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, 2018-19

45 claims, £186,487 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.1£161,48186.6%
Office costsRenting and running a constituency office: rent, utilities, equipment, stationery and postage.44£25,00613.4%

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.

YearClaimsStaffingOffice costsTravelStarting up and winding upTotal
2010-1189£89,387£24,352£53£113,792
2011-1287£112,952£27,205£140,157
2012-1388£142,972£21,330£164,302
2013-1492£144,343£24,533£17£168,893
2014-15112£150,788£24,839£175,627
2015-1636£14,407£4,037£81,295£99,738
2017-1823£134,625£22,620£275£157,520
2018-1945£161,481£25,006£186,487
2019-2089£148,975£25,155£174,130
2020-2165£178,657£27,204£205,861
2021-2256£206,297£24,649£230,947
2022-23112£208,784£21,635£54£230,474
2023-24138£236,357£29,628£265,985
2024-25128£268,810£26,028£294,837
2025-2647£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, 2018-19

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

Staffing

Cost typeClaimsPaid
Payroll1£161,481

Office costs

Cost typeClaimsPaid
Const Office Rent4£8,548
Professional Services: Direct1£5,300
Const Office Repairs2£3,140
Stationery Purchase10£2,889
Const Office Cleaning10£1,172
Other Equip Purchase1£681

Largest claims, 2018-19

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 2019StaffingPayrollTotal Staffing budget payroll costs for the 2018-19 year£161,481£161,481
1 April 2018Office CostsProfessional Services: DirectPST£5,300£5,300
29 November 2018Office CostsConst Office Rent£2,600£2,600
31 August 2018Office CostsConst Office Rent£2,600£2,600
5 June 2018Office CostsConst Office Rent£2,600£2,600
26 September 2018Office CostsConst Office RepairsConstit. Office Roof Repair£2,590£2,590
7 March 2019Office CostsConst Office Rent£748£748
26 September 2018Office CostsOther Equip Purchase2 fans for Constituency Office£681£681
5 April 2018Office CostsStationery PurchaseXMA Ltd£659£659
3 August 2018Office CostsStationery PurchaseXMA Ltd£631£631
28 February 2019Office CostsInternet Usage/Rentalconst. office internet£576£576
5 November 2018Office CostsConst Office RepairsConstit Office Asphalt Removal£550£550
27 March 2019Office CostsStationery PurchaseXMA Ltd£549£549
14 June 2018Office CostsComputer SW PurchaseCard Expenses£500£500
14 June 2018Office CostsFurniture PurchaseCard Expenses£479£479

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