll costs for the 2010-11 year	£69,564	£69,564
31 March 2011	Travel	Aggregated Travel Costs	Aggregated figure for travel during 2010-11	£9,028	£9,028
14 March 2011	Office Costs	Computer HW Purchase	Dell Laptop Purchase	£1,376	£1,376
7 June 2010	Staffing	Professional Services (Staff.)	Employment	£1,283	£1,283
18 May 2010	Office Costs	Const Office Rent	Constituency Expenditure June	£984	£984
23 February 2011	Office Costs	Computer HW Purchase	PC for Constituency Office	£852	£852
7 May 2010	Accommodation	Council Tax	Constit Home Expenses	£756	£756
30 March 2011	Accommodation	Accommodation Rent	—	£750	£750
13 December 2010	Accommodation	Accommodation Rent	—	£750	£750
16 June 2010	Staffing	Professional Services (Staff.)	Employment	£714	£714
28 June 2010	Staffing	Professional Services (Staff.)	Employment	£709	£709
14 March 2011	Accommodation	Accommodation Rent	—	£697	£697
14 February 2011	Accommodation	Accommodation Rent	—	£697	£697
19 November 2010	Accommodation	Accommodation Rent	Accomodation Rent November	£697	£697
19 October 2010	Accommodation	Accommodation Rent	Accomodation Rent	£697	£697

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 Dame Chi Onwurah 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 · Dame Chi Onwurah’s register of interests and votes · Sources