MPs’ business costs

Pete Wishart

IPSA paid £3,070,348 against 2,185 published rows for Pete Wishart between 2010-11 and 2025-26 as the member for Perth and North Perthshire CC, then Perth and Kinross-shire 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, 2011-12

131 claims, £169,492 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.	6	£108,998	64.3%
Office costs	Renting and running a constituency office: rent, utilities, equipment, stationery and postage.	83	£21,722	12.8%
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.	41	£17,885	10.6%
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	£20,887	12.3%

Every year in the register

Pete Wishart’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	81	£88,677	£16,070	£15,296	£17,199	—	£137,241
2011-12	131	£108,998	£21,722	£17,885	£20,887	—	£169,492
2012-13	142	£110,870	£22,135	£20,125	£22,349	—	£175,478
2013-14	135	£113,800	£18,192	£19,020	£23,229	£4,336	£178,577
2014-15	166	£112,870	£17,209	£17,919	£21,340	£5,185	£174,523
2015-16	163	£103,119	£32,074	£20,349	£21,424	—	£176,966
2016-17	145	£105,523	£21,919	£18,510	£24,025	—	£169,978
2017-18	178	£131,811	£22,740	£21,647	£15,957	—	£192,155
2018-19	177	£136,706	£24,093	£23,251	£32,121	—	£216,171
2019-20	140	£152,150	£22,381	£22,208	£27,669	—	£224,409
2020-21	139	£169,801	£23,225	£20,811	£4,806	£1,130	£219,772
2021-22	117	£150,078	£21,859	£23,173	£16,516	—	£211,626
2022-23	129	£164,347	£21,220	£25,116	£30,928	£244	£241,855
2023-24	150	£183,220	£25,902	£26,136	£32,785	—	£268,042
2024-25	127	£210,487	£26,191	£28,656	£31,654	—	£296,989
2025-26	65	—	£14,494	£2,579	—	—	£17,073

A year in which Pete Wishart 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	£108,668
Professional Services (Staff.)	5	£330

Office costs

Cost type	Claims	Paid
Const Office Rent	14	£9,707
Const Office Tel. Usage/Rental	16	£2,535
Const Office Electricity	14	£2,152
Computer HW Purchase	2	£1,269
Business Rates	1	£1,007
Telephone/Mobile Hire	5	£876

Accommodation

Cost type	Claims	Paid
Hotel London Area	38	£16,063
Accommodation Rent	1	£1,450
Interim Hotel London Area	1	£300
Electricity	1	£72

Travel

Cost type	Claims	Paid
Aggregated Travel Costs	1	£20,887

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	£108,668	£108,668
31 March 2012	Travel	Aggregated Travel Costs	Aggregated figure for travel during 2011-12	£20,887	£20,887
21 November 2011	Office Costs	Const Office Rent	—	£1,625	£1,625
21 August 2011	Office Costs	Const Office Rent	—	£1,625	£1,625
31 May 2011	Office Costs	Const Office Rent	—	£1,625	£1,625
1 April 2011	Accommodation	Accommodation Rent	London accomodation	£1,450	£1,450
10 August 2011	Office Costs	Computer HW Purchase	macbook	£1,099	£1,099
1 April 2011	Office Costs	Const Office Rent	—	£1,041	£1,041
10 October 2011	Office Costs	Business Rates	Insurance rates surgery Oct11	£1,007	£1,007
24 November 2011	Office Costs	Const Office Rent	—	£790	£790
24 October 2011	Office Costs	Const Office Rent	—	£790	£790
24 July 2011	Office Costs	Const Office Rent	—	£790	£790
26 April 2011	Office Costs	Const Office Rent 2	—	£790	£790
9 September 2011	Accommodation	Hotel London Area	Payment Card Sept 11	£750	£750
22 July 2011	Accommodation	Hotel London Area	Payment card Jun-Jul 11	£750	£750

Claims refused and money repaid, 2011-12

1 claim carries an amount IPSA did not pay or an amount repaid to it: £14 not paid and £0 repaid. A refusal is not a finding of wrongdoing — most are claims outside the scheme’s rules, or submitted without the evidence IPSA requires — and it is shown because leaving it out would show only the money that went out.

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 Pete Wishart 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 · Pete Wishart’s register of interests and votes · Sources