MPs’ business costs

David Davis

IPSA paid £2,713,984 against 2,747 published rows for David Davis between 2010-11 and 2025-26 as the member for Haltemprice and Howden CC, then Goole and Pocklington 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, 2010-11

131 claims, £111,204 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.47£88,85479.9%
Office costsRenting and running a constituency office: rent, utilities, equipment, stationery and postage.71£5,8945.3%
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.12£12,12110.9%
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.1£4,3353.9%

Every year in the register

David Davis’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
2010-11131£88,854£5,894£12,121£4,335£111,204
2011-12128£110,888£13,576£18,768£5,736£148,967
2012-13145£121,656£19,312£18,891£5,705£165,563
2013-14149£136,653£16,733£19,042£6,018£178,447
2014-15140£137,659£11,426£19,126£5,946£174,157
2015-16156£130,860£10,889£18,862£6,165£166,776
2016-17117£113,351£8,088£19,077£7,055£147,571
2017-18112£98,444£5,737£18,691£4,320£127,192
2018-19146£105,072£22,091£19,065£7,850£154,078
2019-20167£134,788£14,618£23,058£9,712£182,176
2020-21213£129,453£22,449£23,010£4,440£179,352
2021-22213£147,628£19,134£23,290£5,876£195,928
2022-23254£205,837£23,390£25,080£6,091£260,398
2023-24246£173,208£26,356£24,602£5,259£229,425
2024-25324£212,267£31,128£29,290£5,587£581£278,853
2025-26106£13,025£871£13,896

A year in which David Davis 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, 2010-11

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

Staffing

Cost typeClaimsPaid
Payroll1£84,861
Professional Services (Staff.)1£2,409
Public Tr UND Int/Volntr16£1,306
Public Tr RAIL Other Int/Volnt27£274
Public Tr Bus Int/Volntr2£4

Office costs

Cost typeClaimsPaid
Stationery Purchase27£1,977
Payment Telephone/Mobile24£1,396
Computer HW Purchase2£959
Const Office Tel. Usage/Rental5£547
Other3£470
Const Office Telephone Rental2£216

Accommodation

Cost typeClaimsPaid
Accommodation Rent8£11,600
Service Charges2£264
Electricity1£199
Telephone Usage/Rental1£58

Travel

Cost typeClaimsPaid
Aggregated Travel Costs1£4,335

Largest claims, 2010-11

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 2011StaffingPayrollTotal payroll costs for the 2010-11 year£84,861£84,861
31 March 2011TravelAggregated Travel CostsAggregated figure for travel during 2010-11£4,335£4,335
10 May 2010StaffingProfessional Services (Staff.)2010.05 Staffing Expenses£2,409£2,409
28 March 2011AccommodationAccommodation RentLondon Accom March - May 2011£1,450£1,450
28 January 2011AccommodationAccommodation RentNov10 - Jan11 Accomm Rent£1,450£1,450
28 December 2010AccommodationAccommodation RentNov10 - Jan11 Accomm Rent£1,450£1,450
28 November 2010AccommodationAccommodation RentLondon Accomm Oct/Nov 2010£1,450£1,450
28 November 2010AccommodationAccommodation RentNov10 - Jan11 Accomm Rent£1,450£1,450
28 October 2010AccommodationAccommodation RentLondon Accomm Oct/Nov 2010£1,450£1,450
28 September 2010AccommodationAccommodation RentLondon Accommodation£1,450£1,450
28 August 2010AccommodationAccommodation RentLondon Accommodation£1,450£1,450
11 November 2010Office CostsComputer HW PurchaseGeneral Admin November 2010£847£847
11 February 2011Office CostsStationery PurchaseGeneral Admin Feb 2011£435£435
3 March 2011Office CostsOtherGeneral Admin March 2011£422£422
1 September 2010AccommodationService ChargesLondon Accommodation£235£235

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 David Davis 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 · David Davis’s register of interests and votes · Sources