MPs’ business costs

Jim Shannon

IPSA paid £3,445,592 against 1,754 published rows for Jim Shannon between 2010-11 and 2025-26 as the member for Strangford 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, 2021-22

94 claims, £238,568 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.	1	£175,736	73.7%
Office costs	Renting and running a constituency office: rent, utilities, equipment, stationery and postage.	44	£25,792	10.8%
Accommodation	The 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.	38	£16,967	7.1%
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.	11	£20,072	8.4%

Every year in the register

Jim Shannon’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	Accommodation	Travel	Total
2010-11	41	£98,153	£10,536	£4,236	£17,789	£130,715
2011-12	80	£122,004	£18,799	£9,308	£26,968	£177,079
2012-13	108	£157,649	£27,361	£12,132	£24,578	£221,720
2013-14	250	£143,074	£31,861	£10,739	£37,966	£223,640
2014-15	110	£159,656	£32,495	£7,449	£51,459	£251,060
2015-16	100	£167,551	£23,400	£5,705	£42,980	£239,636
2016-17	91	£147,278	£23,702	£5,634	£32,967	£209,580
2017-18	115	£150,814	£24,250	£7,197	£50,264	£232,525
2018-19	110	£153,028	£24,167	£8,700	£42,537	£228,432
2019-20	111	£148,860	£23,154	£14,593	£26,539	£213,146
2020-21	113	£163,506	£27,915	£13,432	£24,064	£228,917
2021-22	94	£175,736	£25,792	£16,967	£20,072	£238,568
2022-23	112	£176,967	£28,603	£15,036	£28,443	£249,049
2023-24	114	£197,897	£29,528	£6,655	£38,087	£272,166
2024-25	123	£215,721	£30,434	£22,503	£24,974	£293,632
2025-26	82	—	£12,335	£23,392	—	£35,727

A year in which Jim Shannon 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, 2021-22

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

Staffing

Cost type	Claims	Paid
Payroll	1	£175,736

Office costs

Cost type	Claims	Paid
Rent	1	£12,000
Landline phone & internet - rental & usage	15	£3,598
Venue hire, meetings & surgeries	1	£3,044
Working From Home Allowance	1	£2,184
Equipment - purchase	10	£1,458
Advertising and contact cards	2	£1,284

Accommodation

Cost type	Claims	Paid
Hotel - London	38	£16,967

Travel

Cost type	Claims	Paid
Air travel	2	£13,918
Mileage - car	2	£4,463
Railcard	1	£1,188
Taxi	1	£299
Parking	2	£90
Rail	1	£74

Largest claims, 2021-22

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 2022	Staffing	Payroll	Total Staffing budget payroll costs for the 2021-22 year	£175,736	£175,736
31 March 2022	MP Travel	Air travel	Aggregated figure for travel during 2021-22	£13,044	£13,044
31 March 2022	Office Costs	Rent	Aggregated figure for this business cost and budget category in 2021-22	£12,000	£12,000
15 February 2022	Office Costs	Venue hire, meetings & surgeries	—	£3,044	£3,044
31 March 2022	Staff Travel	Mileage - car	Aggregated figure for travel during 2021-22	£2,733	£2,733
31 March 2022	Office Costs	Working From Home Allowance	Aggregated figure for this business cost and budget category in 2021-22	£2,184	£2,184
31 March 2022	MP Travel	Mileage - car	Aggregated figure for travel during 2021-22	£1,730	£1,730
31 March 2022	MP Travel	Railcard	Aggregated figure for travel during 2021-22	£1,188	£1,188
20 December 2021	Office Costs	Advertising and contact cards	Graphic for MP contact Certificates	£906	£906
31 March 2022	Staff Travel	Air travel	Aggregated figure for travel during 2021-22	£873	£873
21 January 2022	Accommodation	Hotel - London	[*][][**]	£700	£700
10 December 2021	Accommodation	Hotel - London	[*][][**]	£700	£700
10 September 2021	Accommodation	Hotel - London	[*] [] [**]	£700	£700
17 May 2021	Office Costs	Equipment - purchase	Computer, laptop, PC, tablet & accessories	£630	£630
19 May 2021	Office Costs	Software & applications	ELECTED TECHNOLOGIES	£600	£600

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 Shannon 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 Shannon’s register of interests and votes · Sources