Civometry

MPs’ business costs

Graham Stuart

IPSA paid £2,973,368 against 2,449 published rows for Graham Stuart between 2010-11 and 2025-26 as the member for Beverley and Holderness 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, 2022-23

150 claims, £245,250 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£194,57679.3%
Office costsRenting and running a constituency office: rent, utilities, equipment, stationery and postage.100£19,0927.8%
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.30£22,0799.0%
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£8,0623.3%
MiscellaneousClaims IPSA records under none of the headings above. Called “Miscellaneous Expenses” until 2018-19.1£1,4400.6%

Every year in the register

Graham Stuart’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
2010-11192£76,189£11,992£14,644£6,029£807£109,662
2011-12156£109,211£15,316£18,314£7,189—£150,029
2012-13125£126,952£16,662£19,192£9,422£60£172,288
2013-14135£134,041£11,069£20,311£7,890—£173,311
2014-15132£133,730£14,623£19,639£9,783—£177,775
2015-16145£134,652£20,847£20,008£9,473—£184,980
2016-17150£138,223£22,141£19,846£8,008—£188,219
2017-18151£102,871£21,782£20,642£9,632£83£155,009
2018-19153£129,664£15,085£21,378£12,825—£178,952
2019-20160£122,298£19,038£19,061£8,883—£169,279
2020-21165£164,465£20,465£19,874£6,735—£211,539
2021-22125£192,243£17,174£22,716£9,475—£241,608
2022-23150£194,576£19,092£22,079£8,062£1,440£245,250
2023-24210£217,323£25,489£26,584£12,176—£281,572
2024-25224£231,973£29,725£28,071£12,236—£302,005
2025-2676£3,713£24,982£3,197——£31,891

A year in which Graham Stuart 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, 2022-23

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

Staffing

Cost typeClaimsPaid
Payroll1£194,251
Working From Home Allowance1£326

Office costs

Cost typeClaimsPaid
Rent4£3,245
Equipment - purchase16£3,102
Pooled staffing services1£3,091
Recruitment Services &Costs2£2,628
Advertising and contact cards15£1,752
Stationery & printing13£1,596

Accommodation

Cost typeClaimsPaid
Rent12£19,002
Council tax2£1,468
Utilities4£1,316
Landline phone & internet - rental & usage12£292

Travel

Cost typeClaimsPaid
Rail4£3,214
Hotel - London1£1,884
Mileage - car3£1,284
Parking2£699
Hotel - UK Not London1£615
Subsistence2£184

Miscellaneous

Cost typeClaimsPaid
IPSA RICS Valuation1£1,440

Largest claims, 2022-23

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 2023StaffingPayrollTotal Staffing budget payroll costs for the 2022-23 year£194,251£194,251
28 April 2022Office CostsPooled staffing servicesPolicy Research Unit (Conservative)£3,091£3,091
31 March 2023MP TravelRailAggregated figure for travel during 2022-23£2,178£2,178
31 March 2023Staff TravelHotel - LondonAggregated figure for travel during 2022-23£1,884£1,884
4 April 2023AccommodationRent—£1,584£1,584
2 March 2023AccommodationRent—£1,584£1,584
2 February 2023AccommodationRent—£1,584£1,584
5 January 2023AccommodationRent—£1,584£1,584
1 December 2022AccommodationRent—£1,584£1,584
1 November 2022AccommodationRent—£1,584£1,584
4 October 2022AccommodationRent—£1,584£1,584
1 September 2022AccommodationRent—£1,584£1,584
2 August 2022AccommodationRent—£1,584£1,584
5 July 2022AccommodationRent—£1,584£1,584
2 June 2022AccommodationRent—£1,584£1,584

Claims refused and money repaid, 2022-23

5 claims carry an amount IPSA did not pay or an amount repaid to it: £0 not paid and £1,154 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 Graham Stuart 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 · Graham Stuart’s register of interests and votes · Sources