MPs’ business costs

Ed Davey

IPSA paid £2,616,266 against 1,207 published rows for Ed Davey between 2010-11 and 2025-26 as the member for Kingston and Surbiton 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, 2010-11

89 claims, £113,792 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.	3	£89,387	78.6%
Office costs	Renting and running a constituency office: rent, utilities, equipment, stationery and postage.	85	£24,352	21.4%
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	£53	0.0%

Every year in the register

Ed Davey’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	Travel	Starting up and winding up	Total
2010-11	89	£89,387	£24,352	£53	—	£113,792
2011-12	87	£112,952	£27,205	—	—	£140,157
2012-13	88	£142,972	£21,330	—	—	£164,302
2013-14	92	£144,343	£24,533	£17	—	£168,893
2014-15	112	£150,788	£24,839	—	—	£175,627
2015-16	36	£14,407	£4,037	—	£81,295	£99,738
2017-18	23	£134,625	£22,620	£275	—	£157,520
2018-19	45	£161,481	£25,006	—	—	£186,487
2019-20	89	£148,975	£25,155	—	—	£174,130
2020-21	65	£178,657	£27,204	—	—	£205,861
2021-22	56	£206,297	£24,649	—	—	£230,947
2022-23	112	£208,784	£21,635	£54	—	£230,474
2023-24	138	£236,357	£29,628	—	—	£265,985
2024-25	128	£268,810	£26,028	—	—	£294,837
2025-26	47	—	£7,516	—	—	£7,516

A year in which Ed Davey 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 type	Claims	Paid
Payroll	1	£87,018
Professional Services (Staff.)	2	£2,369

Office costs

Cost type	Claims	Paid
Const Office Rent	3	£9,264
Security	3	£2,156
Professional Services	17	£1,921
Const Office Hire of Premises	2	£1,896
Contents Insurance	4	£1,720
Photocopier Purchase	1	£1,554

Travel

Cost type	Claims	Paid
Aggregated Travel Costs	1	£53

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.

Date	Category	Cost type	Description	Claimed	Paid
31 March 2011	Staffing	Payroll	Total payroll costs for the 2010-11 year	£87,018	£87,018
22 December 2010	Office Costs	Const Office Rent	Office Rent 1/1/2011 - 31/3	£3,088	£3,088
13 September 2010	Office Costs	Const Office Rent	Rent 1/10 - 31/12/10	£3,088	£3,088
2 September 2010	Office Costs	Const Office Rent	Rent 1 jul - 30 sept 2010	£3,088	£3,088
11 December 2010	Office Costs	Security	Video Intercom System	£1,948	£1,948
2 September 2010	Office Costs	Const Office Hire of Premises	Rent 7th may - 30th June 2010	£1,866	£1,866
15 March 2011	Office Costs	Photocopier Purchase	purchase of photocopier	£1,554	£1,554
28 September 2010	Staffing	Professional Services (Staff.)	POLD 7th may - 31st mar 2011	£1,395	£1,395
28 September 2010	Staffing	Professional Services (Staff.)	POLD 7th may - 31st mar 2011	£974	£974
31 March 2011	Office Costs	Contents Insurance	Insurance Policy	£774	£774
29 September 2010	Office Costs	Professional Services	RICS Valuation	£746	£746
29 September 2010	Office Costs	Contents Insurance	Insurance (service charge)	£734	£734
6 October 2010	Office Costs	Install/Maint Office Equip.	Maintenance Contract	£628	£628
23 March 2011	Office Costs	Stationery Purchase	Stationery	£406	£406
6 December 2010	Office Costs	Install/Maint Office Equip.	Computer Consultancy	£352	£352

Claims refused and money repaid, 2010-11

1 claim carries an amount IPSA did not pay or an amount repaid to it: £116 not paid and £0 repaid. A refusal is not a finding of wrongdoing — most are claims outside the scheme’s rules, or submitted without the evidence IPSA requires — and it is shown because leaving it out would show only the money that went out.

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 Ed Davey 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 · Ed Davey’s register of interests and votes · Sources