Civometry

MPs’ business costs

Ian Murray

IPSA paid £3,085,870 against 2,424 published rows for Ian Murray between 2010-11 and 2025-26 as the member for Edinburgh South 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, 2023-24

177 claims, £265,999 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.17£214,14680.5%
Office costsRenting and running a constituency office: rent, utilities, equipment, stationery and postage.129£28,98810.9%
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.16£5,2822.0%
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.15£17,5836.6%

Every year in the register

Ian Murray’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
2010-11161£83,066£25,023£17,834£10,209—£136,132
2011-12179£117,449£25,871£19,889£11,009—£174,217
2012-13151£125,038£26,950£19,375£12,112—£183,476
2013-14143£129,454£27,218£21,515£10,933£62£189,182
2014-15162£127,572£25,790£19,254£8,710—£181,327
2015-16133£116,302£22,916£17,740£10,777—£167,735
2016-17150£143,284£23,608£20,230£12,557—£199,679
2017-18150£141,302£24,149£21,372£12,447—£199,271
2018-19140£151,815£24,499£20,525£12,612—£209,451
2019-20169£154,169£24,439£19,700£12,656—£210,965
2020-21132£163,516£23,274£13,809£2,738—£203,337
2021-22173£179,766£28,850£10,206£10,028—£228,849
2022-23172£180,592£25,248£5,959£17,726—£229,525
2023-24177£214,146£28,988£5,282£17,583—£265,999
2024-25154£231,218£29,822£5,027£13,519—£279,586
2025-2678—£20,744£6,394——£27,139

A year in which Ian Murray 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, 2023-24

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

Staffing

Cost typeClaimsPaid
Payroll1£204,209
Bought-in services12£6,000
Pooled staffing services4£3,938

Office costs

Cost typeClaimsPaid
Rent13£12,129
Utilities19£4,737
Stationery & printing18£2,547
Landline phone & internet - rental & usage4£1,423
Equipment - purchase5£1,110
Insurance - buildings1£1,107

Accommodation

Cost typeClaimsPaid
Council tax1£2,545
Utilities14£2,338
Insurance - buildings1£399

Travel

Cost typeClaimsPaid
Air travel4£12,798
Rail2£2,460
Vehicle hire cost3£906
Hotel - UK Not London1£866
Other public transport1£314
Parking2£120

Largest claims, 2023-24

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 2024StaffingPayrollTotal Staffing budget payroll costs for the 2023-24 year£204,209£204,209
31 March 2024MP TravelAir travelAggregated figure for travel during 2023-24£11,158£11,158
6 April 2023AccommodationCouncil taxcouncil tax for london accommodation for the year£2,545£2,545
31 March 2024Staff TravelRailAggregated figure for travel during 2023-24£1,330£1,330
31 March 2024Dependant TravelAir travelAggregated figure for travel during 2023-24£1,195£1,195
31 March 2024MP TravelRailAggregated figure for travel during 2023-24£1,129£1,129
24 November 2023StaffingPooled staffing servicesParliamentary Research Service (Labour)£1,125£1,125
24 November 2023StaffingPooled staffing servicesParliamentary Research Service (Labour)£1,125£1,125
24 November 2023StaffingPooled staffing servicesParliamentary Research Service (Labour)£1,125£1,125
7 July 2023Office CostsInsurance - buildingsAnnual buildinsg insurnace for constituency office£1,107£1,107
2 April 2024Office CostsRent—£933£933
5 March 2024Office CostsRent—£933£933
1 February 2024Office CostsRent—£933£933
5 January 2024Office CostsRent—£933£933
5 December 2023Office CostsRent—£933£933

Claims refused and money repaid, 2023-24

3 claims carry an amount IPSA did not pay or an amount repaid to it: £0 not paid and £297 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 Ian Murray 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 · Ian Murray’s register of interests and votes · Sources