MPs’ business costs

Sir John Whittingdale

IPSA paid £2,485,082 against 1,456 published rows for Sir John Whittingdale between 2010-11 and 2025-26 as the member for Maldon 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, 2024-25

103 claims, £244,125 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.4£200,83582.3%
Office costsRenting and running a constituency office: rent, utilities, equipment, stationery and postage.77£9,5863.9%
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.12£29,29012.0%
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.10£4,4151.8%

Every year in the register

Sir John Whittingdale’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
2010-1183£73,776£4,449£4,943£2,706£85,874
2011-1293£86,749£7,500£3,550£3,570£101,370
2012-1389£87,570£8,295£15,763£4,171£115,799
2013-1480£94,981£6,793£20,000£4,654£126,428
2014-1591£96,062£9,001£20,600£4,660£130,323
2015-1689£102,501£7,587£20,600£2,834£133,522
2016-17105£105,067£9,681£20,600£4,344£139,692
2017-1885£130,310£11,101£22,760£3,279£167,450
2018-1984£148,378£13,562£20,946£4,955£187,841
2019-20101£146,392£12,896£24,830£2,845£186,963
2020-2186£175,006£13,911£19,100£2,773£210,791
2021-2268£167,258£10,474£23,293£3,876£204,901
2022-23113£166,205£15,178£26,130£4,447£211,960
2023-24116£179,501£16,705£26,840£4,396£912£228,353
2024-25103£200,835£9,586£29,290£4,415£244,125
2025-2670£9,690£9,690

A year in which Sir John Whittingdale 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, 2024-25

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

Staffing

Cost typeClaimsPaid
Payroll1£195,260
Pooled staffing services2£5,263
Working From Home Allowance1£312

Office costs

Cost typeClaimsPaid
Advertising and contact cards16£2,607
Software & applications16£1,962
Stationery & printing13£1,140
Landline phone & internet - rental & usage12£1,102
Rent1£1,000
Mobile telephone - contract & usage12£867

Accommodation

Cost typeClaimsPaid
Rent12£29,290

Travel

Cost typeClaimsPaid
Mileage - car3£2,122
Congestion charge & toll1£780
Hotel - UK Not London1£478
Hotel - European1£385
Air travel1£332
Rail1£292

Largest claims, 2024-25

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 2025StaffingPayrollTotal Staffing budget payroll costs for the 2024-25 year£195,260£195,260
22 April 2024StaffingPooled staffing servicesPolicy Research Unit (Conservative)£3,548£3,548
17 February 2025AccommodationRent1 month rent on [***][***][***]£2,460£2,460
17 January 2025AccommodationRent1 month rent on [***][***][***]£2,460£2,460
17 December 2024AccommodationRent1 month rent on [***][***][***]£2,460£2,460
18 November 2024AccommodationRent1 month rent on [***][***][***]£2,460£2,460
17 October 2024AccommodationRent1 month rent on [***][***][***]£2,460£2,460
17 September 2024AccommodationRent1 month rent on [***][***][***]£2,460£2,460
19 August 2024AccommodationRent1 month rent on [***][***][***]£2,460£2,460
16 July 2024AccommodationRent1 month rent on [***][***][***]£2,460£2,460
17 June 2024AccommodationRent1 month rent on [***][***][***]£2,460£2,460
17 May 2024AccommodationRent1 month rent on [***][***][***]£2,460£2,460
17 March 2025AccommodationRent1 month ent on [***][***][***]£2,457£2,457
17 April 2024AccommodationRent1 month rent on [***][***][***]£2,233£2,233
17 September 2024StaffingPooled staffing servicesPolicy Research Unit (Conservative)£1,715£1,715

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 John Whittingdale 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 John Whittingdale’s register of interests and votes · Sources