MPs’ business costs

Sir Mel Stride

IPSA paid £2,425,586 against 2,128 published rows for Sir Mel Stride between 2010-11 and 2025-26 as the member for Central Devon 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, 2022-23

133 claims, £210,936 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.	2	£189,779	90.0%
Office costs	Renting and running a constituency office: rent, utilities, equipment, stationery and postage.	102	£8,736	4.1%
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.	19	£8,532	4.0%
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.	10	£3,889	1.8%

Every year in the register

Sir Mel Stride’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	Total
2010-11	131	£84,723	£14,369	—	£5,724	£104,816
2011-12	142	£101,641	£10,469	£14,754	£6,836	£133,701
2012-13	178	£117,775	£10,307	£8,827	£7,161	£144,069
2013-14	140	£122,678	£8,371	£5,307	£6,902	£143,258
2014-15	132	£117,837	£11,514	—	£6,446	£135,797
2015-16	127	£105,982	£15,167	—	£3,194	£124,342
2016-17	95	£123,496	£9,218	—	£5,078	£137,792
2017-18	141	£121,396	£13,337	£2,358	£4,093	£141,185
2018-19	139	£135,641	£8,385	£4,057	£4,438	£152,521
2019-20	146	£145,220	£11,964	£3,069	£4,106	£164,360
2020-21	131	£169,976	£11,011	£4,141	£811	£185,938
2021-22	104	£162,114	£8,124	£4,076	£2,823	£177,136
2022-23	133	£189,779	£8,736	£8,532	£3,889	£210,936
2023-24	164	£198,413	£4,373	£19,101	£3,878	£225,764
2024-25	188	£199,284	£11,627	£21,947	£3,717	£236,575
2025-26	37	—	£3,618	£3,778	—	£7,396

A year in which Sir Mel Stride 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, 2022-23

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

Staffing

Cost type	Claims	Paid
Payroll	1	£189,657
Working From Home Allowance	1	£121

Office costs

Cost type	Claims	Paid
Pooled staffing services	1	£3,088
Equipment - purchase	6	£2,434
Stationery & printing	6	£771
Mobile telephone - contract & usage	21	£483
Newspapers, journals, magazines	22	£433
Mobile telephone - equipment purchase	14	£381

Accommodation

Cost type	Claims	Paid
Rent	3	£3,750
Council tax	10	£2,705
Utilities	6	£2,077

Travel

Cost type	Claims	Paid
Rail	4	£2,914
Mileage - car	4	£820
Hotel - UK Not London	1	£150
Other public transport	1	£5

Largest claims, 2022-23

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 2023	Staffing	Payroll	Total Staffing budget payroll costs for the 2022-23 year	£189,657	£189,657
28 April 2022	Office Costs	Pooled staffing services	Policy Research Unit (Conservative)	£3,088	£3,088
31 March 2023	MP Travel	Rail	Aggregated figure for travel during 2022-23	£2,061	£2,061
19 April 2022	Office Costs	Equipment - purchase	Computer, laptop, PC, tablet & accessories	£1,657	£1,657
21 March 2023	Accommodation	Rent	—	£1,250	£1,250
2 March 2023	Accommodation	Rent	—	£1,250	£1,250
20 January 2023	Accommodation	Rent	Rent	£1,250	£1,250
20 June 2022	Accommodation	Utilities	Dual Fuel	£624	£624
19 August 2022	Office Costs	Equipment - purchase	Computer, laptop, PC, tablet & accessories	£527	£527
31 March 2023	Dependant Travel	Rail	Aggregated figure for travel during 2022-23	£469	£469
17 November 2022	Accommodation	Utilities	Dual Fuel	£412	£412
31 March 2023	Staff Travel	Mileage - car	Aggregated figure for travel during 2022-23	£387	£387
31 March 2023	Staff Travel	Rail	Aggregated figure for travel during 2022-23	£376	£376
19 December 2022	Accommodation	Utilities	Dual Fuel	£375	£375
19 May 2022	Office Costs	Stationery & printing	Viking Stationery	£371	£371

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 Sir Mel Stride 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 · Sir Mel Stride’s register of interests and votes · Sources