MPs’ business costs

Kirsty Blackman

IPSA paid £2,153,138 against 1,825 published rows for Kirsty Blackman between 2015-16 and 2025-26 as the member for Aberdeen North 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, 2018-19

188 claims, £210,003 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.	4	£138,487	65.9%
Office costs	Renting and running a constituency office: rent, utilities, equipment, stationery and postage.	153	£22,459	10.7%
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.	30	£27,939	13.3%
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	£21,118	10.1%

Every year in the register

Kirsty Blackman’s own years, not the register’s: the first is 2015-16 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	Starting up and winding up	Miscellaneous	Total
2015-16	146	£82,199	£23,695	£22,764	£18,783	£6,000	—	£153,441
2016-17	195	£139,382	£20,468	£24,994	£14,802	—	—	£199,646
2017-18	193	£125,941	£22,509	£27,651	£10,304	—	—	£186,406
2018-19	188	£138,487	£22,459	£27,939	£21,118	—	—	£210,003
2019-20	184	£135,579	£20,076	£25,152	£17,645	—	—	£198,452
2020-21	129	£130,194	£20,095	£27,762	£1,213	—	—	£179,264
2021-22	167	£146,530	£22,003	£29,168	£12,930	—	£5	£210,637
2022-23	205	£142,813	£22,742	£32,707	£27,044	—	—	£225,307
2023-24	186	£169,780	£22,166	£36,744	£21,859	—	—	£250,549
2024-25	172	£213,507	£29,179	£39,262	£42,992	—	£252	£325,192
2025-26	60	—	£12,615	£1,626	—	—	—	£14,241

A year in which Kirsty Blackman 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, 2018-19

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

Staffing

Cost type	Claims	Paid
Payroll	1	£127,759
Pooled Services	1	£10,689
Staff Training Costs	2	£39

Office costs

Cost type	Claims	Paid
Const Office Rent	6	£12,000
Const Office Electricity	6	£1,710
IT/Other Equipment Hire	13	£1,647
Const Office Cleaning	39	£1,418
Const Office Tel. Usage/Rental	34	£1,182
Stationery Purchase	14	£744

Accommodation

Cost type	Claims	Paid
Accommodation Rent	12	£25,682
Council Tax	2	£1,342
Telephone Usage/Rental	12	£417
Electricity	3	£408
Service Charges	1	£90

Travel

Cost type	Claims	Paid
Aggregated Travel Costs	1	£21,118

Largest claims, 2018-19

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 2019	Staffing	Payroll	Total Staffing budget payroll costs for the 2018-19 year	£127,759	£127,759
31 March 2019	Travel	Aggregated Travel Costs	Aggregated figure for travel during 2018-19	£21,118	£21,118
23 May 2018	Staffing	Pooled Services	SNP Group	£10,689	£10,689
15 November 2018	Office Costs	Const Office Rent	—	£2,400	£2,400
15 August 2018	Office Costs	Const Office Rent	—	£2,400	£2,400
29 May 2018	Office Costs	Const Office Rent	—	£2,400	£2,400
19 May 2018	Office Costs	Const Office Rent	—	£2,400	£2,400
7 February 2019	Accommodation	Accommodation Rent	—	£2,199	£2,199
19 December 2018	Accommodation	Accommodation Rent	—	£2,199	£2,199
29 November 2018	Accommodation	Accommodation Rent	—	£2,199	£2,199
31 October 2018	Accommodation	Accommodation Rent	—	£2,199	£2,199
3 October 2018	Accommodation	Accommodation Rent	—	£2,199	£2,199
31 August 2018	Accommodation	Accommodation Rent	—	£2,199	£2,199
1 August 2018	Accommodation	Accommodation Rent	—	£2,199	£2,199
4 July 2018	Accommodation	Accommodation Rent	—	£2,167	£2,167

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 Kirsty Blackman 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 · Kirsty Blackman’s register of interests and votes · Sources