MPs’ business costs

Dame Karen Bradley

IPSA paid £2,942,498 against 2,135 published rows for Dame Karen Bradley between 2010-11 and 2025-26 as the member for Staffordshire Moorlands 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, 2014-15

172 claims, £186,790 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.	56	£129,570	69.4%
Office costs	Renting and running a constituency office: rent, utilities, equipment, stationery and postage.	101	£22,445	12.0%
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.	14	£25,213	13.5%
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.	1	£9,562	5.1%

Every year in the register

Dame Karen Bradley’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	241	£67,059	£16,470	£12,118	£9,134	—	£104,782
2011-12	87	£99,173	£19,156	£24,858	£11,215	—	£154,401
2012-13	102	£145,706	£15,034	£26,921	£12,466	—	£200,127
2013-14	116	£114,332	£16,525	£23,546	£9,928	—	£164,331
2014-15	172	£129,570	£22,445	£25,213	£9,562	—	£186,790
2015-16	113	£118,780	£22,384	£25,450	£6,826	—	£173,440
2016-17	101	£125,362	£14,496	£25,460	£9,606	£540	£175,464
2017-18	122	£128,682	£18,110	£31,729	£5,501	£186	£184,208
2018-19	127	£111,637	£15,945	£29,541	£5,083	—	£162,206
2019-20	138	£125,637	£26,966	£30,203	£7,541	£1,033	£191,379
2020-21	97	£134,140	£19,919	£33,875	£4,353	—	£192,287
2021-22	155	£171,171	£25,627	£34,290	£7,555	—	£238,644
2022-23	151	£181,241	£28,820	£30,655	£15,081	£2,278	£258,076
2023-24	193	£186,350	£29,058	£34,493	£12,930	—	£262,832
2024-25	172	£216,579	£24,307	£29,290	£8,540	£3,136	£281,851
2025-26	48	—	£11,679	—	—	—	£11,679

A year in which Dame Karen Bradley 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, 2014-15

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

Staffing

Cost type	Claims	Paid
Payroll	1	£128,922
Public Tr UND Volunteer	2	£381
Food & Drink Volunteer	49	£184
Public Tr RAIL Volunteer - SG	2	£63
Taxi Volunteer	2	£20

Office costs

Cost type	Claims	Paid
Const Office Rent	6	£7,349
Advertising	3	£3,592
Professional Services: Direct	1	£2,697
Const Office Electricity	2	£1,949
Software Purchase	1	£1,440
Const Office cleaning	25	£1,338

Accommodation

Cost type	Claims	Paid
Accommodation Rent	13	£25,974
Budget Repayment (Accomm.)	1	£-762

Travel

Cost type	Claims	Paid
Aggregated Travel Costs	1	£9,562

Largest claims, 2014-15

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 2015	Staffing	Payroll	Total payroll costs for the 2014-15 year	£128,922	£128,922
31 March 2015	Travel	Aggregated Travel Costs	Aggregated figure for travel during 2014-15	£9,562	£9,562
6 February 2015	Office Costs	Advertising	Office Costs Jan-Feb2015	£3,009	£3,009
8 April 2014	Office Costs	Professional Services: Direct	PRU subscription	£2,697	£2,697
13 February 2015	Accommodation	Accommodation Rent	—	£2,167	£2,167
13 January 2015	Accommodation	Accommodation Rent	—	£2,167	£2,167
9 December 2014	Accommodation	Accommodation Rent	—	£2,167	£2,167
13 November 2014	Accommodation	Accommodation Rent	—	£2,167	£2,167
9 October 2014	Accommodation	Accommodation Rent	—	£2,167	£2,167
10 September 2014	Accommodation	Accommodation Rent	—	£2,167	£2,167
9 August 2014	Accommodation	Accommodation Rent	—	£2,167	£2,167
9 July 2014	Accommodation	Accommodation Rent	—	£2,167	£2,167
11 June 2014	Accommodation	Accommodation Rent	—	£2,167	£2,167
21 May 2014	Accommodation	Accommodation Rent	[***] May-Jun 2014	£2,167	£2,167
21 April 2014	Accommodation	Accommodation Rent	[***] May-Jun 2014	£2,167	£2,167

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 Dame Karen Bradley 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 · Dame Karen Bradley’s register of interests and votes · Sources