Civometry

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, 2022-23

193 claims, £245,497 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.15£200,37581.6%
Office costsRenting and running a constituency office: rent, utilities, equipment, stationery and postage.98£22,1639.0%
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.64£12,5165.1%
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.16£10,4444.3%

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.

YearClaimsStaffingOffice costsAccommodationTravelMiscellaneousTotal
2010-11146£78,989£14,632£4,054£5,700—£103,376
2011-12190£120,683£21,247£4,368£8,630—£154,928
2012-13171£130,793£22,094£4,701£8,884—£166,472
2013-14177£135,872£19,666£9,038£9,295£845£174,716
2014-15177£138,403£23,088£10,138£9,740—£181,369
2015-16200£139,057£22,620£9,987£8,668—£180,332
2016-17176£135,747£22,220£10,095£9,844—£177,905
2017-18167£147,194£23,841£10,585£5,945—£187,564
2018-19172£139,857£23,486£10,067£11,932£805£186,147
2019-20190£151,890£24,621£9,096£10,425—£196,032
2020-21209£188,651£29,958£10,631£2,368—£231,607
2021-22182£184,019£21,768£10,567£6,622—£222,977
2022-23193£200,375£22,163£12,516£10,444—£245,497
2023-24217£212,979£24,794£12,513£10,602£757£261,645
2024-25187£197,567£23,944£12,648£10,225£1,886£246,269
2025-2699£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, 2022-23

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

Staffing

Cost typeClaimsPaid
Payroll1£184,837
Bought-in services12£10,410
Pooled staffing services1£4,200
Training - staff1£928

Office costs

Cost typeClaimsPaid
Rent12£7,020
Equipment - hire5£3,960
Stationery & printing31£2,386
Mobile telephone - contract & usage12£2,102
Landline phone & internet - rental & usage4£1,454
Equipment - purchase15£1,387

Accommodation

Cost typeClaimsPaid
Rent12£7,800
Council tax11£2,858
Utilities29£1,194
Landline phone & internet - rental & usage12£664

Travel

Cost typeClaimsPaid
Rail7£6,120
Mileage - car4£2,935
Hotel - London1£875
Parking2£323
Hotel - UK Not London1£184
Taxi1£7

Largest claims, 2022-23

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 2023StaffingPayrollTotal Staffing budget payroll costs for the 2022-23 year£184,837£184,837
18 May 2022StaffingPooled staffing servicesParliamentary Research Service (Labour)£4,200£4,200
31 March 2023MP TravelRailAggregated figure for travel during 2022-23£3,662£3,662
31 March 2023MP TravelMileage - carAggregated figure for travel during 2022-23£2,552£2,552
31 March 2023Staff TravelRailAggregated figure for travel during 2022-23£2,123£2,123
28 February 2023AccommodationCouncil taxHull home council tax annual bill 2023/24£1,542£1,542
3 March 2023StaffingBought-in servicesProfessional & consultancy£1,170£1,170
9 February 2023StaffingTraining - staffStaff Team trainng day March 2023£928£928
31 March 2023Staff TravelHotel - LondonAggregated figure for travel during 2022-23£875£875
3 February 2023StaffingBought-in servicesProfessional & consultancy£840£840
3 January 2023StaffingBought-in servicesProfessional & consultancy£840£840
6 December 2022StaffingBought-in servicesProfessional & consultancy£840£840
4 November 2022StaffingBought-in servicesProfessional & consultancy£840£840
7 October 2022StaffingBought-in servicesProfessional & consultancy£840£840
5 September 2022StaffingBought-in servicesProfessional & consultancy£840£840

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