Civometry

MPs’ business costs

David Mundell

IPSA paid £3,428,223 against 4,070 published rows for David Mundell between 2010-11 and 2025-26 as the member for Dumfriesshire, Clydesdale and Tweeddale 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

454 claims, £326,067 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.2£234,13671.8%
Office costsRenting and running a constituency office: rent, utilities, equipment, stationery and postage.399£30,8249.5%
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.39£27,8608.5%
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.14£33,24810.2%

Every year in the register

David Mundell’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.

YearClaimsStaffingOffice costsAccommodationTravelMiscellaneousTotal
2010-11187£81,783£18,314£16,372£13,145£807£130,421
2011-12232£111,948£21,551£21,152£22,168—£176,819
2012-13219£117,706£21,739£19,467£20,049—£178,960
2013-14209£135,960£22,684£20,128£21,618£243£200,633
2014-15225£136,054£22,014£19,659£22,093—£199,820
2015-16196£138,096£22,094£20,357£15,449—£195,995
2016-17194£139,422£22,768£20,166£13,976—£196,333
2017-18195£150,900£21,347£21,069£10,290—£203,606
2018-19235£153,326£24,917£21,304£14,081—£213,628
2019-20280£166,424£29,678£19,252£21,461—£236,816
2020-21277£193,675£34,951£19,857£11,007—£259,491
2021-22306£190,858£26,908£21,286£23,470—£262,522
2022-23366£212,880£27,060£21,967£25,744—£287,652
2023-24454£234,136£30,824£27,860£33,248—£326,067
2024-25354£245,353£31,653£28,193£25,338—£330,536
2025-26141£491£25,068£3,365——£28,924

A year in which David Mundell 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£230,948
Pooled staffing services1£3,188

Office costs

Cost typeClaimsPaid
Advertising and contact cards42£5,536
Postage & couriers13£5,035
Rent12£4,677
Utilities25£3,297
Landline phone & internet - rental & usage14£1,843
Venue hire, meetings & surgeries81£1,769

Accommodation

Cost typeClaimsPaid
Rent14£23,844
Council tax3£1,999
Utilities8£1,231
Moving Fees1£473
Landline phone & internet - rental & usage13£312

Travel

Cost typeClaimsPaid
Air travel2£20,526
Mileage - car3£5,396
Parking2£3,089
Hotel - UK Not London2£1,944
Rail3£1,709
Subsistence1£523

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£230,948£230,948
31 March 2024MP TravelAir travelAggregated figure for travel during 2023-24£18,674£18,674
18 April 2023StaffingPooled staffing servicesPolicy Research Unit (Conservative)£3,188£3,188
31 March 2024MP TravelParkingAggregated figure for travel during 2023-24£2,999£2,999
2 April 2024AccommodationRent—£2,050£2,050
5 March 2024AccommodationRent—£2,050£2,050
1 February 2024AccommodationRent—£2,050£2,050
5 January 2024AccommodationRent—£2,050£2,050
5 December 2023AccommodationRent—£2,050£2,050
1 November 2023AccommodationRent—£2,050£2,050
3 October 2023AccommodationRent—£2,050£2,050
31 March 2024MP TravelMileage - carAggregated figure for travel during 2023-24£2,032£2,032
13 March 2024Office CostsPostage & couriersStamps 2700 x 2nd class stamps£2,025£2,025
31 March 2024Staff TravelMileage - carAggregated figure for travel during 2023-24£1,970£1,970
31 March 2024Staff TravelAir travelAggregated figure for travel during 2023-24£1,851£1,851

Claims refused and money repaid, 2023-24

5 claims carry an amount IPSA did not pay or an amount repaid to it: £0 not paid and £3,002 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 David Mundell 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 · David Mundell’s register of interests and votes · Sources