MPs’ business costs

Dame Diana Johnson

IPSA paid £2,952,269 against 2,853 published rows for Dame Diana Johnson between 2010-11 and 2025-26 as the member for Kingston upon Hull North BC, then Kingston upon Hull North and Cottingham 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, 2020-21

209 claims, £231,607 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.	15	£188,651	81.5%
Office costs	Renting and running a constituency office: rent, utilities, equipment, stationery and postage.	126	£29,958	12.9%
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.	63	£10,631	4.6%
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.	5	£2,368	1.0%

Every year in the register

Dame Diana Johnson’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	146	£78,989	£14,632	£4,054	£5,700	—	£103,376
2011-12	190	£120,683	£21,247	£4,368	£8,630	—	£154,928
2012-13	171	£130,793	£22,094	£4,701	£8,884	—	£166,472
2013-14	177	£135,872	£19,666	£9,038	£9,295	£845	£174,716
2014-15	177	£138,403	£23,088	£10,138	£9,740	—	£181,369
2015-16	200	£139,057	£22,620	£9,987	£8,668	—	£180,332
2016-17	176	£135,747	£22,220	£10,095	£9,844	—	£177,905
2017-18	167	£147,194	£23,841	£10,585	£5,945	—	£187,564
2018-19	172	£139,857	£23,486	£10,067	£11,932	£805	£186,147
2019-20	190	£151,890	£24,621	£9,096	£10,425	—	£196,032
2020-21	209	£188,651	£29,958	£10,631	£2,368	—	£231,607
2021-22	182	£184,019	£21,768	£10,567	£6,622	—	£222,977
2022-23	193	£200,375	£22,163	£12,516	£10,444	—	£245,497
2023-24	217	£212,979	£24,794	£12,513	£10,602	£757	£261,645
2024-25	187	£197,567	£23,944	£12,648	£10,225	£1,886	£246,269
2025-26	99	£13,798	£20,825	£808	—	—	£35,431

A year in which Dame Diana Johnson 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, 2020-21

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

Staffing

Cost type	Claims	Paid
Payroll	1	£174,936
Bought-in services	12	£10,080
Pooled staffing services	1	£3,600
Health & welfare - staff	1	£35

Office costs

Cost type	Claims	Paid
Rent	11	£10,032
Equipment - purchase	42	£8,568
Equipment - hire	3	£2,376
Mobile telephone - contract & usage	14	£1,914
Stationery & printing	23	£1,705
Working From Home Allowance	1	£1,606

Accommodation

Cost type	Claims	Paid
Rent	12	£7,800
Council tax	10	£1,354
Utilities	28	£856
Landline phone & internet - rental & usage	13	£621

Travel

Cost type	Claims	Paid
Mileage - car	2	£1,293
Rail	3	£1,075

Largest claims, 2020-21

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 2021	Staffing	Payroll	Total Staffing budget payroll costs for the 2020-21 year	£174,936	£174,936
14 September 2020	Staffing	Pooled staffing services	Parliamentary Research Service (Labour)	£3,600	£3,600
14 July 2020	Office Costs	Equipment - purchase	Computer, laptop, PC, tablet & accessories	£2,158	£2,158
31 March 2021	Office Costs	Working From Home Allowance	Aggregated figure for 2020-21	£1,606	£1,606
8 January 2021	Office Costs	Equipment - purchase	Computer, laptop, PC, tablet & accessories	£1,269	£1,269
31 March 2021	MP Travel	Mileage - car	Aggregated figure for travel during 2020-21	£1,264	£1,264
5 November 2020	Office Costs	Equipment - purchase	Computer, laptop, PC, tablet & accessories	£1,252	£1,252
7 January 2021	Office Costs	Equipment - purchase	Computer, laptop, PC, tablet & accessories	£1,211	£1,211
16 March 2021	Office Costs	Rent	—	£912	£912
16 February 2021	Office Costs	Rent	—	£912	£912
14 January 2021	Office Costs	Rent	—	£912	£912
22 December 2020	Office Costs	Rent	—	£912	£912
22 December 2020	Office Costs	Rent	—	£912	£912
22 December 2020	Office Costs	Rent	—	£912	£912
22 December 2020	Office Costs	Rent	—	£912	£912

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 Dame Diana Johnson 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 · Dame Diana Johnson’s register of interests and votes · Sources