This is how much your MP cost you last year

Bognor Regis and Littlehampton MP Nick Gibb cost the taxpayer around £169,000 last year while Arundel and South Downs MP Andrew Griffith cost around £203,000, new figures reveal.
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While Nick Gibbs' costs were well below it, Andrew Griffith's were near the average for all Members of Parliament, of £203,880.

Figures from the Independent Parliamentary Standards Authority show Conservative MP Nick Gibb's total business costs for the 2020-21 financial year were £169,288.82.

The MP's costs were up from £131,118.25 the year before.

This is how much your MP cost you last yearThis is how much your MP cost you last year
This is how much your MP cost you last year
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By comparison, Darren Henry, a fellow Tory MP for Broxtowe, had costs of £280,900 last year, while Philip Hollobone, the member for Kettering, had just £80,700.

Nick Gibb, who was elected in May 1997, spent £162,600 on office running costs in 2020-21, including £146,200 on staff wages and £16,400 on other office expenditures.

And he spent £5,400 of his accommodation budget (of £5,400), and a further £1,300 on travel and subsistence.

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Andrew Griffith, who was elected in December 2019, spent £200,300 on office running costs in 2020-21, including £164,800 on staff wages and £35,500 on other office expenditures.

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And he incurred no accommodation costs during this time, but spent £2,800 on travel and subsistence.

The total costs of MPs last year rose by four per cent, to £132.5 million, with almost £300,000 going on hotel claims for just 49 members.

Business costs are the essential costs incurred by MPs while carrying out their parliamentary duties including staffing, office costs and travel.

MPs cannot claim for personal costs, such as food and drink, during their normal working day, and all claims must be compliant with IPSA rules and accompanied by evidence.

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IPSA’s chairman, Richard Lloyd, said compliance with the rules was at 99.7 per cent last year.

"In the last financial year MPs and their staff changed how they work to provide their constituents with a service during the pandemic.

“We enabled MPs’ staff to work from home, while the amount spent on parliamentary business travel fell to reflect different working patterns."

The IPSA figures also reveal the 215 individual claims made by Nick Gibb in 2020-21, with the most expensive single claim being for staff payroll – £146,152.48.

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At the other end of the scale, the smallest one-off expense the 61-year-old claimed was 79p for software and applications.

The average cost of an MP was up 29 per cent, from £158,103, in 2019-20.

Kit Malthouse was the most expensive MP attending the Cabinet in 2020-21, with total costs of £244,312.

This was compared to £178,406 for Prime Minister Boris Johnson and £168,109 for Sir Keir Starmer.

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“The electorate expects politicians to stay grounded and keep costs under control, particularly given the Covid pandemic saw many MPs and their staff work from home.

“With taxpayers facing a cost of living crisis, politicians should be doing their utmost to keep their spending down.”

MPs' costs are usually broken down into dozens of categories, with staff pay almost always the largest expense.

Nick Gibb's five largest types of costs were:

1) Payroll – costing £146,152.48

2) Stationery & printing – £4,452.75

3) Pooled Staffing Services – £3,047.00

4) Council tax – £2,701.53 5) Equipment - purchase – £2,604.18

He also spent £1,184.03 on a working from home allowance.

Andrew Griffith's five largest types of costs were:

1) Payroll – costing £161,787.78

2) Equipment - purchase – £11,960.95

3) Rent – £10,403.70

4) Stationery & printing – £5,980.84

5) Bought-in services – £4,015.60

He also spent £1,279.42 on a working from home allowance.