MPs’ business costs

John McDonnell

IPSA paid £2,761,424 against 982 published rows for John McDonnell between 2010-11 and 2025-26 as the member for Hayes and Harlington 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, 2012-13

71 claims, £132,935 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	£114,830	86.4%
Office costs	Renting and running a constituency office: rent, utilities, equipment, stationery and postage.	69	£17,124	12.9%
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.	1	£980	0.7%

Every year in the register

John McDonnell’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	Total
2010-11	41	£89,614	£14,555	£619	£104,788
2011-12	68	£108,565	£22,204	£600	£131,369
2012-13	71	£114,830	£17,124	£980	£132,935
2013-14	52	£138,629	£20,119	£382	£159,131
2014-15	69	£144,701	£18,255	—	£162,955
2015-16	60	£145,211	£16,788	£150	£162,149
2016-17	64	£144,604	£17,909	—	£162,513
2017-18	56	£143,563	£14,988	£115	£158,667
2018-19	61	£142,721	£18,825	£67	£161,613
2019-20	69	£147,518	£17,054	£104	£164,676
2020-21	78	£197,236	£24,162	—	£221,397
2021-22	60	£213,967	£28,512	—	£242,480
2022-23	67	£225,359	£22,764	—	£248,124
2023-24	84	£247,788	£27,499	—	£275,287
2024-25	61	£238,247	£30,701	—	£268,948
2025-26	21	—	£4,392	—	£4,392

A year in which John McDonnell 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, 2012-13

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

Staffing

Cost type	Claims	Paid
Payroll	1	£114,830

Office costs

Cost type	Claims	Paid
Const Office Rent 2	1	£8,850
Const Office Tel. Usage/Rental	26	£3,219
Stationery Purchase	10	£1,623
Other	9	£899
Security	4	£697
Const Office Electricity	2	£458

Travel

Cost type	Claims	Paid
Aggregated Travel Costs	1	£980

Largest claims, 2012-13

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 2013	Staffing	Payroll	Total payroll costs for the 2012-13 year	£114,830	£114,830
1 March 2013	Office Costs	Const Office Rent 2	constituency office rent	£8,850	£8,850
31 March 2013	Travel	Aggregated Travel Costs	Aggregated figure for travel during 2012-13	£980	£980
27 March 2013	Office Costs	Stationery Purchase	stationary and ink for office	£894	£894
28 March 2013	Office Costs	Stationery Purchase	computer ink	£576	£576
4 July 2012	Office Costs	Security	office security alarm bill	£570	£570
11 May 2012	Office Costs	Const Office Tel. Usage/Rental	office telephone bill	£554	£541
4 July 2012	Office Costs	Const Office Tel. Usage/Rental	office phone bill	£506	£506
6 December 2012	Office Costs	Other	office heating repair	£437	£437
25 October 2012	Office Costs	Const Office Tel. Usage/Rental	constituency telephone bill	£356	£356
29 August 2012	Office Costs	Const Office Buildings Insur.	office building insurance	£350	£350
21 December 2012	Office Costs	Const Office Electricity	electric bill for office	£265	£265
2 January 2013	Office Costs	Const Office Tel. Usage/Rental	office phone bill	£249	£249
22 June 2012	Office Costs	Const Office Gas	constituency office gas bill	£215	£215
12 March 2013	Office Costs	Const Office Electricity	office electric bill	£193	£193

Claims refused and money repaid, 2012-13

2 claims carry an amount IPSA did not pay or an amount repaid to it: £27 not paid and £0 repaid. A refusal is not a finding of wrongdoing — most are claims outside the scheme’s rules, or submitted without the evidence IPSA requires — and it is shown because leaving it out would show only the money that went out.

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 John McDonnell 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 · John McDonnell’s register of interests and votes · Sources