MPs’ business costs

Sir James Cleverly

IPSA paid £2,037,209 against 778 published rows for Sir James Cleverly between 2015-16 and 2025-26 as the member for Braintree 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, 2025-26

20 claims, £13,013 paid. The headings are IPSA’s own categories grouped; the categories inside each are named on the register page.

CategoryWhat it coversClaimsPaidShare
Office costsRenting and running a constituency office: rent, utilities, equipment, stationery and postage.14£10,70482.3%
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.6£2,30917.7%

Every year in the register

Sir James Cleverly’s own years, not the register’s: the first is 2015-16 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
2015-1682£108,820£17,782£13,500£685£4,864£585£146,236
2016-1785£141,197£19,980£16,210£1,489£178,876
2017-1870£135,637£22,641£19,458£177,736
2018-1965£147,746£21,841£18,096£187,683
2019-2086£159,391£13,984£16,914£190,289
2020-2160£176,926£10,028£16,618£203,573
2021-2237£178,210£11,605£18,740£208,555
2022-2392£201,404£9,358£19,882£230,644
2023-2482£197,330£15,864£22,821£236,015
2024-2599£218,032£30,350£14,805£335£1,068£264,590
2025-2620£10,704£2,309£13,013

A year in which Sir James Cleverly 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, 2025-26

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

Office costs

Cost typeClaimsPaid
Website hosting and design2£4,065
Software & applications3£2,466
Stationery & printing6£2,416
Advertising and contact cards1£1,200
Training - staff1£375
Cleaning services1£181

Accommodation

Cost typeClaimsPaid
Council tax1£1,460
Landline phone & internet - rental & usage1£528
Utilities4£321

Largest claims, 2025-26

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
1 May 2025Office CostsWebsite hosting and designclevery4braintree.com£3,795£3,795
15 January 2026Office CostsSoftware & applicationsELECTED TECHNOLOGIES£1,476£1,476
12 May 2025AccommodationCouncil taxBRAINTREE DC£1,460£1,460
15 December 2025Office CostsAdvertising and contact cardsBRAINTREE TOWN FOOTBAL£1,200£1,200
9 July 2025Office CostsStationery & printingBanner August 2025£750£750
16 September 2025Office CostsStationery & printingBanner October 2025£720£720
15 January 2025Office CostsSoftware & applicationsELECTED TECHNOLOGIES£720£720
26 August 2025AccommodationLandline phone & internet - rental & usageInternet£528£528
10 February 2026Office CostsStationery & printingBanner March 2026£476£476
13 February 2026Office CostsTraining - staffHIVE SUPPORT LTD£375£375
2 October 2025Office CostsSoftware & applicationsELECTED TECHNOLOGIES£270£270
1 May 2025Office CostsWebsite hosting and designcleverly4braintree.com£270£270
23 June 2025Office CostsStationery & printingBanner July 2025£182£182
14 October 2025Office CostsCleaning servicesBanner November 2025£181£181
9 July 2025Office CostsStationery & printingBanner August 2025£150£150

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 James Cleverly 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 James Cleverly’s register of interests and votes · Sources