MPs’ business costs

Sir Julian Lewis

IPSA paid £2,241,030 against 1,054 published rows for Sir Julian Lewis between 2010-11 and 2025-26 as the member for New Forest East 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, 2020-21

61 claims, £160,075 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	£137,758	86.1%
Office costs	Renting and running a constituency office: rent, utilities, equipment, stationery and postage.	48	£15,738	9.8%
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.	8	£5,410	3.4%
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.	4	£1,169	0.7%

Every year in the register

Sir Julian Lewis’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	Miscellaneous	Total
2010-11	79	£84,837	£10,811	£7,401	£3,348	—	£106,397
2011-12	84	£101,187	£11,836	£6,926	£3,893	—	£123,842
2012-13	79	£102,016	£13,182	£5,950	£3,287	—	£124,434
2013-14	80	£102,943	£12,087	£7,193	£3,372	—	£125,595
2014-15	79	£102,477	£11,850	£6,595	£3,708	£4	£124,634
2015-16	74	£104,568	£12,117	£3,698	£2,505	—	£122,888
2016-17	74	£105,526	£10,975	£8,562	£2,649	—	£127,713
2017-18	76	£118,800	£12,698	£4,122	£1,816	—	£137,436
2018-19	76	£125,070	£15,582	£5,148	£2,370	—	£148,171
2019-20	72	£127,557	£15,845	£5,270	£1,632	—	£150,304
2020-21	61	£137,758	£15,738	£5,410	£1,169	—	£160,075
2021-22	53	£157,672	£17,134	£5,480	£2,633	—	£182,920
2022-23	51	£163,153	£16,722	£5,910	£2,170	—	£187,955
2023-24	51	£170,614	£16,714	£6,330	£2,227	—	£195,885
2024-25	45	£189,928	£13,491	£6,593	£2,106	—	£212,118
2025-26	20	—	£3,792	£6,870	—	—	£10,662

A year in which Sir Julian Lewis 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, 2020-21

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

Staffing

Cost type	Claims	Paid
Payroll	1	£137,758

Office costs

Cost type	Claims	Paid
Rent	11	£8,571
Pooled staffing services	1	£3,047
Working From Home Allowance	1	£1,053
Landline phone & internet - rental & usage	3	£830
Stationery & printing	5	£709
Equipment - purchase	2	£593

Accommodation

Cost type	Claims	Paid
Service charge & ground Rent	5	£3,179
Council tax	1	£1,300
Utilities	2	£930

Travel

Cost type	Claims	Paid
Rail	1	£660
Mileage - car	2	£488
Mileage - motorcycle	1	£21

Largest claims, 2020-21

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 2021	Staffing	Payroll	Total Staffing budget payroll costs for the 2020-21 year	£137,758	£137,758
27 May 2020	Office Costs	Pooled staffing services	Policy Research Unit (Conservative)	£3,047	£3,047
1 April 2020	Accommodation	Council tax	12 MONTHS' COUNCIL TAX	£1,300	£1,300
31 March 2021	Office Costs	Working From Home Allowance	Aggregated figure for 2020-21	£1,053	£1,053
15 June 2020	Accommodation	Service charge & ground Rent	SERVICE CHARGE	£1,051	£1,051
1 April 2020	Accommodation	Service charge & ground Rent	QUARTERLY SERVICE CHARGE	£970	£970
2 March 2021	Office Costs	Rent	—	£779	£779
2 February 2021	Office Costs	Rent	—	£779	£779
6 January 2021	Office Costs	Rent	—	£779	£779
1 December 2020	Office Costs	Rent	—	£779	£779
1 November 2020	Office Costs	Rent	—	£779	£779
4 October 2020	Office Costs	Rent	—	£779	£779
1 September 2020	Office Costs	Rent	—	£779	£779
1 August 2020	Office Costs	Rent	—	£779	£779
1 July 2020	Office Costs	Rent	—	£779	£779

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 Julian Lewis 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 Julian Lewis’s register of interests and votes · Sources