MPs’ business costs

Tom Tugendhat

IPSA paid £2,184,622 against 1,032 published rows for Tom Tugendhat between 2015-16 and 2025-26 as the member for Tonbridge and Malling CC, then Tonbridge 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, 2021-22

64 claims, £244,199 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.	1	£189,908	77.8%
Office costs	Renting and running a constituency office: rent, utilities, equipment, stationery and postage.	61	£20,602	8.4%
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.	1	£25,375	10.4%
Miscellaneous	Claims IPSA records under none of the headings above. Called “Miscellaneous Expenses” until 2018-19.	1	£8,314	3.4%

Every year in the register

Tom Tugendhat’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	67	£107,268	£11,436	£15,063	£2,728	£5,989	—	£142,484
2016-17	142	£134,516	£16,710	£5,426	£4,559	—	—	£161,212
2017-18	123	£125,448	£16,474	£23,264	£5,421	—	—	£170,606
2018-19	104	£136,070	£20,275	£23,017	£5,395	—	—	£184,757
2019-20	108	£155,112	£24,706	£26,227	£4,459	—	—	£210,505
2020-21	101	£176,600	£22,325	£20,975	£831	—	—	£220,732
2021-22	64	£189,908	£20,602	£25,375	—	—	£8,314	£244,199
2022-23	75	£201,694	£12,506	£28,800	£2,739	—	£19,425	£265,163
2023-24	87	£211,172	£25,975	£30,790	£6,192	—	—	£274,129
2024-25	99	£224,204	£24,770	£33,296	£4,943	—	—	£287,214
2025-26	62	—	£20,516	£3,105	—	—	—	£23,621

A year in which Tom Tugendhat 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, 2021-22

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

Staffing

Cost type	Claims	Paid
Payroll	1	£189,908

Office costs

Cost type	Claims	Paid
Rent	1	£8,100
Pooled staffing services	1	£2,988
Business rates	2	£2,807
Software & applications	20	£2,005
Utilities	3	£1,218
Landline phone & internet - rental & usage	12	£1,216

Accommodation

Cost type	Claims	Paid
Rent	1	£25,375

Miscellaneous

Cost type	Claims	Paid
Payroll	1	£8,314

Largest claims, 2021-22

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 2022	Staffing	Payroll	Total Staffing budget payroll costs for the 2021-22 year	£189,908	£189,908
31 March 2022	Accommodation	Rent	Aggregated figure for this business cost and budget category in 2021-22	£25,375	£25,375
31 March 2022	Miscellaneous	Payroll	Total other staff payroll costs for the 2021-22 year	£8,314	£8,314
31 March 2022	Office Costs	Rent	Aggregated figure for this business cost and budget category in 2021-22	£8,100	£8,100
5 May 2021	Office Costs	Pooled staffing services	Policy Research Unit (Conservative)	£2,988	£2,988
15 March 2022	Office Costs	Business rates	Constituency Office Business Rates - LHS office	£1,597	£1,597
15 March 2022	Office Costs	Business rates	Constituency Office Business Rates - RHS office	£1,210	£1,210
31 March 2022	Office Costs	Working From Home Allowance	Aggregated figure for this business cost and budget category in 2021-22	£1,038	£1,038
19 February 2022	Office Costs	Software & applications	Caseworker renewal	£600	£600
23 February 2021	Office Costs	Utilities	Electricity	£543	£543
6 January 2022	Office Costs	Utilities	Electricity	£406	£406
15 June 2021	Office Costs	Software & applications	Annual payment for use of Survey Monkey software	£384	£384
9 January 2022	Office Costs	Landline phone & internet - rental & usage	Landline & internet package	£339	£339
19 March 2021	Office Costs	Stationery & printing	Banner March 2021	£274	£274
2 March 2021	Office Costs	Stationery & printing	Banner March 2021	£274	£274

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 Tom Tugendhat 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 · Tom Tugendhat’s register of interests and votes · Sources