Civometry

MPs’ business costs

Sir Geoffrey Cox

IPSA paid £2,821,148 against 3,042 published rows for Sir Geoffrey Cox between 2010-11 and 2025-26 as the member for Torridge and West Devon CC, then Torridge and Tavistock 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, 2024-25

109 claims, £265,000 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.3£209,62979.1%
Office costsRenting and running a constituency office: rent, utilities, equipment, stationery and postage.77£19,5867.4%
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.12£24,4219.2%
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.17£11,3644.3%

Every year in the register

Sir Geoffrey Cox’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
2010-11276£89,601£14,338£8,400£10,769£316£123,423
2011-12363£106,999£27,312£9,754£12,591£932£157,588
2012-13316£116,480£20,338£8,294£12,730£937£158,779
2013-14303£124,156£20,142£8,850£11,417—£164,565
2014-15224£128,449£17,388£8,571£15,332—£169,739
2015-16226£134,902£21,016£8,280£12,925£642£177,764
2016-17174£132,412£17,856£8,606£12,405—£171,279
2017-18159£104,298£18,371£14,346£11,721—£148,736
2018-19170£132,859£18,886£22,680£13,212—£187,637
2019-20224£147,580£22,779£22,680£16,225—£209,263
2020-21114£164,726£16,940£22,800£4,659—£209,124
2021-2292£165,468£18,147£15,200£9,457—£208,273
2022-2393£200,677£18,604£5,875£11,789—£236,945
2023-24102£155,111£23,126£17,750£17,816—£213,803
2024-25109£209,629£19,586£24,421£11,364—£265,000
2025-2697£1,750£15,675£306—£1,499£19,230

A year in which Sir Geoffrey Cox 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, 2024-25

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

Staffing

Cost typeClaimsPaid
Payroll1£204,366
Pooled staffing services2£5,263

Office costs

Cost typeClaimsPaid
Rent1£7,502
Recruitment Services &Costs6£4,644
Stationery & printing21£1,689
Landline phone & internet - rental & usage4£1,532
Cleaning services15£782
Software & applications1£720

Accommodation

Cost typeClaimsPaid
Rent12£24,421

Travel

Cost typeClaimsPaid
Rail4£5,311
Mileage - car5£3,542
Hotel - London1£1,431
Parking3£337
Hotel - UK Not London1£319
Subsistence2£234

Largest claims, 2024-25

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 2025StaffingPayrollTotal Staffing budget payroll costs for the 2024-25 year£204,366£204,366
31 March 2025Office CostsRentAggregated figure for this business cost and budget category in 2024-25£7,502£7,502
22 April 2024StaffingPooled staffing servicesPolicy Research Unit (Conservative)£3,548£3,548
31 March 2025MP TravelRailAggregated figure for travel during 2024-25£3,501£3,501
31 March 2025MP TravelMileage - carAggregated figure for travel during 2024-25£2,880£2,880
6 February 2025AccommodationRentAdvance claim for rental payment due 20 February 2025£2,250£2,250
2 January 2025AccommodationRentAdvance claim for rental payment due 20 Jan 2025£2,250£2,250
9 December 2024AccommodationRentAdvance payment for rent due 20 December 2024£2,250£2,250
17 November 2024AccommodationRentAdvance claim for accommodation rental payment due 20 November£2,250£2,250
20 October 2024AccommodationRentRental payment for accommodation£2,250£2,250
1 September 2024AccommodationRentAdvance claim for payment due 20 September 2024£2,250£2,250
3 August 2024AccommodationRentAdvance payment for rent due 20 August 2024£2,250£2,250
10 July 2024AccommodationRentAdvance claim for rent due 20 July 2024£1,950£1,950
17 June 2024AccommodationRentAdvance claim for rental payment due 20 June 2024£1,950£1,950
3 May 2024AccommodationRentAdvance claim for rental payment due 20 May 2024£1,950£1,950

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 Sir Geoffrey Cox 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 · Sir Geoffrey Cox’s register of interests and votes · Sources