MPs’ business costs

Jim Shannon

IPSA paid £3,445,592 against 1,754 published rows for Jim Shannon between 2010-11 and 2025-26 as the member for Strangford 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, 2025-26

82 claims, £35,727 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.40£12,33534.5%
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.42£23,39265.5%

Every year in the register

Jim Shannon’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 costsAccommodationTravelTotal
2010-1141£98,153£10,536£4,236£17,789£130,715
2011-1280£122,004£18,799£9,308£26,968£177,079
2012-13108£157,649£27,361£12,132£24,578£221,720
2013-14250£143,074£31,861£10,739£37,966£223,640
2014-15110£159,656£32,495£7,449£51,459£251,060
2015-16100£167,551£23,400£5,705£42,980£239,636
2016-1791£147,278£23,702£5,634£32,967£209,580
2017-18115£150,814£24,250£7,197£50,264£232,525
2018-19110£153,028£24,167£8,700£42,537£228,432
2019-20111£148,860£23,154£14,593£26,539£213,146
2020-21113£163,506£27,915£13,432£24,064£228,917
2021-2294£175,736£25,792£16,967£20,072£238,568
2022-23112£176,967£28,603£15,036£28,443£249,049
2023-24114£197,897£29,528£6,655£38,087£272,166
2024-25123£215,721£30,434£22,503£24,974£293,632
2025-2682£12,335£23,392£35,727

A year in which Jim Shannon 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
Business rates1£3,313
Landline phone & internet - rental & usage17£3,216
Utilities11£2,205
Software & applications2£1,633
Equipment - purchase4£929
Stationery & printing2£425

Accommodation

Cost typeClaimsPaid
Hotel - London42£23,392

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
30 April 2025Office CostsBusiness ratesAnnual Business Property Rates 34A Frances Street Newtownards£3,313£3,313
15 May 2025Office CostsSoftware & applicationsELECTED TECHNOLOGIES£1,476£1,476
9 June 2025AccommodationHotel - London[***][***][***]£796£796
19 June 2025AccommodationHotel - London[***] [***]£666£666
24 February 2026AccommodationHotel - London[***][***][***]£660£660
9 February 2026AccommodationHotel - London[***][***][***]£660£660
5 February 2026AccommodationHotel - London[***][***][***]£660£660
15 January 2026AccommodationHotel - London[***][***][***]£660£660
8 January 2026AccommodationHotel - London[***][***][***]£660£660
18 December 2025AccommodationHotel - London[***][***][***]£660£660
11 December 2025AccommodationHotel - London[***][***][***]£660£660
4 December 2025AccommodationHotel - London[***][***][***]£660£660
25 November 2025AccommodationHotel - London[***][***][***]£660£660
20 November 2025AccommodationHotel - London[***][***][***]£660£660
13 November 2025AccommodationHotel - London[***][***][***]£660£660

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 Jim Shannon 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 · Jim Shannon’s register of interests and votes · Sources