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, 2020-21

217 claims, £230,694 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.	2	£188,531	81.7%
Office costs	Renting and running a constituency office: rent, utilities, equipment, stationery and postage.	187	£23,828	10.3%
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.	21	£13,205	5.7%
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.	7	£5,130	2.2%

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, 2020-21

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

Staffing

Cost type	Claims	Paid
Payroll	1	£188,492
Health & welfare - staff	1	£39

Office costs

Cost type	Claims	Paid
Rent	11	£6,738
Advertising and contact cards	3	£3,090
Equipment - purchase	34	£2,919
Working From Home Allowance	1	£2,027
Mobile telephone - equipment purchase	9	£1,522
Landline phone & internet - rental & usage	9	£1,324

Accommodation

Cost type	Claims	Paid
Rent	12	£10,800
Council tax	1	£1,286
Utilities	8	£1,119

Travel

Cost type	Claims	Paid
Rail	2	£4,814
Mileage - car	1	£180
Other public transport	1	£89
Railcard	1	£30
Parking	2	£16

Largest claims, 2020-21

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 2021	Staffing	Payroll	Total Staffing budget payroll costs for the 2020-21 year	£188,492	£188,492
31 March 2021	MP Travel	Rail	Aggregated figure for travel during 2020-21	£3,880	£3,880
8 December 2020	Office Costs	Advertising and contact cards	Leaflet Distribution Newcastle	£2,210	£2,210
31 March 2021	Office Costs	Working From Home Allowance	Aggregated figure for 2020-21	£2,027	£2,027
3 April 2020	Accommodation	Council tax	CITY OF NEWCASTLE INTE	£1,286	£1,286
31 March 2021	Dependant Travel	Rail	Aggregated figure for travel during 2020-21	£934	£934
9 March 2021	Accommodation	Rent	—	£900	£900
9 February 2021	Accommodation	Rent	—	£900	£900
12 January 2021	Accommodation	Rent	—	£900	£900
8 December 2020	Accommodation	Rent	—	£900	£900
8 November 2020	Accommodation	Rent	—	£900	£900
11 October 2020	Accommodation	Rent	—	£900	£900
8 September 2020	Accommodation	Rent	—	£900	£900
9 August 2020	Accommodation	Rent	—	£900	£900
8 July 2020	Accommodation	Rent	—	£900	£900

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