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, 2015-16

156 claims, £166,776 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.	4	£130,860	78.5%
Office costs	Renting and running a constituency office: rent, utilities, equipment, stationery and postage.	120	£10,889	6.5%
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.	31	£18,862	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	£6,165	3.7%

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.

Year	Claims	Staffing	Office costs	Accommodation	Travel	Miscellaneous	Total
2010-11	131	£88,854	£5,894	£12,121	£4,335	—	£111,204
2011-12	128	£110,888	£13,576	£18,768	£5,736	—	£148,967
2012-13	145	£121,656	£19,312	£18,891	£5,705	—	£165,563
2013-14	149	£136,653	£16,733	£19,042	£6,018	—	£178,447
2014-15	140	£137,659	£11,426	£19,126	£5,946	—	£174,157
2015-16	156	£130,860	£10,889	£18,862	£6,165	—	£166,776
2016-17	117	£113,351	£8,088	£19,077	£7,055	—	£147,571
2017-18	112	£98,444	£5,737	£18,691	£4,320	—	£127,192
2018-19	146	£105,072	£22,091	£19,065	£7,850	—	£154,078
2019-20	167	£134,788	£14,618	£23,058	£9,712	—	£182,176
2020-21	213	£129,453	£22,449	£23,010	£4,440	—	£179,352
2021-22	213	£147,628	£19,134	£23,290	£5,876	—	£195,928
2022-23	254	£205,837	£23,390	£25,080	£6,091	—	£260,398
2023-24	246	£173,208	£26,356	£24,602	£5,259	—	£229,425
2024-25	324	£212,267	£31,128	£29,290	£5,587	£581	£278,853
2025-26	106	—	£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, 2015-16

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

Staffing

Cost type	Claims	Paid
Payroll	1	£125,306
Pooled Services: Direct	2	£4,977
Practice Liability Insurance	1	£578

Office costs

Cost type	Claims	Paid
Stationery Purchase	36	£3,822
Const Office Tel. Usage/Rental	30	£2,150
Newspapers/Journals	37	£1,568
Computer SW Purchase	2	£1,207
Other Equip Purchase	1	£1,090
Software Purchase	3	£403

Accommodation

Cost type	Claims	Paid
Accommodation Rent	12	£17,400
Council Tax	10	£822
Electricity	4	£352
Telephone Usage/Rental	5	£288

Travel

Cost type	Claims	Paid
Aggregated Travel Costs	1	£6,165

Largest claims, 2015-16

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 2016	Staffing	Payroll	Total payroll costs for the 2015-16 year	£125,306	£125,306
31 March 2016	Travel	Aggregated Travel Costs	Aggregated figure for travel during 2015-16	£6,165	£6,165
12 June 2015	Staffing	Pooled Services: Direct	PRU	£2,977	£2,977
1 April 2015	Staffing	Pooled Services: Direct	ERG	£2,000	£2,000
24 March 2016	Accommodation	Accommodation Rent	Accommodation March 2016	£1,450	£1,450
24 February 2016	Accommodation	Accommodation Rent	Accomodation February 2016	£1,450	£1,450
24 January 2016	Accommodation	Accommodation Rent	Accommodation January 2016	£1,450	£1,450
24 December 2015	Accommodation	Accommodation Rent	Accommodation December 2015	£1,450	£1,450
24 November 2015	Accommodation	Accommodation Rent	Accomodation November 2015	£1,450	£1,450
24 October 2015	Accommodation	Accommodation Rent	Accommodation October 2015	£1,450	£1,450
24 September 2015	Accommodation	Accommodation Rent	Accommodation September 2015	£1,450	£1,450
24 August 2015	Accommodation	Accommodation Rent	Accomodation August 2015	£1,450	£1,450
24 July 2015	Accommodation	Accommodation Rent	Accomodation July 2015	£1,450	£1,450
24 June 2015	Accommodation	Accommodation Rent	London Accomodation June 2015	£1,450	£1,450
24 May 2015	Accommodation	Accommodation Rent	London Accomodation May 2015	£1,450	£1,450

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