MPs’ business costs

Jeremy Corbyn

IPSA paid £2,813,874 against 1,275 published rows for Jeremy Corbyn between 2010-11 and 2025-26 as the member for Islington North 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, 2011-12

66 claims, £130,678 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.8£112,11085.8%
Office costsRenting and running a constituency office: rent, utilities, equipment, stationery and postage.57£16,95913.0%
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.1£1,6091.2%

Every year in the register

Jeremy Corbyn’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 costsTravelMiscellaneousTotal
2010-1138£98,369£10,143£108,512
2011-1266£112,110£16,959£1,609£130,678
2012-1366£122,627£16,423£534£139,584
2013-14107£124,723£15,642£819£141,184
2014-15131£143,919£15,188£422£159,529
2015-1662£132,130£15,989£148,119
2016-17151£147,261£21,009£168,270
2017-1898£154,632£22,260£176,892
2018-1953£162,079£19,352£75£181,506
2019-2058£159,505£17,763£177,268
2020-21102£202,691£20,256£12£222,959
2021-2285£213,421£23,679£237,101
2022-2380£230,313£22,418£252,731
2023-24111£251,281£30,047£281,328
2024-2559£265,853£20,165£286,018
2025-268£2,194£2,194

A year in which Jeremy Corbyn 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, 2011-12

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

Staffing

Cost typeClaimsPaid
Payroll1£111,787
Health and Welfare Costs1£240
Public Tr UND Int/Volntr4£52
Food & Drink Intern/Volunteer1£27
Public Tr RAIL Int/Volntr - RT1£5

Office costs

Cost typeClaimsPaid
Const Office Rent4£7,991
Computer HW Purchase25£4,911
Business Rates3£1,026
Stationery Purchase4£720
Advertising2£606
Legal Expenses Insurance1£391

Travel

Cost typeClaimsPaid
Aggregated Travel Costs1£1,609

Largest claims, 2011-12

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 2012StaffingPayrollTotal payroll costs for the 2011-12 year£111,787£111,787
1 October 2011Office CostsConst Office RentAutumn 2011£2,070£2,070
1 April 2011Office CostsConst Office RentMay 2011 claim£2,070£2,070
1 July 2011Office CostsConst Office RentJuly office rent£2,070£2,070
1 January 2012Office CostsConst Office Rent01/01/2012£1,781£1,781
31 March 2012TravelAggregated Travel CostsAggregated figure for travel during 2011-12£1,609£1,609
30 March 2012Office CostsComputer HW PurchaseDell E6220£1,162£1,162
30 March 2012Office CostsComputer HW PurchaseItems for parl' office use£841£841
30 March 2012Office CostsComputer HW PurchaseMar April 2012£670£670
23 February 2012Office CostsBusiness RatesBusiness rates etc.£489£489
23 December 2011Office CostsLegal Expenses Insurance01/01/2012£391£391
30 April 2011Office CostsStationery PurchaseMay 2011 claim£390£390
15 September 2011Office CostsComputer HW Purchasetoner for printer£389£389
19 December 2011Office CostsAdvertising01/01/2012£366£366
16 March 2012Office CostsComputer HW PurchaseToner Cartridges for computer£310£310

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 Jeremy Corbyn 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 · Jeremy Corbyn’s register of interests and votes · Sources