MPs’ business costs

Liz Kendall

IPSA paid £2,693,211 against 2,280 published rows for Liz Kendall between 2010-11 and 2025-26 as the member for Leicester West BC. 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, 2011-12

179 claims, £154,080 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.	20	£114,859	74.5%
Office costs	Renting and running a constituency office: rent, utilities, equipment, stationery and postage.	106	£17,870	11.6%
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.	52	£16,058	10.4%
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.	1	£5,293	3.4%

Every year in the register

Liz Kendall’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	139	£81,731	£19,017	£9,142	£4,321	—	£114,211
2011-12	179	£114,859	£17,870	£16,058	£5,293	—	£154,080
2012-13	197	£131,413	£19,740	£16,328	£6,688	—	£174,170
2013-14	197	£127,651	£19,423	£5,141	£5,264	—	£157,479
2014-15	143	£134,008	£22,182	£20,599	£5,540	—	£182,329
2015-16	174	£127,102	£20,438	£20,580	£5,060	—	£173,180
2016-17	166	£126,747	£22,851	£20,152	£6,532	—	£176,283
2017-18	134	£132,067	£19,983	—	£6,484	—	£158,535
2018-19	125	£136,385	£19,748	—	£7,482	—	£163,615
2019-20	194	£128,179	£15,128	—	£9,008	—	£152,315
2020-21	87	£159,189	£24,121	£2,864	£807	£244	£187,225
2021-22	128	£174,306	£22,142	£12,285	£4,374	—	£213,106
2022-23	114	£157,189	£21,379	£11,297	£4,094	—	£193,959
2023-24	160	£183,049	£29,441	£14,590	£5,603	—	£232,683
2024-25	106	£208,456	£22,928	£13,504	£4,548	—	£249,436
2025-26	37	—	£8,002	£2,602	—	—	£10,604

A year in which Liz Kendall 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, 2011-12

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

Staffing

Cost type	Claims	Paid
Payroll	1	£114,522
Public Tr RAIL Other Int/Volnt	10	£236
Food & Drink Int/Volntr	9	£102

Office costs

Cost type	Claims	Paid
Const Office Rent	3	£6,000
Stationery Purchase	31	£3,399
Computer HW Purchase	2	£1,948
Telephone/Mobile Hire	14	£1,658
Other	11	£1,159
Photocopier Hire	12	£1,115

Accommodation

Cost type	Claims	Paid
Accommodation Rent	12	£13,984
Council Tax	10	£1,027
Gas	3	£480
Telephone Usage/Rental	10	£284
Electricity	3	£120
Water	2	£82

Travel

Cost type	Claims	Paid
Aggregated Travel Costs	1	£5,293

Largest claims, 2011-12

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 2012	Staffing	Payroll	Total payroll costs for the 2011-12 year	£114,522	£114,522
31 March 2012	Travel	Aggregated Travel Costs	Aggregated figure for travel during 2011-12	£5,293	£5,293
21 March 2012	Office Costs	Const Office Rent	2012 Q3 and Q4 Office Rent	£2,000	£2,000
1 January 2012	Office Costs	Const Office Rent	2011. Q3 Office Rent	£2,000	£2,000
1 August 2011	Office Costs	Const Office Rent	2011. Q2 Office Rent	£2,000	£2,000
1 January 2012	Accommodation	Accommodation Rent	Accommodation January 2012	£1,450	£1,450
1 December 2011	Accommodation	Accommodation Rent	Accommodation December 2011	£1,450	£1,450
1 November 2011	Accommodation	Accommodation Rent	Accommodation November 2011	£1,450	£1,450
1 March 2012	Accommodation	Accommodation Rent	Accommodation March 2012	£1,215	£1,215
1 February 2012	Accommodation	Accommodation Rent	Accommodation February 2012	£1,215	£1,215
30 March 2012	Office Costs	Computer HW Purchase	2012 03 Claim B	£1,115	£1,115
1 October 2011	Accommodation	Accommodation Rent	Accommodation October 2011	£1,029	£1,029
1 September 2011	Accommodation	Accommodation Rent	September Accommodation 2011	£1,029	£1,029
1 August 2011	Accommodation	Accommodation Rent	2011.08	£1,029	£1,029
1 July 2011	Accommodation	Accommodation Rent	2011.07 Accom Costs	£1,029	£1,029

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 Liz Kendall 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 · Liz Kendall’s register of interests and votes · Sources