MPs’ business costs

Emily Thornberry

IPSA paid £3,048,651 against 1,179 published rows for Emily Thornberry between 2010-11 and 2025-26 as the member for Islington South and Finsbury 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, 2016-17

57 claims, £172,447 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.	1	£147,176	85.3%
Office costs	Renting and running a constituency office: rent, utilities, equipment, stationery and postage.	55	£25,015	14.5%
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	£256	0.1%

Every year in the register

Emily Thornberry’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	Travel	Miscellaneous	Total
2010-11	24	£114,393	£22,987	—	—	£137,380
2011-12	95	£130,625	£29,629	—	—	£160,254
2012-13	96	£144,634	£28,646	—	—	£173,280
2013-14	118	£138,668	£30,812	—	—	£169,480
2014-15	62	£144,097	£24,727	£431	—	£169,255
2015-16	68	£146,744	£25,251	—	—	£171,994
2016-17	57	£147,176	£25,015	£256	—	£172,447
2017-18	45	£153,066	£26,732	—	—	£179,798
2018-19	39	£164,485	£23,545	£375	—	£188,406
2019-20	59	£159,471	£28,984	£370	—	£188,826
2020-21	52	£206,488	£28,509	—	—	£234,997
2021-22	24	£213,136	£23,102	—	£1,427	£237,665
2022-23	197	£237,321	£37,802	—	—	£275,123
2023-24	128	£252,957	£32,804	—	£912	£286,673
2024-25	77	£264,443	£30,286	£180	—	£294,909
2025-26	38	—	£8,165	—	—	£8,165

A year in which Emily Thornberry 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, 2016-17

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

Staffing

Cost type	Claims	Paid
Payroll	1	£147,176

Office costs

Cost type	Claims	Paid
Const Office Rent	5	£18,217
Stationery Purchase	18	£2,305
Const Office Tel. Usage/Rental	10	£1,584
Waste Disposal	4	£1,228
Venue Hire Surgery/Meeting	3	£660
Computer SW Purchase	1	£400

Travel

Cost type	Claims	Paid
Aggregated Travel Costs	1	£256

Largest claims, 2016-17

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 2017	Staffing	Payroll	Total Staffing budget payroll costs for the 2016-17 year	£147,176	£147,176
27 December 2016	Office Costs	Const Office Rent	—	£4,338	£4,338
27 September 2016	Office Costs	Const Office Rent	—	£4,338	£4,338
29 June 2016	Office Costs	Const Office Rent	—	£4,338	£4,338
1 April 2016	Office Costs	Const Office Rent	—	£4,338	£4,338
25 April 2016	Office Costs	Const Office Rent	—	£867	£867
21 June 2016	Office Costs	Stationery Purchase	Banner	£653	£653
8 August 2016	Office Costs	Waste Disposal	venues and waste	£413	£413
13 September 2016	Office Costs	Stationery Purchase	XMA Ltd	£410	£410
31 January 2017	Office Costs	Computer SW Purchase	software,ico and advert	£400	£400
23 September 2016	Office Costs	Const Office Tel. Usage/Rental	phone bills	£365	£365
7 July 2016	Office Costs	Const Office Tel. Usage/Rental	subs/BT/recycling	£364	£364
21 December 2016	Office Costs	Const Office Tel. Usage/Rental	waste, venue, stationery,phon	£352	£352
25 November 2016	Office Costs	Waste Disposal	waste, venue, stationery,phon	£312	£312
13 March 2017	Office Costs	Stationery Purchase	Banner	£303	£303

Claims refused and money repaid, 2016-17

1 claim carries an amount IPSA did not pay or an amount repaid to it: £0 not paid and £150 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 Emily Thornberry 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 · Emily Thornberry’s register of interests and votes · Sources