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, 2025-26

21 claims, £4,392 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.21£4,392100.0%

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.

YearClaimsStaffingOffice costsTravelTotal
2010-1141£89,614£14,555£619£104,788
2011-1268£108,565£22,204£600£131,369
2012-1371£114,830£17,124£980£132,935
2013-1452£138,629£20,119£382£159,131
2014-1569£144,701£18,255£162,955
2015-1660£145,211£16,788£150£162,149
2016-1764£144,604£17,909£162,513
2017-1856£143,563£14,988£115£158,667
2018-1961£142,721£18,825£67£161,613
2019-2069£147,518£17,054£104£164,676
2020-2178£197,236£24,162£221,397
2021-2260£213,967£28,512£242,480
2022-2367£225,359£22,764£248,124
2023-2484£247,788£27,499£275,287
2024-2561£238,247£30,701£268,948
2025-2621£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, 2025-26

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

Office costs

Cost typeClaimsPaid
Landline phone & internet - rental & usage8£2,156
Utilities7£1,203
Insurance - contents2£475
Maintenance, Redecorations & Repairs1£317
Venue hire, meetings & surgeries2£240
Bought-in services1£0

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
24 October 2025Office CostsUtilitiesElectricity£422£422
17 July 2025Office CostsInsurance - contentsoffice insurance£348£348
17 July 2025Office CostsLandline phone & internet - rental & usageLandline£334£334
19 January 2026Office CostsLandline phone & internet - rental & usageLandline£334£334
10 October 2025Office CostsLandline phone & internet - rental & usageLandline£334£334
15 April 2025Office CostsLandline phone & internet - rental & usageLandline & internet package£327£327
25 June 2025Office CostsMaintenance, Redecorations & RepairsNew lock for office front door (couldn´t lock the door)£317£317
19 January 2026Office CostsUtilitiesElectricity£282£282
10 October 2025Office CostsLandline phone & internet - rental & usageLandline£213£213
17 July 2025Office CostsLandline phone & internet - rental & usageLandline£213£213
15 April 2025Office CostsLandline phone & internet - rental & usageLandline£213£213
19 January 2026Office CostsLandline phone & internet - rental & usageLandline£191£191
18 November 2025Office CostsUtilitiesElectricity£143£143
17 July 2025Office CostsInsurance - contentsoffice insurance£127£127
5 February 2026Office CostsUtilitiesGas£123£123

Claims refused and money repaid, 2025-26

1 claim carries an amount IPSA did not pay or an amount repaid to it: £3,000 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