MPs’ business costs

Rachel Reeves

IPSA paid £3,164,389 against 3,643 published rows for Rachel Reeves between 2010-11 and 2025-26 as the member for Leeds West BC, then Leeds West and Pudsey 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, 2017-18

140 claims, £197,215 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.	35	£149,923	76.0%
Office costs	Renting and running a constituency office: rent, utilities, equipment, stationery and postage.	58	£22,773	11.5%
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.	45	£16,062	8.1%
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	£7,957	4.0%
Miscellaneous	Claims IPSA records under none of the headings above. Called “Miscellaneous Expenses” until 2018-19.	1	£500	0.3%

Every year in the register

Rachel Reeves’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	176	£93,020	£14,878	£11,136	£5,786	£1,237	£126,058
2011-12	339	£114,234	£20,700	£15,616	£3,815	—	£154,365
2012-13	218	£138,269	£22,635	£13,936	£7,541	—	£182,381
2013-14	167	£136,406	£23,453	£14,643	£5,170	£90	£179,762
2014-15	186	£138,600	£21,283	£12,962	£9,821	£3,450	£186,116
2015-16	132	£135,771	£22,855	£13,317	£9,017	£3,215	£184,174
2016-17	131	£141,213	£22,942	£15,355	£10,742	£99	£190,351
2017-18	140	£149,923	£22,773	£16,062	£7,957	£500	£197,215
2018-19	404	£152,472	£24,639	£15,987	£9,582	—	£202,679
2019-20	342	£155,605	£27,709	£14,810	£16,269	—	£214,393
2020-21	284	£192,264	£27,921	£13,810	£1,668	—	£235,662
2021-22	426	£204,216	£26,478	£15,981	£8,935	—	£255,610
2022-23	269	£218,568	£23,414	£17,627	£6,895	—	£266,504
2023-24	228	£236,488	£21,314	£17,575	£8,347	—	£283,725
2024-25	156	£245,866	£29,174	£8,306	£9,836	—	£293,182
2025-26	45	—	£12,211	—	—	—	£12,211

A year in which Rachel Reeves 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, 2017-18

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

Staffing

Cost type	Claims	Paid
Payroll	1	£148,069
Public Tr UND Volunteer	18	£1,412
Food & Drink Volunteer	16	£442

Office costs

Cost type	Claims	Paid
Const Office Rent 2	7	£8,477
Professional Services: Direct	1	£4,800
Stationery Purchase	20	£3,222
IT/Other Equipment Hire	7	£2,087
Const Office Tel. Usage/Rental	5	£1,059
Furniture Purchase	1	£1,016

Accommodation

Cost type	Claims	Paid
Accommodation Rent	13	£12,455
Council Tax	3	£1,644
Electricity	7	£837
Telephone Usage/Rental	13	£731
Water	5	£159
Gas	2	£156

Travel

Cost type	Claims	Paid
Aggregated Travel Costs	1	£7,957

Miscellaneous

Cost type	Claims	Paid
Removal Costs - Contingency	1	£500

Largest claims, 2017-18

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 2018	Staffing	Payroll	Total Staffing budget payroll costs for the 2017-18 year	£148,069	£148,069
31 March 2018	Travel	Aggregated Travel Costs	Aggregated figure for travel during 2017-18	£7,957	£7,957
6 April 2017	Office Costs	Professional Services: Direct	PRS	£4,800	£4,800
5 April 2017	Office Costs	Const Office Rent 2	phone, rent, Accounts	£2,162	£2,162
19 July 2017	Office Costs	Const Office Rent 2	rent and plumber	£2,001	£2,001
27 November 2017	Office Costs	Const Office Rent 2	Office rent	£1,262	£1,262
25 October 2017	Office Costs	Const Office Rent 2	Office rent	£1,168	£1,168
29 June 2017	Office Costs	IT/Other Equipment Hire	printer/photocopier	£1,158	£1,158
19 February 2018	Accommodation	Accommodation Rent	—	£1,090	£1,090
18 January 2018	Accommodation	Accommodation Rent	—	£1,090	£1,090
18 December 2017	Accommodation	Accommodation Rent	—	£1,090	£1,090
17 November 2017	Accommodation	Accommodation Rent	—	£1,090	£1,090
17 October 2017	Accommodation	Accommodation Rent	—	£1,090	£1,090
20 September 2017	Accommodation	Accommodation Rent	—	£1,090	£1,090
19 August 2017	Accommodation	Accommodation Rent	—	£1,090	£1,090

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 Rachel Reeves 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 · Rachel Reeves’s register of interests and votes · Sources