Civometry

MPs’ business costs

Jim McMahon

IPSA paid £1,966,687 against 999 published rows for Jim McMahon between 2015-16 and 2025-26 as the member for Oldham West and Royton BC, then Oldham West, Chadderton and Royton 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

136 claims, £233,640 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.3£183,05778.4%
Office costsRenting and running a constituency office: rent, utilities, equipment, stationery and postage.70£22,7669.7%
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.44£17,4917.5%
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.10£9,0863.9%
MiscellaneousClaims IPSA records under none of the headings above. Called “Miscellaneous Expenses” until 2018-19.9£1,2400.5%

Every year in the register

Jim McMahon’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
2015-1653£43,931£4,170£5,965£2,915£1,828—£58,809
2016-1798£132,253£21,003£23,055£9,601£1,614—£187,525
2017-1894£150,803£20,386£29,475£6,135—£250£207,050
2018-1972£142,320£19,063£31,123£8,743——£201,247
2019-20101£151,197£17,483£26,618£6,041——£201,339
2020-21120£144,746£22,345£29,242£3,139—£1,191£200,663
2021-2283£145,123£19,294£28,538£4,811—£546£198,313
2022-2386£159,779£8,734£28,593£5,401——£202,507
2023-24136£183,057£22,766£17,491£9,086—£1,240£233,640
2024-25113£212,726£19,440£25,514£7,772——£265,452
2025-2643£511£5,507£2,654——£1,469£10,141

A year in which Jim McMahon 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£182,546
Training - staff2£511

Office costs

Cost typeClaimsPaid
Rent1£11,934
Equipment - purchase8£4,633
Landline phone & internet - rental & usage14£2,196
Stationery & printing33£940
Software & applications3£715
Training - staff1£700

Accommodation

Cost typeClaimsPaid
Hotel - London29£8,536
Rent4£7,427
Council tax2£836
Utilities9£693

Travel

Cost typeClaimsPaid
Rail6£7,764
Hotel - London1£783
Hotel - UK Not London2£465
Air travel1£74

Miscellaneous

Cost typeClaimsPaid
Approved costs outside the Scheme7£896
Removals2£344

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£182,546£182,546
10 April 2023Office CostsRent[200009104-2]£11,934£11,934
31 March 2024MP TravelRailAggregated figure for travel during 2023-24£6,345£6,345
22 June 2023AccommodationRent—£2,253£2,253
23 May 2023AccommodationRent—£2,253£2,253
25 April 2023AccommodationRent—£2,253£2,253
21 March 2024Office CostsEquipment - purchaseComputer, laptop, PC, tablet & accessories£2,004£2,004
7 December 2023Office CostsEquipment - purchaseComputer, laptop, PC, tablet & accessories£1,861£1,861
4 September 2023AccommodationHotel - London[***][***][***]£1,480£1,480
31 March 2024Staff TravelRailAggregated figure for travel during 2023-24£1,052£1,052
28 March 2023AccommodationCouncil taxWWW.WESTMINSTER.GOV.UK£836£836
31 March 2024Staff TravelHotel - LondonAggregated figure for travel during 2023-24£783£783
5 December 2023Office CostsTraining - staffTraining for staff members£700£700
31 October 2023Office CostsSoftware & applicationsELECTED TECHNOLOGIES£690£690
5 July 2023AccommodationRent[***] 21/07/2023 - 30/07/2023£667£667

Claims refused and money repaid, 2023-24

1 claim carries an amount IPSA did not pay or an amount repaid to it: £0 not paid and £562 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 Jim McMahon 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 · Jim McMahon’s register of interests and votes · Sources