Civometry

MPs’ business costs

Helen Whately

IPSA paid £1,996,097 against 1,427 published rows for Helen Whately between 2015-16 and 2025-26 as the member for Faversham and Mid Kent 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

143 claims, £269,216 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.1£225,22883.7%
Office costsRenting and running a constituency office: rent, utilities, equipment, stationery and postage.111£14,9315.5%
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.21£25,6659.5%
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.10£3,3921.3%

Every year in the register

Helen Whately’s own years, not the register’s: the first is 2015-16 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 costsAccommodationTravelStarting up and winding upMiscellaneousTotal
2015-1690£96,344£6,934£16,811£2,885£1,325—£124,300
2016-17148£134,264£10,556£19,200£3,534——£167,554
2017-18112£131,743£9,680£26,019£2,193——£169,635
2018-19143£142,085£11,241£18,339£3,076——£174,740
2019-20196£133,979£15,594£28,978£2,585—£7,800£188,935
2020-21134£159,504£11,026£41,831£700——£213,061
2021-22114£165,000£12,423£32,025£2,454——£211,901
2022-23147£176,373£9,335£20,364£3,497——£209,569
2023-24141£198,260£19,065£23,745£3,671——£244,741
2024-25143£225,228£14,931£25,665£3,392——£269,216
2025-2659—£18,042£4,401———£22,443

A year in which Helen Whately 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£225,228

Office costs

Cost typeClaimsPaid
Pooled staffing services2£5,263
Stationery & printing50£3,514
Training - staff6£1,750
Software & applications10£1,159
Postage & couriers12£774
Bought-in services4£720

Accommodation

Cost typeClaimsPaid
Rent1£22,104
Utilities7£1,493
Council tax1£1,189
Landline phone & internet - rental & usage12£879

Travel

Cost typeClaimsPaid
Rail2£2,070
Parking3£734
Mileage - car4£557
Railcard1£31

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£225,228£225,228
31 March 2025AccommodationRentAggregated figure for this business cost and budget category in 2024-25£22,104£22,104
1 May 2024Office CostsPooled staffing servicesPolicy Research Unit (Conservative)£3,548£3,548
31 March 2025MP TravelRailAggregated figure for travel during 2024-25£1,988£1,988
17 September 2024Office CostsPooled staffing servicesPolicy Research Unit (Conservative)£1,715£1,715
1 April 2024AccommodationCouncil taxCouncil tax£1,189£1,189
31 March 2025MP TravelParkingAggregated figure for travel during 2024-25£709£709
31 March 2025AccommodationUtilitiesWater£609£609
28 February 2024AccommodationUtilitiesWater£545£545
23 February 2025Office CostsSoftware & applicationsDROPBOX£518£518
10 October 2024Office CostsStationery & printingWWW.AMAZON. [***]£469£469
5 April 2024Office CostsWebsite hosting and designBLUETREE WEBSITES£360£360
29 November 2024Office CostsStationery & printingPrinting of educational materials for schools£359£359
7 February 2025Office CostsStationery & printingPrinting of contact card leaflets£331£331
20 September 2024Office CostsStationery & printingPrinting of contact card leaflets£331£331

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 Helen Whately 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 · Helen Whately’s register of interests and votes · Sources