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, 2014-15
69 claims, £162,955 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 | £144,701 | 88.8% |
| Office costs | Renting and running a constituency office: rent, utilities, equipment, stationery and postage. | 68 | £18,255 | 11.2% |
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, 2014-15
The cost types IPSA records inside each heading, largest first by what it paid.
Staffing
| Cost type | Claims | Paid |
|---|---|---|
| Payroll | 1 | £144,701 |
Office costs
| Cost type | Claims | Paid |
|---|---|---|
| Const Office Rent | 1 | £7,977 |
| Const Office Tel. Usage/Rental | 33 | £2,512 |
| Stationery Purchase | 7 | £2,226 |
| Computer HW Purchase | 1 | £1,441 |
| Other | 3 | £662 |
| Security | 1 | £582 |
Largest claims, 2014-15
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 2015 | Staffing | Payroll | Total payroll costs for the 2014-15 year | £144,701 | £144,701 |
| 24 April 2014 | Office Costs | Const Office Rent | — | £7,977 | £7,977 |
| 13 March 2015 | Office Costs | Stationery Purchase | ink for computers | £1,482 | £1,482 |
| 29 September 2014 | Office Costs | Computer HW Purchase | computers for the office | £1,441 | £1,441 |
| 28 May 2014 | Office Costs | Security | office alarm maintenance | £582 | £582 |
| 4 November 2014 | Office Costs | Const Office Buildings Insur. | Office building insurance | £467 | £467 |
| 8 January 2015 | Office Costs | Waste Disposal | confidential shredding | £360 | £360 |
| 8 January 2015 | Office Costs | Other | sign for constituency office | £330 | £330 |
| 4 November 2014 | Office Costs | Const Office Tel. Usage/Rental | office phone bill | £306 | £306 |
| 23 March 2015 | Office Costs | Stationery Purchase | stationary | £304 | £304 |
| 4 February 2015 | Office Costs | Parliamentary Accountancy | Parliamentary accountancy bill | £300 | £300 |
| 26 March 2015 | Office Costs | Other | Rapide - text messaging service | £297 | £297 |
| 17 July 2014 | Office Costs | Const Office Tel. Usage/Rental | office phone bill | £285 | £285 |
| 8 January 2015 | Office Costs | Const Office Tel. Usage/Rental | Constituency office phone bill | £272 | £272 |
| 8 April 2014 | Office Costs | Const Office Tel. Usage/Rental | office telephone bill | £243 | £243 |
Claims refused and money repaid, 2014-15
5 claims carry an amount IPSA did not pay or an amount repaid to it: £174 not paid and £14 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