MPs’ business costs

Sir Iain Duncan Smith

IPSA paid £2,621,125 against 991 published rows for Sir Iain Duncan Smith between 2010-11 and 2025-26 as the member for Chingford and Woodford Green 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, 2022-23

105 claims, £238,516 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.	6	£208,684	87.5%
Office costs	Renting and running a constituency office: rent, utilities, equipment, stationery and postage.	83	£24,180	10.1%
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.	15	£4,213	1.8%
Miscellaneous	Claims IPSA records under none of the headings above. Called “Miscellaneous Expenses” until 2018-19.	1	£1,440	0.6%

Every year in the register

Sir Iain Duncan Smith’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	Miscellaneous	Total
2010-11	64	£87,327	£20,259	£531	—	£108,117
2011-12	63	£106,830	£20,112	£629	—	£127,571
2012-13	66	£112,494	£17,524	£718	—	£130,736
2013-14	64	£102,945	£14,935	£995	—	£118,874
2014-15	26	£115,714	£13,609	£933	—	£130,256
2015-16	42	£128,587	£15,172	£1,398	—	£145,157
2016-17	47	£128,189	£14,014	£925	—	£143,128
2017-18	41	£131,828	£18,785	£2,609	—	£153,222
2018-19	50	£150,699	£22,469	£3,423	—	£176,592
2019-20	76	£158,666	£23,743	£2,463	—	£184,873
2020-21	66	£175,011	£30,699	£909	—	£206,619
2021-22	54	£197,447	£13,234	£1,035	—	£211,717
2022-23	105	£208,684	£24,180	£4,213	£1,440	£238,516
2023-24	72	£238,162	£24,807	£2,104	—	£265,073
2024-25	98	£236,375	£24,907	£4,173	—	£265,454
2025-26	57	—	£15,221	—	—	£15,221

A year in which Sir Iain Duncan Smith 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, 2022-23

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

Staffing

Cost type	Claims	Paid
Payroll	1	£205,605
Pooled staffing services	1	£2,000
Bought-in services	4	£1,079

Office costs

Cost type	Claims	Paid
Bought-in services	11	£8,962
Stationery & printing	43	£4,324
Rent	2	£3,600
Equipment - purchase	4	£3,024
Mobile telephone - contract & usage	13	£1,294
Software & applications	2	£898

Travel

Cost type	Claims	Paid
Air travel	3	£1,910
Mileage - car	2	£1,205
Hotel - European	1	£596
Taxi	1	£193
Rail	2	£119
Other public transport	3	£96

Miscellaneous

Cost type	Claims	Paid
IPSA RICS Valuation	1	£1,440

Largest claims, 2022-23

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 2023	Staffing	Payroll	Total Staffing budget payroll costs for the 2022-23 year	£205,605	£205,605
12 July 2022	Office Costs	Bought-in services	Administrative services	£3,488	£3,488
7 February 2023	Staffing	Pooled staffing services	European Research Group (Conservative)	£2,000	£2,000
6 December 2022	Office Costs	Rent	office rent	£1,800	£1,800
11 July 2022	Office Costs	Rent	Rent for office space at 105c Station Road, E4 for the period July 2021 to December 2021 [200008549-2]	£1,800	£1,800
1 August 2022	Office Costs	Equipment - purchase	Computer, laptop, PC, tablet & accessories	£1,699	£1,699
31 October 2022	Office Costs	Bought-in services	Professional & consultancy	£1,500	£1,500
6 September 2023	Miscellaneous	IPSA RICS Valuation	[***] RICS valuation [200008848-0]	£1,440	£1,440
31 March 2023	Staff Travel	Mileage - car	Aggregated figure for travel during 2022-23	£1,202	£1,202
14 February 2023	Office Costs	Bought-in services	Professional & consultancy	£1,194	£1,194
26 October 2022	Office Costs	Equipment - purchase	Other office equipment	£1,179	£1,179
13 October 2022	Office Costs	Bought-in services	Professional & consultancy	£900	£900
10 October 2022	Office Costs	Stationery & printing	1x25000 "Help with the Cost of Living" folded leaflets and flyers	£701	£701
31 March 2023	Staff Travel	Air travel	Aggregated figure for travel during 2022-23	£640	£640
31 March 2023	MP Travel	Air travel	Aggregated figure for travel during 2022-23	£640	£640

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 Sir Iain Duncan Smith 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 · Sir Iain Duncan Smith’s register of interests and votes · Sources