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, 2014-15

140 claims, £174,157 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.3£137,65979.0%
Office costsRenting and running a constituency office: rent, utilities, equipment, stationery and postage.107£11,4266.6%
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.29£19,12611.0%
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£5,9463.4%

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, 2014-15

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

Staffing

Cost typeClaimsPaid
Payroll1£136,961
Practice Liability Insurance1£578
Public Tr UND Volunteer1£121

Office costs

Cost typeClaimsPaid
Stationery Purchase44£6,329
Const Office Tel. Usage/Rental29£2,115
Newspapers/Journals19£706
Contents Insurance1£660
Website - Design/Production1£450
Install/Maint Office Equip.1£422

Accommodation

Cost typeClaimsPaid
Accommodation Rent12£17,400
Council Tax10£827
Electricity3£663
Telephone Usage/Rental4£235

Travel

Cost typeClaimsPaid
Aggregated Travel Costs1£5,946

Largest claims, 2014-15

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 2015StaffingPayrollTotal payroll costs for the 2014-15 year£136,961£136,961
31 March 2015TravelAggregated Travel CostsAggregated figure for travel during 2014-15£5,946£5,946
24 March 2015AccommodationAccommodation RentAccomodation March 2014£1,450£1,450
24 February 2015AccommodationAccommodation RentAccomodation Feb 2015£1,450£1,450
24 January 2015AccommodationAccommodation RentAccomodation Jan 2015£1,450£1,450
24 December 2014AccommodationAccommodation RentAccomodation December 2014£1,450£1,450
24 November 2014AccommodationAccommodation RentAccomodation November 2014£1,450£1,450
24 October 2014AccommodationAccommodation RentAccommodation October 2014£1,450£1,450
24 September 2014AccommodationAccommodation RentAccommodation Sept 2014£1,450£1,450
24 August 2014AccommodationAccommodation RentAccommodation Aug 2014£1,450£1,450
24 July 2014AccommodationAccommodation RentAccommodation July 2014£1,450£1,450
24 June 2014AccommodationAccommodation RentAccommodation June 2014£1,450£1,450
24 May 2014AccommodationAccommodation RentLondon Accommodation May 2014£1,450£1,450
24 April 2014AccommodationAccommodation RentAccommodation April 2014£1,450£1,450
29 July 2014Office CostsContents InsuranceGeneral Admin July 2014£660£660

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