MPs’ business costs
Heidi Alexander
IPSA paid £1,448,320 against 620 published rows for Heidi Alexander between 2010-11 and 2025-26 as the member for Lewisham East BC, then Swindon South 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, 2017-18
44 claims, £174,021 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 | £148,896 | 85.6% |
| Office costs | Renting and running a constituency office: rent, utilities, equipment, stationery and postage. | 43 | £25,125 | 14.4% |
Every year in the register
Heidi Alexander’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 | Starting up and winding up | Miscellaneous | Total |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2010-11 | 44 | £79,251 | £15,564 | — | — | — | £94,815 |
| 2011-12 | 65 | £107,723 | £19,654 | — | — | £1,527 | £128,904 |
| 2012-13 | 62 | £123,336 | £16,926 | — | — | — | £140,262 |
| 2013-14 | 92 | £129,596 | £21,156 | — | — | — | £150,752 |
| 2014-15 | 69 | £145,500 | £24,711 | — | — | — | £170,211 |
| 2015-16 | 57 | £146,871 | £23,751 | — | — | — | £170,622 |
| 2016-17 | 53 | £148,439 | £24,221 | — | — | — | £172,660 |
| 2017-18 | 44 | £148,896 | £25,125 | — | — | — | £174,021 |
| 2018-19 | 9 | £15,670 | £3,406 | — | £39,509 | — | £58,585 |
| 2024-25 | 93 | £148,366 | £21,363 | £9,088 | — | — | £178,816 |
| 2025-26 | 32 | £93 | £8,579 | — | — | — | £8,672 |
A year in which Heidi Alexander 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, 2017-18
The cost types IPSA records inside each heading, largest first by what it paid.
Staffing
| Cost type | Claims | Paid |
|---|---|---|
| Payroll | 1 | £148,896 |
Office costs
| Cost type | Claims | Paid |
|---|---|---|
| Const Office Rent | 14 | £13,826 |
| Stationery Purchase | 17 | £5,151 |
| Professional Services: Direct | 1 | £4,800 |
| Computer HW Purchase | 2 | £1,400 |
| Const Office Buildings Insur. | 1 | £989 |
| Const Office Tel. Usage/Rental | 4 | £646 |
Largest claims, 2017-18
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 2018 | Staffing | Payroll | Total Staffing budget payroll costs for the 2017-18 year | £148,896 | £148,896 |
| 28 April 2017 | Office Costs | Professional Services: Direct | PRS | £4,800 | £4,800 |
| 29 September 2017 | Office Costs | Computer HW Purchase | iPad and accessories | £1,357 | £1,357 |
| 23 February 2018 | Office Costs | Const Office Rent | — | £1,165 | £1,165 |
| 26 January 2018 | Office Costs | Const Office Rent | — | £1,165 | £1,165 |
| 21 December 2017 | Office Costs | Const Office Rent | — | £1,165 | £1,165 |
| 24 November 2017 | Office Costs | Const Office Rent | — | £1,165 | £1,165 |
| 29 October 2017 | Office Costs | Const Office Rent | — | £1,165 | £1,165 |
| 29 September 2017 | Office Costs | Const Office Rent | — | £1,165 | £1,165 |
| 29 August 2017 | Office Costs | Const Office Rent | — | £1,165 | £1,165 |
| 27 July 2017 | Office Costs | Const Office Rent | — | £1,165 | £1,165 |
| 27 June 2017 | Office Costs | Const Office Rent | — | £1,080 | £1,080 |
| 25 May 2017 | Office Costs | Const Office Rent | — | £1,080 | £1,080 |
| 25 April 2017 | Office Costs | Const Office Rent | — | £1,080 | £1,080 |
| 1 April 2017 | Office Costs | Const Office Rent | — | £1,080 | £1,080 |
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 Heidi Alexander 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 · Heidi Alexander’s register of interests and votes · Sources