MPs’ business costs

Sir Julian Lewis

IPSA paid £2,241,030 against 1,054 published rows for Sir Julian Lewis between 2010-11 and 2025-26 as the member for New Forest East 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, 2017-18

76 claims, £137,436 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.	2	£118,800	86.4%
Office costs	Renting and running a constituency office: rent, utilities, equipment, stationery and postage.	62	£12,698	9.2%
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.	11	£4,122	3.0%
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	£1,816	1.3%

Every year in the register

Sir Julian Lewis’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	79	£84,837	£10,811	£7,401	£3,348	—	£106,397
2011-12	84	£101,187	£11,836	£6,926	£3,893	—	£123,842
2012-13	79	£102,016	£13,182	£5,950	£3,287	—	£124,434
2013-14	80	£102,943	£12,087	£7,193	£3,372	—	£125,595
2014-15	79	£102,477	£11,850	£6,595	£3,708	£4	£124,634
2015-16	74	£104,568	£12,117	£3,698	£2,505	—	£122,888
2016-17	74	£105,526	£10,975	£8,562	£2,649	—	£127,713
2017-18	76	£118,800	£12,698	£4,122	£1,816	—	£137,436
2018-19	76	£125,070	£15,582	£5,148	£2,370	—	£148,171
2019-20	72	£127,557	£15,845	£5,270	£1,632	—	£150,304
2020-21	61	£137,758	£15,738	£5,410	£1,169	—	£160,075
2021-22	53	£157,672	£17,134	£5,480	£2,633	—	£182,920
2022-23	51	£163,153	£16,722	£5,910	£2,170	—	£187,955
2023-24	51	£170,614	£16,714	£6,330	£2,227	—	£195,885
2024-25	45	£189,928	£13,491	£6,593	£2,106	—	£212,118
2025-26	20	—	£3,792	£6,870	—	—	£10,662

A year in which Sir Julian Lewis 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, 2017-18

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

Staffing

Cost type	Claims	Paid
Payroll	1	£116,128
Pooled Services: Direct	1	£2,672

Office costs

Cost type	Claims	Paid
Const Office Rent	13	£9,361
Const Office Tel. Usage/Rental	25	£1,463
Install/Maint Office Equip.	7	£1,083
Advertising	11	£289
Stationery Purchase	1	£179
Newspapers/Journals	2	£142

Accommodation

Cost type	Claims	Paid
Service Charges	2	£1,566
Council Tax	1	£1,184
Water	1	£517
Electricity	1	£385
Telephone Usage/Rental	4	£270
Ground Rent	2	£200

Travel

Cost type	Claims	Paid
Aggregated Travel Costs	1	£1,816

Largest claims, 2017-18

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 2018	Staffing	Payroll	Total Staffing budget payroll costs for the 2017-18 year	£116,128	£116,128
19 April 2017	Staffing	Pooled Services: Direct	PRU	£2,672	£2,672
31 March 2018	Travel	Aggregated Travel Costs	Aggregated figure for travel during 2017-18	£1,816	£1,816
24 March 2018	Accommodation	Council Tax	COUNCIL TAX	£1,184	£1,184
14 October 2017	Accommodation	Service Charges	SERVICE CHARGE	£931	£931
23 February 2018	Office Costs	Const Office Rent	—	£779	£779
26 January 2018	Office Costs	Const Office Rent	—	£779	£779
21 December 2017	Office Costs	Const Office Rent	—	£779	£779
24 November 2017	Office Costs	Const Office Rent	—	£779	£779
29 October 2017	Office Costs	Const Office Rent	—	£779	£779
29 September 2017	Office Costs	Const Office Rent	—	£779	£779
29 August 2017	Office Costs	Const Office Rent	—	£779	£779
27 July 2017	Office Costs	Const Office Rent	—	£779	£779
27 June 2017	Office Costs	Const Office Rent	—	£779	£779
25 May 2017	Office Costs	Const Office Rent	—	£779	£779

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 Julian Lewis 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 Julian Lewis’s register of interests and votes · Sources