MPs’ business costs

Wendy Morton

IPSA paid £1,642,206 against 776 published rows for Wendy Morton between 2015-16 and 2025-26 as the member for Aldridge-Brownhills 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, 2023-24

107 claims, £199,196 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.	3	£153,630	77.1%
Office costs	Renting and running a constituency office: rent, utilities, equipment, stationery and postage.	73	£17,026	8.5%
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.	20	£15,964	8.0%
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.	11	£12,577	6.3%

Every year in the register

Wendy Morton’s own years, not the register’s: the first is 2015-16 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	Total
2015-16	72	£89,010	£14,898	£7,475	£3,931	£4,443	£119,758
2016-17	58	£121,197	£10,087	£10,200	£5,246	—	£146,731
2017-18	74	£133,520	£14,162	£15,192	£3,303	—	£166,176
2018-19	57	£122,318	£9,718	£15,444	£4,743	—	£152,223
2019-20	73	£124,805	£9,555	£14,456	£4,291	—	£153,107
2020-21	59	£117,250	£15,119	£15,653	£2,604	—	£150,626
2021-22	75	£106,323	£10,009	£15,782	£5,176	—	£137,290
2022-23	75	£117,101	£8,534	£15,869	£8,373	—	£149,877
2023-24	107	£153,630	£17,026	£15,964	£12,577	—	£199,196
2024-25	85	£205,700	£18,328	£17,720	£11,626	—	£253,374
2025-26	41	—	£10,495	£3,353	—	—	£13,848

A year in which Wendy Morton 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, 2023-24

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

Staffing

Cost type	Claims	Paid
Payroll	1	£149,818
Pooled staffing services	1	£3,188
Training - staff	1	£624

Office costs

Cost type	Claims	Paid
Rent	12	£5,000
Equipment - purchase	9	£4,141
Stationery & printing	37	£3,400
Training - staff	4	£2,384
Utilities	5	£1,372
Website hosting and design	2	£500

Accommodation

Cost type	Claims	Paid
Rent	12	£13,200
Council tax	8	£2,764

Travel

Cost type	Claims	Paid
Rail	2	£5,108
Mileage - car	3	£3,381
Hotel - London	2	£2,467
Other public transport	1	£975
Subsistence	1	£403
Hotel - UK Not London	1	£218

Largest claims, 2023-24

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 2024	Staffing	Payroll	Total Staffing budget payroll costs for the 2023-24 year	£149,818	£149,818
31 March 2024	Staff Travel	Rail	Aggregated figure for travel during 2023-24	£4,644	£4,644
31 March 2024	MP Travel	Mileage - car	Aggregated figure for travel during 2023-24	£3,222	£3,222
25 April 2023	Staffing	Pooled staffing services	Policy Research Unit (Conservative)	£3,188	£3,188
31 March 2024	Staff Travel	Hotel - London	Aggregated figure for travel during 2023-24	£2,221	£2,221
23 November 2023	Office Costs	Equipment - purchase	Printer, photocopier & scanner	£1,670	£1,670
24 November 2023	Office Costs	Equipment - purchase	Computer, laptop, PC, tablet & accessories	£1,279	£1,279
19 March 2024	Accommodation	Rent	—	£1,100	£1,100
15 February 2024	Accommodation	Rent	—	£1,100	£1,100
16 January 2024	Accommodation	Rent	—	£1,100	£1,100
19 December 2023	Accommodation	Rent	—	£1,100	£1,100
16 November 2023	Accommodation	Rent	—	£1,100	£1,100
17 October 2023	Accommodation	Rent	—	£1,100	£1,100
19 September 2023	Accommodation	Rent	—	£1,100	£1,100
15 August 2023	Accommodation	Rent	—	£1,100	£1,100

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 Wendy Morton 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 · Wendy Morton’s register of interests and votes · Sources