MPs’ business costs

Clive Lewis

IPSA paid £2,282,479 against 1,489 published rows for Clive Lewis between 2015-16 and 2025-26 as the member for Norwich South 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, 2016-17

184 claims, £180,354 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.	97	£133,818	74.2%
Office costs	Renting and running a constituency office: rent, utilities, equipment, stationery and postage.	66	£22,181	12.3%
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.	20	£20,329	11.3%
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	£4,026	2.2%

Every year in the register

Clive Lewis’s own years, not the register’s: the first is 2015-16 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	Starting up and winding up	Miscellaneous	Total
2015-16	302	£123,472	£15,667	£10,375	£4,326	£5,991	—	£159,830
2016-17	184	£133,818	£22,181	£20,329	£4,026	—	—	£180,354
2017-18	122	£149,228	£16,389	£24,572	£3,155	—	—	£193,343
2018-19	74	£148,351	£24,078	£25,285	£4,208	—	—	£201,922
2019-20	86	£147,755	£23,198	£25,723	£5,158	—	—	£201,835
2020-21	127	£180,600	£25,735	£23,626	£2,989	—	£884	£233,833
2021-22	91	£182,810	£24,998	£26,056	£3,449	—	£232	£237,545
2022-23	136	£199,198	£31,770	£25,950	£5,425	—	—	£262,343
2023-24	138	£231,881	£30,780	£27,079	£5,372	—	—	£295,112
2024-25	162	£229,103	£28,693	£28,427	£5,574	—	—	£291,796
2025-26	67	£3,880	£15,204	£5,063	—	—	£419	£24,566

A year in which Clive Lewis 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, 2016-17

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

Staffing

Cost type	Claims	Paid
Payroll	1	£122,933
Professional Services (Staff.)	11	£9,758
Staff Training Costs	1	£439
Own Vehicle Car Volunteer	30	£255
Food & Drink Volunteer	39	£194
Public Tr RAIL Volunteer - RT	4	£192

Office costs

Cost type	Claims	Paid
Const Office Rent	6	£17,135
Const Office Tel. Usage/Rental	13	£1,877
Other Equip Purchase	3	£1,265
Stationery Purchase	20	£1,020
Computer SW Purchase	1	£500
Computer HW Purchase	2	£159

Accommodation

Cost type	Claims	Paid
Accommodation Rent	13	£17,541
Ground Rent	1	£1,970
Council Tax	3	£1,170
Water	1	£129
Budget Repayment (Accomm.)	2	£-482

Travel

Cost type	Claims	Paid
Aggregated Travel Costs	1	£4,026

Largest claims, 2016-17

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 2017	Staffing	Payroll	Total Staffing budget payroll costs for the 2016-17 year	£122,933	£122,933
31 March 2017	Travel	Aggregated Travel Costs	Aggregated figure for travel during 2016-17	£4,026	£4,026
16 September 2016	Office Costs	Const Office Rent	—	£3,959	£3,959
16 June 2016	Office Costs	Const Office Rent	—	£3,959	£3,959
15 December 2016	Office Costs	Const Office Rent	—	£3,958	£3,958
1 April 2016	Office Costs	Const Office Rent	—	£3,861	£3,861
30 June 2016	Staffing	Professional Services (Staff.)	Consultation by Nick Parrot	£2,890	£2,890
17 March 2017	Office Costs	Const Office Rent	—	£2,422	£2,422
23 June 2016	Accommodation	Ground Rent	C Lewis - Rental London Flat	£1,970	£1,970
28 February 2017	Staffing	Professional Services (Staff.)	NP Consultant	£1,927	£1,927
15 February 2017	Staffing	Professional Services (Staff.)	Clive Lewis - NP consultancy	£1,927	£1,927
16 February 2017	Accommodation	Accommodation Rent	—	£1,700	£1,700
20 January 2017	Accommodation	Accommodation Rent	—	£1,700	£1,700
18 December 2016	Accommodation	Accommodation Rent	—	£1,700	£1,700
18 November 2016	Accommodation	Accommodation Rent	—	£1,700	£1,700

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 Clive Lewis 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 · Clive Lewis’s register of interests and votes · Sources