MPs’ business costs

Lisa Nandy

IPSA paid £2,859,346 against 1,868 published rows for Lisa Nandy between 2010-11 and 2025-26 as the member for Wigan 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

141 claims, £181,075 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.	7	£129,691	71.6%
Office costs	Renting and running a constituency office: rent, utilities, equipment, stationery and postage.	99	£20,557	11.4%
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.	34	£19,937	11.0%
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	£10,891	6.0%

Every year in the register

Lisa Nandy’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	113	£94,749	£19,710	£11,768	£5,278	—	£131,506
2011-12	127	£115,310	£15,533	£20,160	£5,300	—	£156,303
2012-13	160	£131,488	£19,356	£21,216	£5,779	—	£177,839
2013-14	170	£135,243	£21,214	£20,101	£7,014	—	£183,572
2014-15	141	£129,691	£20,557	£19,937	£10,891	—	£181,075
2015-16	135	£139,599	£20,708	£21,646	£9,461	—	£191,414
2016-17	120	£163,370	£23,161	£22,364	£10,385	£1,161	£220,441
2017-18	137	£141,914	£20,573	£21,841	£7,379	—	£191,707
2018-19	122	£145,133	£20,534	£22,306	£10,219	—	£198,193
2019-20	100	£151,491	£21,558	£20,984	£8,327	—	£202,360
2020-21	123	£149,083	£20,896	£15,479	£7,090	—	£192,548
2021-22	93	£142,112	£20,888	£10,200	£10,480	—	£183,680
2022-23	94	£144,370	£20,525	£10,200	£10,510	—	£185,605
2023-24	104	£181,468	£21,876	£9,350	£8,354	—	£221,048
2024-25	101	£198,841	£22,544	£10,202	£3,299	—	£234,886
2025-26	28	—	£7,171	—	—	—	£7,171

A year in which Lisa Nandy 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	£129,148
Staff Training Costs	1	£199
Public Tr RAIL Volunteer - SG	2	£157
Health and Welfare Costs	1	£100
Public Tr RAIL Volunteer - RT	1	£81
Food & Drink Volunteer	1	£5

Office costs

Cost type	Claims	Paid
Const Office Rent	4	£11,725
Const Office Tel. Usage/Rental	18	£2,615
Stationery Purchase	37	£2,006
Legal Exp/Emp Practice Insur.	1	£578
Contents Insurance	1	£482
Newspapers/Journals	2	£460

Accommodation

Cost type	Claims	Paid
Accommodation Rent	13	£17,462
Council Tax	10	£1,768
Electricity	9	£477
Television Licence	1	£146
Service Charges	1	£84

Travel

Cost type	Claims	Paid
Aggregated Travel Costs	1	£10,891

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	£129,148	£129,148
31 March 2015	Travel	Aggregated Travel Costs	Aggregated figure for travel during 2014-15	£10,891	£10,891
22 December 2014	Office Costs	Const Office Rent	—	£2,931	£2,931
26 September 2014	Office Costs	Const Office Rent	—	£2,931	£2,931
25 June 2014	Office Costs	Const Office Rent	—	£2,931	£2,931
1 April 2014	Office Costs	Const Office Rent	—	£2,931	£2,931
19 February 2015	Accommodation	Accommodation Rent	—	£1,450	£1,450
21 January 2015	Accommodation	Accommodation Rent	—	£1,450	£1,450
22 December 2014	Accommodation	Accommodation Rent	—	£1,450	£1,450
21 November 2014	Accommodation	Accommodation Rent	—	£1,450	£1,450
16 October 2014	Accommodation	Accommodation Rent	—	£1,450	£1,450
17 September 2014	Accommodation	Accommodation Rent	—	£1,450	£1,450
19 August 2014	Accommodation	Accommodation Rent	—	£1,450	£1,450
15 July 2014	Accommodation	Accommodation Rent	—	£1,450	£1,450
20 June 2014	Accommodation	Accommodation Rent	—	£1,450	£1,450

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 Lisa Nandy 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 · Lisa Nandy’s register of interests and votes · Sources