Civometry

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, 2024-25

150 claims, £173,395 paid. The headings are IPSA’s own categories grouped; the categories inside each are named on the register page.

CategoryWhat it coversClaimsPaidShare
StaffingThe 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.3£126,78573.1%
Office costsRenting and running a constituency office: rent, utilities, equipment, stationery and postage.113£29,38116.9%
AccommodationThe 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.23£13,8368.0%
TravelJourneys 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.11£3,3932.0%

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.

YearClaimsStaffingOffice costsAccommodationTravelStarting up and winding upMiscellaneousTotal
2010-11135£86,182£17,533£11,448£10,604——£125,766
2011-12194£108,942£19,000£13,253£8,887——£150,082
2012-13179£109,161£22,086£8,850£11,278——£151,375
2013-14259£126,182£19,443£3,947£10,502—£134£160,208
2014-15180£128,472£21,145£3,837£8,232——£161,686
2015-16154£129,630£21,411£3,354£6,823——£161,219
2016-17141£139,132£20,955£13,508£7,653—£1,405£182,653
2017-18132£135,459£21,554£15,095£5,187——£177,295
2018-19115£147,783£24,340£14,787£8,319——£195,229
2019-20183£106,696£11,976£11,098£5,950£33,711£4,725£174,156
2020-214—————£678£678
2024-25150£126,785£29,381£13,836£3,393——£173,395
2025-2680£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, 2024-25

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

Staffing

Cost typeClaimsPaid
Payroll1£125,959
Training - staff2£826

Office costs

Cost typeClaimsPaid
Equipment - purchase13£8,324
Stationery & printing63£4,301
Maintenance, Redecorations & Repairs4£3,299
Recruitment Services &Costs4£3,238
Pooled staffing services1£3,000
Service charge & ground Rent3£2,086

Accommodation

Cost typeClaimsPaid
Rent9£11,360
Council tax1£1,396
Hotel - UK Not London3£494
Utilities5£485
Landline phone & internet - rental & usage5£102

Travel

Cost typeClaimsPaid
Rail4£2,643
Mileage - car3£405
Hotel - London1£199
Other public transport2£96
Parking1£50

Largest claims, 2024-25

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.

DateCategoryCost typeDescriptionClaimedPaid
31 March 2025StaffingPayrollTotal Staffing budget payroll costs for the 2024-25 year£125,959£125,959
11 February 2025Office CostsEquipment - purchaseOffice furniture£6,153£6,153
18 September 2024Office CostsRecruitment Services &CostsThird party to assist with appointment of key staff£3,118£3,118
3 October 2024Office CostsPooled staffing servicesParliamentary Research Service (Labour)£3,000£3,000
15 January 2025Office CostsService charge & ground RentCOVENTRY CITY COUNCIL£2,026£2,026
1 February 2025Office CostsEquipment - purchaseOffice furniture£1,889£1,889
31 March 2025MP TravelRailAggregated figure for travel during 2024-25£1,709£1,709
25 March 2025AccommodationRent—£1,550£1,550
25 February 2025AccommodationRent—£1,550£1,550
23 January 2025AccommodationRent—£1,550£1,550
24 December 2024AccommodationRent—£1,550£1,550
26 November 2024AccommodationRent—£1,550£1,550
22 October 2024AccommodationRent—£1,550£1,550
24 September 2024AccommodationRent—£1,550£1,550
23 August 2024AccommodationRentFaster payment form - First MTH Rent - [***]£1,550£1,550

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