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, 2021-22

125 claims, £241,608 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£192,24379.6%
Office costsRenting and running a constituency office: rent, utilities, equipment, stationery and postage.91£17,1747.1%
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.20£22,7169.4%
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.13£9,4753.9%

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.

YearClaimsStaffingOffice costsAccommodationTravelMiscellaneousTotal
2010-11192£76,189£11,992£14,644£6,029£807£109,662
2011-12156£109,211£15,316£18,314£7,189£150,029
2012-13125£126,952£16,662£19,192£9,422£60£172,288
2013-14135£134,041£11,069£20,311£7,890£173,311
2014-15132£133,730£14,623£19,639£9,783£177,775
2015-16145£134,652£20,847£20,008£9,473£184,980
2016-17150£138,223£22,141£19,846£8,008£188,219
2017-18151£102,871£21,782£20,642£9,632£83£155,009
2018-19153£129,664£15,085£21,378£12,825£178,952
2019-20160£122,298£19,038£19,061£8,883£169,279
2020-21165£164,465£20,465£19,874£6,735£211,539
2021-22125£192,243£17,174£22,716£9,475£241,608
2022-23150£194,576£19,092£22,079£8,062£1,440£245,250
2023-24210£217,323£25,489£26,584£12,176£281,572
2024-25224£231,973£29,725£28,071£12,236£302,005
2025-2676£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, 2021-22

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

Staffing

Cost typeClaimsPaid
Payroll1£192,243

Office costs

Cost typeClaimsPaid
Equipment - purchase16£4,505
Rent4£3,245
Pooled staffing services1£2,988
Working From Home Allowance1£1,690
Software & applications24£1,574
Advertising and contact cards9£916

Accommodation

Cost typeClaimsPaid
Rent1£19,002
Council tax2£2,710
Utilities4£678
Landline phone & internet - rental & usage12£305
Landline phone & internet - installation & equipment purchase1£20

Travel

Cost typeClaimsPaid
Rail3£6,614
Mileage - car3£966
Hotel - UK Not London2£774
Parking2£624
Subsistence2£298
Other public transport1£200

Largest claims, 2021-22

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 2022StaffingPayrollTotal Staffing budget payroll costs for the 2021-22 year£192,243£192,243
31 March 2022AccommodationRentAggregated figure for this business cost and budget category in 2021-22£19,002£19,002
31 March 2022MP TravelRailAggregated figure for travel during 2021-22£6,405£6,405
7 April 2021Office CostsPooled staffing servicesPolicy Research Unit (Conservative)£2,988£2,988
20 September 2021Office CostsEquipment - purchaseComputer, laptop, PC, tablet & accessories£1,715£1,715
31 March 2022Office CostsWorking From Home AllowanceAggregated figure for this business cost and budget category in 2021-22£1,690£1,690
21 October 2021Office CostsEquipment - purchaseComputer, laptop, PC, tablet & accessories£1,656£1,656
22 March 2022AccommodationCouncil taxcouncil tax£1,384£1,384
18 March 2021AccommodationCouncil taxLAMBETH INTERNET PAYM£1,326£1,326
14 February 2022Office CostsRentADVANCE PLEASE constituency office rent£811£811
16 November 2021Office CostsRentADVANCE PLEASE for rent for constituency office£811£811
16 August 2021Office CostsRentconstituency office rent ADVANCE PLEASE£811£811
17 May 2021Office CostsRentRent ADVANCE PLEASE£811£811
15 December 2021Office CostsSoftware & applicationssoftware£600£600
31 March 2022MP TravelParkingAggregated figure for travel during 2021-22£595£595

Claims refused and money repaid, 2021-22

1 claim carries an amount IPSA did not pay or an amount repaid to it: £0 not paid and £137 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 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