Civometry

MPs’ business costs

Emma Lewell

IPSA paid £2,515,246 against 1,811 published rows for Emma Lewell between 2013-14 and 2025-26 as the member for South Shields 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, 2024-25

152 claims, £300,466 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.2£231,90977.2%
Office costsRenting and running a constituency office: rent, utilities, equipment, stationery and postage.92£29,1769.7%
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.38£19,1476.4%
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.14£18,0326.0%
MiscellaneousClaims IPSA records under none of the headings above. Called “Miscellaneous Expenses” until 2018-19.6£2,2010.7%

Every year in the register

Emma Lewell’s own years, not the register’s: the first is 2013-14 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 costsAccommodationTravelStarting up and winding upMiscellaneousTotal
2013-14367£86,538£18,887£20,777£18,631£3,738£160£148,732
2014-15162£129,675£19,955£17,285£11,715£650—£179,280
2015-16136£120,615£19,963£18,529£9,603—£1,095£169,805
2016-17117£125,241£22,219£18,221£12,076——£177,758
2017-18108£136,710£19,698£18,860£6,716——£181,983
2018-1992£146,913£18,090£19,226£10,562——£194,790
2019-20143£150,393£21,234£20,706£10,466——£202,799
2020-21103£170,188£18,811£19,001£5,701——£213,702
2021-2294£155,808£24,575£20,856£8,203——£209,442
2022-23123£184,017£21,430£22,071£16,977——£244,494
2023-24143£207,973£22,152£20,534£15,202—£846£266,707
2024-25152£231,909£29,176£19,147£18,032—£2,201£300,466
2025-2671—£12,898£12,390———£25,288

A year in which Emma Lewell 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, 2024-25

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

Staffing

Cost typeClaimsPaid
Payroll1£227,309
Pooled staffing services1£4,600

Office costs

Cost typeClaimsPaid
Rent1£12,644
Service charge & ground Rent6£3,451
Website hosting and design2£1,800
Landline phone & internet - rental & usage14£1,734
Equipment - purchase8£1,721
Equipment - hire10£1,665

Accommodation

Cost typeClaimsPaid
Hotel - London38£19,147

Travel

Cost typeClaimsPaid
Rail4£15,155
Hotel - London1£1,245
Hotel - UK Not London1£713
Air travel1£398
Other public transport2£201
Mileage - car2£160

Miscellaneous

Cost typeClaimsPaid
Removals3£1,338
Moving Fees3£863

Largest claims, 2024-25

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 2025StaffingPayrollTotal Staffing budget payroll costs for the 2024-25 year£227,309£227,309
31 March 2025Office CostsRentAggregated figure for this business cost and budget category in 2024-25£12,644£12,644
31 March 2025MP TravelRailAggregated figure for travel during 2024-25£11,231£11,231
12 April 2024StaffingPooled staffing servicesParliamentary Research Service (Labour)£4,600£4,600
31 March 2025Staff TravelRailAggregated figure for travel during 2024-25£3,453£3,453
31 March 2025Staff TravelHotel - LondonAggregated figure for travel during 2024-25£1,245£1,245
14 January 2025MiscellaneousRemovalsCROWN WORKSPACE£996£996
17 March 2025Office CostsWebsite hosting and designhttps://lewellbuck.com/£900£900
22 August 2024Office CostsWebsite hosting and designhttps://lewellbuck.com/£900£900
20 July 2024AccommodationHotel - London[***][***][***]£800£800
10 March 2025AccommodationHotel - London[***][***][***] [200011725-3026]£796£796
16 May 2024Office CostsEquipment - hirePrinter, photocopier & scanner£720£720
15 May 2024Office CostsSoftware & applicationsELECTED TECHNOLOGIES£720£720
31 March 2025Staff TravelHotel - UK Not LondonAggregated figure for travel during 2024-25£713£713
2 April 2024Office CostsService charge & ground RentLofthouse Additonal Service Charge due to mid-term review March 2024 paid via cheque [***]£698£698

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 Emma Lewell 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 · Emma Lewell’s register of interests and votes · Sources