MPs’ business costs
Mary Creagh
IPSA paid £1,851,128 against 1,906 published rows for Mary Creagh between 2010-11 and 2025-26 as the member for Wakefield CC, then Coventry East 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, 2012-13
179 claims, £151,375 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. | 11 | £109,161 | 72.1% |
| Office costs | Renting and running a constituency office: rent, utilities, equipment, stationery and postage. | 100 | £22,086 | 14.6% |
| 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. | 67 | £8,850 | 5.8% |
| 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 | £11,278 | 7.5% |
Every year in the register
Mary Creagh’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 | Starting up and winding up | Miscellaneous | Total |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2010-11 | 135 | £86,182 | £17,533 | £11,448 | £10,604 | — | — | £125,766 |
| 2011-12 | 194 | £108,942 | £19,000 | £13,253 | £8,887 | — | — | £150,082 |
| 2012-13 | 179 | £109,161 | £22,086 | £8,850 | £11,278 | — | — | £151,375 |
| 2013-14 | 259 | £126,182 | £19,443 | £3,947 | £10,502 | — | £134 | £160,208 |
| 2014-15 | 180 | £128,472 | £21,145 | £3,837 | £8,232 | — | — | £161,686 |
| 2015-16 | 154 | £129,630 | £21,411 | £3,354 | £6,823 | — | — | £161,219 |
| 2016-17 | 141 | £139,132 | £20,955 | £13,508 | £7,653 | — | £1,405 | £182,653 |
| 2017-18 | 132 | £135,459 | £21,554 | £15,095 | £5,187 | — | — | £177,295 |
| 2018-19 | 115 | £147,783 | £24,340 | £14,787 | £8,319 | — | — | £195,229 |
| 2019-20 | 183 | £106,696 | £11,976 | £11,098 | £5,950 | £33,711 | £4,725 | £174,156 |
| 2020-21 | 4 | — | — | — | — | — | £678 | £678 |
| 2024-25 | 150 | £126,785 | £29,381 | £13,836 | £3,393 | — | — | £173,395 |
| 2025-26 | 80 | £5,130 | £29,625 | £2,631 | — | — | — | £37,387 |
A year in which Mary Creagh 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, 2012-13
The cost types IPSA records inside each heading, largest first by what it paid.
Staffing
| Cost type | Claims | Paid |
|---|---|---|
| Payroll | 1 | £109,101 |
| Public Tr RAIL Int/Volntr - RT | 7 | £44 |
| Food & Drink Int/Volntr | 3 | £16 |
Office costs
| Cost type | Claims | Paid |
|---|---|---|
| Const Office Rent | 1 | £7,000 |
| Professional Services: Direct | 1 | £4,800 |
| Stationery Purchase | 60 | £3,121 |
| Const Office Tel. Usage/Rental | 20 | £2,767 |
| Install/Maint Office Equip. | 1 | £940 |
| Website - Hosting | 2 | £630 |
Accommodation
| Cost type | Claims | Paid |
|---|---|---|
| Mortgage Interest | 5 | £4,508 |
| Gas | 14 | £2,182 |
| Council Tax | 10 | £1,155 |
| Buildings Insurance | 12 | £1,057 |
| Telephone Usage/Rental | 12 | £221 |
| Water | 12 | £168 |
Travel
| Cost type | Claims | Paid |
|---|---|---|
| Aggregated Travel Costs | 1 | £11,278 |
Largest claims, 2012-13
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 2013 | Staffing | Payroll | Total payroll costs for the 2012-13 year | £109,101 | £109,101 |
| 31 March 2013 | Travel | Aggregated Travel Costs | Aggregated figure for travel during 2012-13 | £11,278 | £11,278 |
| 1 April 2012 | Office Costs | Const Office Rent | Constituency office rent 12/13 | £7,000 | £7,000 |
| 16 April 2012 | Office Costs | Professional Services: Direct | PRS | £4,800 | £4,800 |
| 28 July 2012 | Accommodation | Gas | Payment card July-Aug | £1,000 | £1,000 |
| 16 July 2012 | Accommodation | Mortgage Interest | August Accommodation | £943 | £943 |
| 18 June 2012 | Accommodation | Mortgage Interest | July Accommodation | £943 | £943 |
| 11 May 2012 | Accommodation | Mortgage Interest | Accommodation June | £943 | £943 |
| 29 December 2012 | Office Costs | Install/Maint Office Equip. | Office costs Dec/Jan | £940 | £940 |
| 20 April 2012 | Accommodation | Mortgage Interest | May Accommodation | £839 | £839 |
| 1 April 2012 | Accommodation | Mortgage Interest | April accommodation | £839 | £839 |
| 9 August 2012 | Office Costs | Legal Expenses Insurance | EPL | £604 | £604 |
| 23 October 2012 | Office Costs | Parliamentary Accountancy | Office costs Oct/Nov | £570 | £570 |
| 7 February 2013 | Office Costs | Const Office Tel. Usage/Rental | Payment card Jan-Feb 2013 | £398 | £398 |
| 7 November 2012 | Office Costs | Const Office Tel. Usage/Rental | Payment card Oct-Nov | £388 | £388 |
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 Mary Creagh 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 · Mary Creagh’s register of interests and votes · Sources