MPs’ business costs

Jeff Smith

IPSA paid £2,117,794 against 1,546 published rows for Jeff Smith between 2015-16 and 2025-26 as the member for Manchester, Withington BC, then Manchester Withington 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, 2025-26

50 claims, £9,023 paid. The headings are IPSA’s own categories grouped; the categories inside each are named on the register page.

CategoryWhat it coversClaimsPaidShare
Office costsRenting and running a constituency office: rent, utilities, equipment, stationery and postage.50£9,023100.0%

Every year in the register

Jeff Smith’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
2015-1667£84,156£13,670£9,432£4,434£5,912£117,605
2016-17127£129,055£22,639£11,450£7,926£171,070
2017-18200£128,347£20,501£11,000£6,378£166,227
2018-19143£144,127£19,769£11,900£8,150£183,946
2019-20223£154,660£29,135£12,000£7,800£203,595
2020-21116£186,639£24,617£11,000£3,736£225,993
2021-2296£178,839£24,291£12,000£4,836£219,966
2022-23193£205,966£26,898£13,650£7,369£253,883
2023-24186£230,889£28,567£15,450£7,171£912£282,989
2024-25145£237,940£22,302£15,600£7,655£283,498
2025-2650£9,023£9,023

A year in which Jeff Smith 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, 2025-26

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

Office costs

Cost typeClaimsPaid
Stationery & printing7£2,421
Landline phone & internet - rental & usage12£1,676
Equipment - hire4£1,493
Utilities17£1,345
Software & applications2£885
Insurance - contents2£437

Largest claims, 2025-26

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
10 November 2025Office CostsStationery & printingSHARP BUSINESS SYSTEMS£995£995
16 June 2025Office CostsSoftware & applicationsELECTED TECHNOLOGIES£738£738
7 January 2026Office CostsEquipment - hirePrinter, photocopier & scanner£373£373
10 October 2025Office CostsEquipment - hirePrinter, photocopier & scanner£373£373
30 June 2025Office CostsEquipment - hirePrinter, photocopier & scanner£373£373
4 April 2025Office CostsEquipment - hirePrinter, photocopier & scanner£373£373
13 June 2025Office CostsStationery & printingSHARP BUSINESS SYSTEMS£332£332
13 June 2025Office CostsStationery & printingXMA July 2025£332£332
20 February 2026Office CostsLandline phone & internet - rental & usageLandline£294£294
1 March 2026Office CostsInsurance - contentsConstituency Office Content Insurance£241£241
13 June 2025Office CostsStationery & printingXMA July 2025£204£204
13 June 2025Office CostsStationery & printingXMA July 2025£204£204
13 June 2025Office CostsStationery & printingXMA July 2025£204£204
1 March 2025Office CostsInsurance - contentsOffice Content Insurance [200011782-522]£196£196
18 February 2026Office CostsTV licenceTVLICENSING.CO.UK£175£175

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 Jeff Smith 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 · Jeff Smith’s register of interests and votes · Sources