MPs’ business costs

Graham Stuart

IPSA paid £2,973,368 against 2,449 published rows for Graham Stuart between 2010-11 and 2025-26 as the member for Beverley and Holderness CC. 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, 2013-14

135 claims, £173,311 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.	2	£134,041	77.3%
Office costs	Renting and running a constituency office: rent, utilities, equipment, stationery and postage.	107	£11,069	6.4%
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.	25	£20,311	11.7%
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	£7,890	4.6%

Every year in the register

Graham Stuart’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	192	£76,189	£11,992	£14,644	£6,029	£807	£109,662
2011-12	156	£109,211	£15,316	£18,314	£7,189	—	£150,029
2012-13	125	£126,952	£16,662	£19,192	£9,422	£60	£172,288
2013-14	135	£134,041	£11,069	£20,311	£7,890	—	£173,311
2014-15	132	£133,730	£14,623	£19,639	£9,783	—	£177,775
2015-16	145	£134,652	£20,847	£20,008	£9,473	—	£184,980
2016-17	150	£138,223	£22,141	£19,846	£8,008	—	£188,219
2017-18	151	£102,871	£21,782	£20,642	£9,632	£83	£155,009
2018-19	153	£129,664	£15,085	£21,378	£12,825	—	£178,952
2019-20	160	£122,298	£19,038	£19,061	£8,883	—	£169,279
2020-21	165	£164,465	£20,465	£19,874	£6,735	—	£211,539
2021-22	125	£192,243	£17,174	£22,716	£9,475	—	£241,608
2022-23	150	£194,576	£19,092	£22,079	£8,062	£1,440	£245,250
2023-24	210	£217,323	£25,489	£26,584	£12,176	—	£281,572
2024-25	224	£231,973	£29,725	£28,071	£12,236	—	£302,005
2025-26	76	£3,713	£24,982	£3,197	—	—	£31,891

A year in which Graham Stuart 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, 2013-14

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

Staffing

Cost type	Claims	Paid
Payroll	1	£131,344
Pooled Services	1	£2,697

Office costs

Cost type	Claims	Paid
Const Office Rent	4	£2,950
Const Office Tel. Usage/Rental	31	£2,035
Stationery Purchase	35	£1,635
Software Purchase	2	£1,199
Computer HW Purchase	4	£1,158
Legal Expenses Insurance	1	£578

Accommodation

Cost type	Claims	Paid
Accommodation Rent	12	£18,472
Council Tax	3	£1,356
Gas	4	£315
Television Licence	1	£73
Telephone Usage/Rental	3	£58
Internet	2	£37

Travel

Cost type	Claims	Paid
Aggregated Travel Costs	1	£7,890

Largest claims, 2013-14

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 2014	Staffing	Payroll	Total payroll costs for the 2013-14 year	£131,344	£131,344
31 March 2014	Travel	Aggregated Travel Costs	Aggregated figure for travel during 2013-14	£7,890	£7,890
24 March 2014	Staffing	Pooled Services	PRU for 2014/2015	£2,697	£2,697
5 March 2014	Accommodation	Accommodation Rent	—	£1,571	£1,571
3 February 2014	Accommodation	Accommodation Rent	—	£1,571	£1,571
19 December 2013	Accommodation	Accommodation Rent	—	£1,571	£1,571
5 December 2013	Accommodation	Accommodation Rent	—	£1,571	£1,571
4 November 2013	Accommodation	Accommodation Rent	—	£1,571	£1,571
2 October 2013	Accommodation	Accommodation Rent	—	£1,517	£1,517
5 September 2013	Accommodation	Accommodation Rent	—	£1,517	£1,517
5 August 2013	Accommodation	Accommodation Rent	—	£1,517	£1,517
3 July 2013	Accommodation	Accommodation Rent	—	£1,517	£1,517
4 June 2013	Accommodation	Accommodation Rent	—	£1,517	£1,517
2 May 2013	Accommodation	Accommodation Rent	—	£1,517	£1,517
8 April 2013	Accommodation	Accommodation Rent	—	£1,517	£1,517

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 Graham Stuart 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 · Graham Stuart’s register of interests and votes · Sources