MPs’ business costs

Andy McDonald

IPSA paid £2,512,365 against 1,563 published rows for Andy McDonald between 2012-13 and 2025-26 as the member for Middlesbrough BC, then Middlesbrough and Thornaby 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, 2015-16

86 claims, £186,057 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	£139,351	74.9%
Office costs	Renting and running a constituency office: rent, utilities, equipment, stationery and postage.	70	£19,024	10.2%
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.	13	£20,794	11.2%
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	£6,888	3.7%

Every year in the register

Andy McDonald’s own years, not the register’s: the first is 2012-13 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
2012-13	173	£23,631	£4,455	£8,617	£4,064	£543	£41,311
2013-14	216	£128,113	£17,598	£19,144	£7,225	£815	£172,895
2014-15	81	£126,953	£14,039	£22,734	£7,314	—	£171,039
2015-16	86	£139,351	£19,024	£20,794	£6,888	—	£186,057
2016-17	324	£134,292	£22,686	£20,800	£8,207	—	£185,985
2017-18	72	£143,368	£15,139	£22,969	£4,086	—	£185,561
2018-19	89	£145,030	£20,089	£21,681	£5,257	—	£192,057
2019-20	133	£144,480	£22,096	£22,340	£4,417	—	£193,334
2020-21	77	£152,270	£22,921	£18,932	£2,314	—	£196,437
2021-22	55	£159,413	£25,785	£21,890	£5,154	—	£212,243
2022-23	79	£171,013	£17,111	£21,533	£5,500	—	£215,157
2023-24	57	£203,845	£19,026	£23,150	£4,659	—	£250,680
2024-25	80	£238,313	£26,617	£24,264	£7,737	—	£296,930
2025-26	41	—	£9,781	£2,896	—	—	£12,677

A year in which Andy McDonald 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, 2015-16

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

Staffing

Cost type	Claims	Paid
Payroll	1	£138,151
Pooled Services	1	£1,200

Office costs

Cost type	Claims	Paid
Const Office Rent	12	£3,792
Other	4	£3,603
Business Rates	12	£3,549
Const Office Electricity	7	£2,394
Stationery Purchase	16	£2,390
Const Office Tel. Usage/Rental	8	£1,839

Accommodation

Cost type	Claims	Paid
Accommodation Rent	13	£20,794

Travel

Cost type	Claims	Paid
Aggregated Travel Costs	1	£6,888

Largest claims, 2015-16

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 2016	Staffing	Payroll	Total payroll costs for the 2015-16 year	£138,151	£138,151
31 March 2016	Travel	Aggregated Travel Costs	Aggregated figure for travel during 2015-16	£6,888	£6,888
27 January 2016	Accommodation	Accommodation Rent	—	£1,733	£1,733
25 December 2015	Accommodation	Accommodation Rent	—	£1,733	£1,733
25 November 2015	Accommodation	Accommodation Rent	—	£1,733	£1,733
27 October 2015	Accommodation	Accommodation Rent	—	£1,733	£1,733
24 September 2015	Accommodation	Accommodation Rent	—	£1,733	£1,733
27 August 2015	Accommodation	Accommodation Rent	—	£1,733	£1,733
27 July 2015	Accommodation	Accommodation Rent	—	£1,733	£1,733
6 July 2015	Accommodation	Accommodation Rent	—	£1,733	£1,733
1 June 2015	Accommodation	Accommodation Rent	—	£1,733	£1,733
1 May 2015	Accommodation	Accommodation Rent	—	£1,733	£1,733
1 April 2015	Accommodation	Accommodation Rent	—	£1,733	£1,733
25 February 2016	Accommodation	Accommodation Rent	—	£1,391	£1,391
27 January 2016	Staffing	Pooled Services	Office Costs Advance Claims	£1,200	£1,200

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 Andy McDonald 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 · Andy McDonald’s register of interests and votes · Sources