MPs’ business costs
Chris McDonald
IPSA paid £229,862 against 218 published rows for Chris McDonald between 2024-25 and 2025-26 as the member for Stockton North 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, 2025-26
39 claims, £11,930 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Office costs | Renting and running a constituency office: rent, utilities, equipment, stationery and postage. | 36 | £8,632 | 72.4% |
| 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 | £3,298 | 27.6% |
Every year in the register
Chris McDonald’s own years, not the register’s: the first is 2024-25 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2024-25 | 179 | £151,019 | £27,893 | £22,352 | £16,668 | £217,932 |
| 2025-26 | 39 | — | £8,632 | £3,298 | — | £11,930 |
A year in which Chris 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, 2025-26
The cost types IPSA records inside each heading, largest first by what it paid.
Office costs
| Cost type | Claims | Paid |
|---|---|---|
| Stationery & printing | 15 | £3,227 |
| Software & applications | 3 | £1,938 |
| Equipment - purchase | 7 | £1,205 |
| Bought-in services | 1 | £861 |
| Landline phone & internet - rental & usage | 8 | £663 |
| Advertising and contact cards | 1 | £500 |
Accommodation
| Cost type | Claims | Paid |
|---|---|---|
| Council tax | 2 | £3,058 |
| Moving Fees | 1 | £240 |
Largest claims, 2025-26
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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 April 2025 | Accommodation | Council tax | Council Tax | £2,939 | £2,939 |
| 18 November 2025 | Office Costs | Software & applications | ELECTED TECHNOLOGIES | £1,476 | £1,476 |
| 12 February 2025 | Office Costs | Bought-in services | Professional & consultancy | £861 | £861 |
| 28 March 2025 | Office Costs | Advertising and contact cards | Signage for Constituency Office - Image attached(as requested) as Receipt | £500 | £500 |
| 29 September 2025 | Office Costs | Stationery & printing | XMA October 2025 | £408 | £408 |
| 29 September 2025 | Office Costs | Stationery & printing | XMA October 2025 | £408 | £408 |
| 6 March 2026 | Office Costs | Stationery & printing | XMA March 2026 | £332 | £332 |
| 6 August 2025 | Office Costs | Software & applications | APPLE.COM/BILL | £300 | £300 |
| 14 September 2025 | Office Costs | Equipment - purchase | Other office equipment | £292 | £292 |
| 31 March 2025 | Office Costs | Equipment - purchase | Sundries | £250 | £250 |
| 30 July 2025 | Accommodation | Moving Fees | Agency fees | £240 | £240 |
| 11 September 2025 | Office Costs | Mobile telephone - equipment purchase | AMAZON [***] | £239 | £239 |
| 28 September 2025 | Office Costs | Equipment - purchase | Sundries | £231 | £231 |
| 26 March 2025 | Office Costs | Equipment - purchase | Sundries | £220 | £220 |
| 2 October 2025 | Office Costs | Stationery & printing | XMA November 2025 | £204 | £204 |
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 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 · Chris McDonald’s register of interests and votes · Sources