MPs’ business costs

Sammy Wilson

IPSA paid £2,818,050 against 2,764 published rows for Sammy Wilson between 2010-11 and 2025-26 as the member for East Antrim 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, 2019-20

242 claims, £215,984 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.	52	£144,513	66.9%
Office costs	Renting and running a constituency office: rent, utilities, equipment, stationery and postage.	124	£26,568	12.3%
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.	53	£17,273	8.0%
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.	13	£27,629	12.8%

Every year in the register

Sammy Wilson’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	73	£82,451	£4,582	£10,078	£11,720	—	£108,831
2011-12	83	£106,124	£8,311	£11,464	£16,899	—	£142,798
2012-13	139	£107,829	£18,966	£7,628	£14,678	—	£149,101
2013-14	115	£100,922	£19,946	£19,436	£22,872	£425	£163,602
2014-15	122	£91,522	£22,018	£19,648	£17,159	—	£150,345
2015-16	175	£104,691	£25,136	£20,315	£19,425	—	£169,568
2016-17	223	£111,051	£23,120	£20,610	£20,818	£455	£176,054
2017-18	204	£119,623	£24,071	£21,559	£23,707	—	£188,961
2018-19	209	£126,722	£23,110	£22,579	£27,300	—	£199,710
2019-20	242	£144,513	£26,568	£17,273	£27,629	—	£215,984
2020-21	293	£148,076	£25,597	£13,487	£16,345	—	£203,505
2021-22	214	£139,191	£23,994	£16,206	£24,092	—	£203,483
2022-23	159	£153,907	£25,886	£20,500	£31,138	—	£231,431
2023-24	202	£161,458	£30,965	£23,840	£28,072	—	£244,336
2024-25	200	£170,994	£28,520	£27,809	£24,350	—	£251,674
2025-26	111	£358	£15,714	£2,594	—	—	£18,666

A year in which Sammy Wilson 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, 2019-20

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

Staffing

Cost type	Claims	Paid
Payroll	1	£124,271
Bought-in services	47	£19,659
Training - staff	1	£378
Health & welfare - staff	3	£205

Office costs

Cost type	Claims	Paid
Rent	16	£12,200
Equipment - purchase	3	£3,040
Stationery & printing	17	£2,783
Utilities	17	£2,574
Business rates	2	£1,512
Landline phone & internet - rental & usage	10	£1,133

Accommodation

Cost type	Claims	Paid
Rent	12	£13,650
Council tax	8	£2,041
Utilities	19	£742
Moving Fees	3	£579
Landline phone & internet - rental & usage	11	£262

Travel

Cost type	Claims	Paid
Air travel	3	£24,408
Mileage - car	4	£2,407
Other public transport	2	£544
Rail	2	£105
Mileage - motorcycle	1	£103
Parking	1	£64

Largest claims, 2019-20

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 2020	Staffing	Payroll	Total Staffing budget payroll costs for the 2019-20 year	£124,271	£124,271
31 March 2020	MP Travel	Air travel	Aggregated figure for travel during 2019-20	£23,527	£23,527
3 January 2020	Office Costs	Rent	Larne constituency office quarterly rent	£2,450	£2,450
21 October 2019	Office Costs	Rent	Rent for Larne Office	£2,450	£2,450
2 July 2019	Office Costs	Rent	Rent for Larne Constituency office	£2,450	£2,450
1 April 2019	Office Costs	Rent	Quarterly rent for Larne Office Shared Office Original IPSA Claim 345606	£2,450	£2,450
24 March 2020	Office Costs	Equipment - purchase	Computer, laptop, PC, tablet & accessories	£2,065	£2,065
19 June 2019	Accommodation	Rent	Monthly rent for [*] [*]	£1,625	£1,625
15 May 2019	Accommodation	Rent	Monthly rent for [*] [*] Original IPSA ref 265534	£1,625	£1,625
5 April 2019	Accommodation	Rent	Monthly rent for London Accommodation original Lease IPSA ref 265534	£1,625	£1,625
15 May 2019	Accommodation	Council tax	Royal borough of Greenwich council tax	£1,324	£1,324
31 March 2020	Staff Travel	Mileage - car	Aggregated figure for travel during 2019-20	£1,204	£1,204
12 April 2019	Office Costs	Business rates	50% Larne Annual Rates, shared office	£1,201	£1,201
13 March 2020	Accommodation	Rent	Monthly rent for london accommodation	£975	£975
3 February 2020	Accommodation	Rent	Accommodation Rent	£975	£975

Claims refused and money repaid, 2019-20

3 claims carry an amount IPSA did not pay or an amount repaid to it: £0 not paid and £995 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 Sammy Wilson 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 · Sammy Wilson’s register of interests and votes · Sources