MPs’ business costs

Rachel Blake

IPSA paid £189,884 against 147 published rows for Rachel Blake between 2024-25 and 2025-26 as the member for Cities of London and Westminster 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

41 claims, £16,812 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
Office costs	Renting and running a constituency office: rent, utilities, equipment, stationery and postage.	41	£16,812	100.0%

Every year in the register

Rachel Blake’s own years, not the register’s: the first is 2024-25 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	Total
2024-25	106	£159,109	£13,963	£173,073
2025-26	41	—	£16,812	£16,812

A year in which Rachel Blake 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 type	Claims	Paid
Bought-in services	7	£7,419
Stationery & printing	11	£3,225
Venue hire, meetings & surgeries	15	£3,121
Software & applications	1	£1,476
Recruitment Services &Costs	1	£900
Advertising and contact cards	4	£330

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.

Date	Category	Cost type	Description	Claimed	Paid
18 June 2025	Office Costs	Software & applications	ELECTED TECHNOLOGIES	£1,476	£1,476
22 December 2025	Office Costs	Bought-in services	Comms & Media	£1,452	£1,452
10 October 2025	Office Costs	Bought-in services	Comms & Media	£1,159	£1,159
16 April 2025	Office Costs	Bought-in services	Professional & consultancy	£1,000	£1,000
2 February 2026	Office Costs	Bought-in services	Comms & Media	£966	£966
1 March 2026	Office Costs	Bought-in services	Comms & Media	£952	£952
16 June 2025	Office Costs	Venue hire, meetings & surgeries	—	£950	£950
2 December 2025	Office Costs	Bought-in services	Comms & Media	£945	£945
31 October 2025	Office Costs	Bought-in services	Comms & Media	£945	£945
17 April 2025	Office Costs	Recruitment Services &Costs	HIVE SUPPORT LTD	£900	£900
25 February 2026	Office Costs	Stationery & printing	Banner March 2026	£745	£745
25 February 2026	Office Costs	Stationery & printing	Banner March 2026	£458	£458
25 February 2026	Office Costs	Stationery & printing	Banner March 2026	£458	£458
25 February 2026	Office Costs	Stationery & printing	Banner March 2026	£458	£458
21 July 2025	Office Costs	Venue hire, meetings & surgeries	—	£405	£405

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 Rachel Blake 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 · Rachel Blake’s register of interests and votes · Sources