MPs’ business costs

Sir Jeremy Wright

IPSA paid £2,801,919 against 1,819 published rows for Sir Jeremy Wright between 2010-11 and 2025-26 as the member for Kenilworth and Southam 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, 2020-21

77 claims, £185,258 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.	4	£155,437	83.9%
Office costs	Renting and running a constituency office: rent, utilities, equipment, stationery and postage.	48	£9,102	4.9%
Accommodation	The 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.	22	£18,169	9.8%
Travel	Journeys 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.	3	£2,550	1.4%

Every year in the register

Sir Jeremy Wright’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	Accommodation	Travel	Miscellaneous	Total
2010-11	113	£64,598	£12,989	£16,168	£5,918	—	£99,673
2011-12	151	£104,423	£17,059	£17,488	£6,373	—	£145,344
2012-13	140	£104,349	£17,614	£17,702	£5,768	—	£145,433
2013-14	154	£131,445	£13,123	£19,138	£7,382	—	£171,088
2014-15	136	£121,685	£15,197	£19,522	£8,910	—	£165,313
2015-16	123	£115,667	£20,699	£18,234	£8,423	—	£163,024
2016-17	89	£111,923	£14,405	£20,189	£8,403	—	£154,919
2017-18	78	£117,971	£22,246	£21,195	£9,243	—	£170,655
2018-19	73	£127,532	£17,529	£19,630	£7,946	—	£172,638
2019-20	117	£124,480	£22,313	£21,228	£8,129	—	£176,151
2020-21	77	£155,437	£9,102	£18,169	£2,550	—	£185,258
2021-22	87	£160,261	£18,581	£21,175	£4,078	£336	£204,431
2022-23	155	£200,414	£27,150	£22,395	£12,247	—	£262,206
2023-24	148	£225,546	£17,503	£24,931	£11,290	—	£279,270
2024-25	122	£244,111	£17,300	£25,585	£8,132	—	£295,128
2025-26	56	—	£8,616	£2,774	—	—	£11,390

A year in which Sir Jeremy Wright 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, 2020-21

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

Staffing

Cost type	Claims	Paid
Payroll	1	£151,943
Pooled staffing services	1	£3,047
Training - staff	1	£439
Health & welfare - staff	1	£8

Office costs

Cost type	Claims	Paid
Rent	1	£1,939
Equipment - purchase	6	£1,424
Working From Home Allowance	1	£1,305
Landline phone & internet - installation & equipment purchase	8	£1,014
Software & applications	3	£669
Cleaning services	12	£600

Accommodation

Cost type	Claims	Paid
Rent	11	£16,830
Utilities	11	£1,339

Travel

Cost type	Claims	Paid
Rail	1	£1,689
Parking	1	£800
Mileage - car	1	£60

Largest claims, 2020-21

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 2021	Staffing	Payroll	Total Staffing budget payroll costs for the 2020-21 year	£151,943	£151,943
27 May 2020	Staffing	Pooled staffing services	Policy Research Unit (Conservative)	£3,047	£3,047
6 January 2021	Office Costs	Rent	—	£1,939	£1,939
31 March 2021	MP Travel	Rail	Aggregated figure for travel during 2020-21	£1,689	£1,689
2 March 2021	Accommodation	Rent	—	£1,530	£1,530
2 February 2021	Accommodation	Rent	—	£1,530	£1,530
6 January 2021	Accommodation	Rent	—	£1,530	£1,530
1 December 2020	Accommodation	Rent	—	£1,530	£1,530
1 November 2020	Accommodation	Rent	—	£1,530	£1,530
4 October 2020	Accommodation	Rent	—	£1,530	£1,530
1 September 2020	Accommodation	Rent	—	£1,530	£1,530
23 August 2020	Accommodation	Rent	—	£1,530	£1,530
1 July 2020	Accommodation	Rent	—	£1,530	£1,530
3 June 2020	Accommodation	Rent	—	£1,530	£1,530
6 May 2020	Accommodation	Rent	—	£1,530	£1,530

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 Jeremy Wright 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 Jeremy Wright’s register of interests and votes · Sources