MPs’ business costs

Chris Bryant

IPSA paid £2,911,335 against 1,779 published rows for Chris Bryant between 2010-11 and 2025-26 as the member for Rhondda CC, then Rhondda and Ogmore CC. 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

96 claims, £205,746 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	£172,596	83.9%
Office costs	Renting and running a constituency office: rent, utilities, equipment, stationery and postage.	81	£18,425	9.0%
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.	3	£10,409	5.1%
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.	10	£4,315	2.1%

Every year in the register

Chris Bryant’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	114	£90,223	£11,891	£15,558	£8,208	£1,700	£127,580
2011-12	126	£105,343	£12,447	£19,774	£9,475	—	£147,039
2012-13	112	£119,456	£13,668	£19,915	£10,643	—	£163,682
2013-14	128	£119,773	£15,287	£20,061	£10,823	—	£165,944
2014-15	90	£118,594	£12,853	£20,553	£8,133	—	£160,134
2015-16	116	£134,669	£15,014	£9,862	£9,271	£1,758	£170,574
2016-17	108	£142,720	£18,242	£8,735	£12,174	—	£181,871
2017-18	109	£131,119	£21,828	£8,849	£10,881	—	£172,677
2018-19	92	£139,343	£24,198	£5,150	£12,955	£650	£182,297
2019-20	144	£135,997	£24,849	£5,266	£16,779	—	£182,892
2020-21	96	£172,596	£18,425	£10,409	£4,315	—	£205,746
2021-22	131	£177,519	£21,720	£6,390	£10,157	—	£215,786
2022-23	136	£223,681	£17,185	—	£12,377	—	£253,242
2023-24	144	£229,252	£30,776	£6,329	£19,169	—	£285,526
2024-25	88	£238,344	£21,255	£6,630	£10,893	—	£277,121
2025-26	45	£1,950	£10,403	£6,870	—	—	£19,223

A year in which Chris Bryant 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	£168,996
Pooled staffing services	1	£3,600

Office costs

Cost type	Claims	Paid
Rent	2	£5,500
Landline phone & internet - rental & usage	15	£2,429
Equipment - purchase	7	£2,091
Utilities	6	£1,202
Advertising and contact cards	3	£1,124
Working From Home Allowance	1	£1,093

Accommodation

Cost type	Claims	Paid
Service charge & ground Rent	2	£8,574
Council tax	1	£1,835

Travel

Cost type	Claims	Paid
Rail	2	£2,136
Mileage - car	1	£1,440
Parking	2	£563
Congestion charge & toll	2	£126
Other public transport	2	£31
Taxi	1	£20

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	£168,996	£168,996
1 April 2021	Accommodation	Service charge & ground Rent	Service charge and ground rent	£5,000	£5,000
27 May 2020	Staffing	Pooled staffing services	Parliamentary Research Service (Labour)	£3,600	£3,600
30 April 2020	Accommodation	Service charge & ground Rent	service charge	£3,574	£3,574
16 March 2021	Office Costs	Rent	Office Rent 01/10/20-31/03/21	£2,750	£2,750
3 November 2020	Office Costs	Rent	Rent of office at Oxford House period 01/04/20 - 30/09/20	£2,750	£2,750
12 May 2020	Accommodation	Council tax	LAMBETH INTERNET PAYM	£1,835	£1,835
31 March 2021	MP Travel	Rail	Aggregated figure for travel during 2020-21	£1,815	£1,815
22 July 2020	Office Costs	Equipment - purchase	Computer, laptop, PC, tablet & accessories	£1,498	£1,498
31 March 2021	MP Travel	Mileage - car	Aggregated figure for travel during 2020-21	£1,440	£1,440
31 March 2021	Office Costs	Working From Home Allowance	Aggregated figure for 2020-21	£1,093	£1,093
11 February 2021	Office Costs	Website hosting and design	HIGHSTREET MEDIA GROU	£758	£758
14 October 2020	Office Costs	Advertising and contact cards	4 x Just Up Your Street Surgery Adverts	£624	£624
22 July 2020	Office Costs	Software & applications	ELECTED TECHNOLOGIES	£600	£600
31 March 2021	MP Travel	Parking	Aggregated figure for travel during 2020-21	£522	£522

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 Chris Bryant 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 · Chris Bryant’s register of interests and votes · Sources