Civometry

MPs’ business costs

Chris Elmore

IPSA paid £2,301,318 against 2,268 published rows for Chris Elmore between 2016-17 and 2025-26 as the member for Ogmore CC, then Bridgend 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, 2023-24

294 claims, £323,113 paid. The headings are IPSA’s own categories grouped; the categories inside each are named on the register page.

CategoryWhat it coversClaimsPaidShare
StaffingThe 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.45£237,66873.6%
Office costsRenting and running a constituency office: rent, utilities, equipment, stationery and postage.228£31,1249.6%
AccommodationThe 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.5£31,6179.8%
TravelJourneys 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.16£22,7037.0%

Every year in the register

Chris Elmore’s own years, not the register’s: the first is 2016-17 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.

YearClaimsStaffingOffice costsAccommodationTravelStarting up and winding upMiscellaneousTotal
2016-17179£128,392£20,244£15,119£12,961£5,993—£182,709
2017-18142£143,339£22,798£19,738£11,773——£197,648
2018-19224£153,267£23,875£22,208£15,393——£214,744
2019-20287£155,811£25,515£22,003£14,365——£217,693
2020-21187£192,783£25,545£24,271£7,086——£249,685
2021-22347£202,046£26,666£30,289£15,048——£274,049
2022-23365£208,374£24,725£30,596£26,368—£278£290,341
2023-24294£237,668£31,124£31,617£22,703——£323,113
2024-25201£249,427£34,462£32,242£26,673—£400£343,205
2025-2642—£6,323£1,556——£253£8,131

A year in which Chris Elmore 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 typeClaimsPaid
Payroll1£226,054
Bought-in services3£9,030
Training - staff6£2,202
Volunteer - agreed arrangement costs35£382

Office costs

Cost typeClaimsPaid
Rent15£5,500
Bought-in services5£4,560
Pooled staffing services4£4,500
Utilities27£3,765
Landline phone & internet - rental & usage13£3,135
Equipment - purchase5£2,340

Accommodation

Cost typeClaimsPaid
Rent1£30,066
Utilities3£868
Council tax1£684

Travel

Cost typeClaimsPaid
Hotel - London1£10,215
Rail4£6,344
Mileage - car4£3,741
Subsistence1£1,260
Congestion charge & toll1£555
Parking3£436

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.

DateCategoryCost typeDescriptionClaimedPaid
31 March 2024StaffingPayrollTotal Staffing budget payroll costs for the 2023-24 year£226,054£226,054
31 March 2024AccommodationRentAggregated figure for this business cost and budget category in 2023-24£30,066£30,066
31 March 2024Staff TravelHotel - LondonAggregated figure for travel during 2023-24£10,215£10,215
31 March 2024MP TravelRailAggregated figure for travel during 2023-24£4,127£4,127
11 September 2023StaffingBought-in servicesProfessional & consultancy£3,870£3,870
11 September 2023StaffingBought-in servicesProfessional & consultancy£3,870£3,870
31 March 2024MP TravelMileage - carAggregated figure for travel during 2023-24£3,300£3,300
31 March 2024Staff TravelRailAggregated figure for travel during 2023-24£1,986£1,986
11 September 2023Office CostsBought-in servicesProfessional & consultancy£1,800£1,800
11 September 2023Office CostsBought-in servicesProfessional & consultancy£1,800£1,800
16 March 2023Office CostsEquipment - purchaseOther office equipment£1,680£1,680
30 October 2023StaffingBought-in servicesProfessional & consultancy£1,290£1,290
31 March 2024Staff TravelSubsistenceAggregated figure for travel during 2023-24£1,260£1,260
21 March 2024Office CostsPooled staffing servicesParliamentary Research Service (Labour)£1,125£1,125
21 March 2024Office CostsPooled staffing servicesParliamentary Research Service (Labour)£1,125£1,125

Claims refused and money repaid, 2023-24

4 claims carry an amount IPSA did not pay or an amount repaid to it: £0 not paid and £584 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 Chris Elmore 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 · Chris Elmore’s register of interests and votes · Sources