Civometry

MPs’ business costs

Sir Christopher Chope

IPSA paid £2,189,430 against 1,597 published rows for Sir Christopher Chope between 2010-11 and 2025-26 as the member for Christchurch 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, 2024-25

95 claims, £249,241 paid. The headings are IPSA’s own categories grouped; the categories inside each are named on the register page.

CategoryWhat it coversClaimsPaidShare
StaffingThe 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.4£219,33488.0%
Office costsRenting and running a constituency office: rent, utilities, equipment, stationery and postage.81£21,1528.5%
AccommodationThe 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.4£3,1981.3%
TravelJourneys 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.6£5,5562.2%

Every year in the register

Sir Christopher Chope’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.

YearClaimsStaffingOffice costsAccommodationTravelMiscellaneousTotal
2010-1158£64,111£9,095£5,046£5,987—£84,239
2011-1285£74,664£16,936£3,857£7,244—£102,701
2012-13103£77,514£16,316£2,522£6,641—£102,993
2013-14127£77,331£16,732£6,316£6,897—£107,276
2014-15100£83,169£15,364£4,589£8,629—£111,750
2015-1680£90,600£11,849£4,680£7,015—£114,144
2016-17103£93,210£22,326£8,165£7,778£216£131,695
2017-18104£93,883£19,942£5,963£5,421—£125,208
2018-19109£100,196£18,219£5,107£8,150—£131,672
2019-20134£106,456£21,842£5,281£4,949—£138,528
2020-21106£108,218£23,727£3,431£4,031—£139,406
2021-22110£130,378£18,502£2,653£2,664—£154,197
2022-2382£200,825£18,309£4,263£4,418—£227,814
2023-24128£209,192£32,040£6,717£5,526—£253,475
2024-2595£219,334£21,152£3,198£5,556—£249,241
2025-2673—£9,552£5,539——£15,091

A year in which Sir Christopher Chope 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, 2024-25

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

Staffing

Cost typeClaimsPaid
Payroll1£217,834
Bought-in services3£1,500

Office costs

Cost typeClaimsPaid
Rent3£6,750
Stationery & printing34£5,076
Maintenance, Redecorations & Repairs1£2,285
Landline phone & internet - rental & usage11£1,934
Website hosting and design4£1,860
Newspapers, journals, magazines11£1,808

Accommodation

Cost typeClaimsPaid
Utilities4£3,198

Travel

Cost typeClaimsPaid
Mileage - car2£3,375
Congestion charge & toll2£1,628
Rail2£554

Largest claims, 2024-25

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.

DateCategoryCost typeDescriptionClaimedPaid
31 March 2025StaffingPayrollTotal Staffing budget payroll costs for the 2024-25 year£217,834£217,834
31 March 2025MP TravelMileage - carAggregated figure for travel during 2024-25£2,295£2,295
29 March 2025Office CostsMaintenance, Redecorations & Repairsdecorating and repair -37 bargates£2,285£2,285
29 March 2025Office CostsRentoffice rent -37 Bargates£2,250£2,250
6 January 2025Office CostsRentquarterly rent for 37 bargates£2,250£2,250
10 October 2024Office CostsRentquarterly rent for 37 Bargates£2,250£2,250
25 March 2025AccommodationUtilitiesGas£1,394£1,394
31 December 2024Office CostsNewspapers, journals, magazinesannual renewal of subscription to The Telegraph£1,144£1,144
31 March 2025Staff TravelMileage - carAggregated figure for travel during 2024-25£1,080£1,080
31 March 2025MP TravelCongestion charge & tollAggregated figure for travel during 2024-25£923£923
31 March 2025AccommodationUtilitiesOther fuel£789£789
31 March 2025AccommodationUtilitiesOther fuel£763£763
31 March 2025Staff TravelCongestion charge & tollAggregated figure for travel during 2024-25£705£705
29 March 2025Office CostsWebsite hosting and designwebsite services for chrischope.com -march£500£500
28 February 2025Office CostsWebsite hosting and designwebsite services for chrischope.com -february£500£500

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 Sir Christopher Chope 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 · Sir Christopher Chope’s register of interests and votes · Sources