Who pays for UK MPs to travel

2,390 declared trips and events worth £9,295,714appear on the Electoral Commission register as donations in kind with a stated purpose of visit. These are sponsored visits: foreign governments, think tanks, lobby groups and individuals paying for MPs to travel, attend conferences, or meet heads of state. The single largest paymasters are Hong Kong’s government, Conservative Friends of Israel and Labour Friends of Israel; the Ministries of Foreign Affairs of Qatar, Taiwan, Saudi Arabia, India and Japan all appear in the top tier.

Foreign government trips

496

'Friends of' group trips

312

Think tank invitations

161

Trips paid by companies

199

Foreign government paymasters

Sponsors acting for a state, paying directly for UK MPs to visit. Ranked by total declared value.

#	Sponsor	Trips	Total value
1	Hong Kong Government	31	£286,310
2	Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Republic of China (Taiwan)	24	£118,078
3	Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Japan	10	£97,310
4	Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Qatar	20	£97,176
5	Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the State of Qatar	13	£92,667
6	Government of India	18	£80,055
7	Saudi Arabia Ministry of Foreign Affairs	16	£75,183
8	United Arab Emirates Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MOFA)	12	£56,900
9	Ministry of Defence, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia	6	£48,177
10	Ministry of Foreign Affairs - Qatar	8	£45,427
11	Taiwanese Ministry of Foreign Affairs	7	£44,749
12	Kingdom of Saudi Arabia	5	£43,810
13	Government of Taiwan	11	£43,410
14	Kingdom of Bahrain Ministry of Foreign Affairs	9	£41,844
15	Government of United Arab Emirates	6	£41,666
16	Embassy of the State of Qatar	9	£39,976
17	HM Government of Gibraltar	20	£39,586
18	Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Sri Lanka	4	£38,750
19	United Arab Emirates Ministry of Foreign Affairs	12	£37,800
20	Kingdom of Saudi Arabia Ministry of Foreign Affairs	4	£37,400

‘Friends of’ groups

Parliamentary groups with an affinity for a foreign country, paying for delegations of their MP members. Often a channel of soft power for the country in question.

#	Sponsor	Trips	Total value
1	Conservative Friends of Israel	134	£288,391
2	Labour Friends of Israel	61	£152,714
3	Conservative Friends of Israel Ltd	44	£117,670
4	Conservative Friends of Israel Ltd (CFI Ltd)	19	£57,170
5	Conservative Friends of Ukraine	4	£27,397
6	Conservative Friends of Israel (CFI Ltd)	9	£26,880
7	Northern Ireland Friends of Israel	10	£24,776
8	Conservative Friends of America	3	£16,134
9	Conservative Friends of Israel Limited	3	£9,730
10	Labour Friends of Israel Ltd	3	£7,950
11	Friends of Sinn Féin USA	3	£7,625
12	Liberal Democrats Friends of Israel	2	£6,621
13	Friends of Sinn Féin Canada	3	£5,383
14	Labour Friends of India	1	£5,000
15	Labour Friends of Bangladesh	2	£5,000

Think tanks & institutions

#	Sponsor	Trips	Total value
1	American Enterprise Institute	10	£58,945
2	Hoover Institution	2	£50,844
3	Progressive Policy Institute	6	£50,617
4	UK Office of the Victor Pinchuk Foundation	3	£33,049
5	Heritage Foundation	3	£26,636
6	Children's Investment Fund Foundation	8	£26,547
7	USC Schwarzenegger Institute for State and Global Policy	1	£23,859
8	Pallas Foundation	1	£17,450
9	American Enterprise Institute (AEI)	1	£16,846
10	The PCAA Foundation	6	£16,698
11	The Triarius Foundation	2	£16,260
12	The Varkey Foundation	2	£16,106
13	The Heritage Foundation	2	£15,680
14	The Evan Roberts Institute	6	£14,590
15	Chartered Institute of Arbitrators	2	£14,170

Recipients · who took the most paid travel

#	Recipient	Trips	Total value
1	The Rt Hon Dr Liam Fox MP	47	£207,121
2	Mr Andrew Mitchell MP	30	£173,235
3	The Rt Hon Elizabeth Truss	11	£124,078
4	Conservative and Unionist Party	4	£85,389
5	Mr Boris Johnson MP	6	£83,491
6	Mr Bob Blackman MP	18	£82,443
7	Mr Nigel Farage	4	£81,312
8	Labour Party	5	£75,958
9	Naz Shah MP	18	£68,273
10	Mr Crispin Jeremy Rupert Blunt MP	21	£68,115
11	Mr Nigel Evans MP	17	£67,281
12	David Morris MP	20	£65,780
13	Oliver Dowden MP	6	£63,959
14	The Rt Hon Theresa May MP	4	£62,913
15	Mr Mark Pritchard MP	22	£62,154
16	Mr Andrew Rosindell MP	19	£61,108
17	Mr Barry Gardiner MP	15	£59,885
18	The Rt Hon George Osborne MP	13	£59,565
19	Mr Tobias Ellwood MP	12	£55,699
20	The Rt Hon David Lammy MP	7	£55,528
21	The Rt Hon Liam Byrne MP	16	£55,304
22	Mark Menzies MP	15	£53,446
23	Mr Virendra Kumar Sharma MP	16	£52,188
24	Mr John Mann MP	17	£51,083
25	The Rt Hon Sajid Javid MP	9	£48,835
26	Sir David Amess MP	11	£48,487
27	Mr Michael Gove MP	9	£48,121
28	Al Carns	1	£47,442
29	Mr Daniel Kawczynski MP	12	£46,034
30	Dr Lisa Cameron MP	12	£43,369

Largest single trips

Paid by	For	Date	Value	Purpose
Bassim Haidar	Mr Nigel Farage	6 November 2025	£54,921	Speaking engagement and charity event
Team Forces Funding Ltd	Al Carns	15 May 2025	£47,442	As part of a team of four UK veterans, I undertook a record breaking, speed ascent of Mount Everest in under a week. Their purpose was to unify the military community, raise awareness of the overwhelmingly positive contribution of veterans, and to raise cr
World Economic Forum	Conservative and Unionist Party	31 January 2009	£43,512	Visit by David Cameron and team.
Liberal Party of Australia (Victoria Division)	The Rt Hon Theresa May MP	9 February 2022	£38,700	To promote gender diversity in politics and business.
Hoover Institution	Kemi Badenoch	16 October 2025	£27,480	To participate in a conference organised by the Hoover Institute.
Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the State of Qatar	Sir Keir Starmer	30 November 2023	£25,509	Meeting with the Emir of Qatar, travelling from COP28 in Dubai
Conservation International do Brasil	The Rt Hon David Lammy MP	13 August 2023	£24,739	Bilateral meetings and visit to Amazon region.
UK Office of the Victor Pinchuk Foundation	Mr Boris Johnson MP	18 January 2023	£24,085	To participate in the Davos Ukrainian Breakfast.
USC Schwarzenegger Institute for State and Global Policy	James Cleverly MP	29 January 2026	£23,859	I visited Los Angeles and Sacramento accompanied by Lady Cleverly, as the guests of The Schwarzenegger Institute for State and Global Policy. I was invited as a fellow and guest lecturer and to meet with the British and American Business Council, as well a
Australian Labor Party	Labour Party	29 November 2011	£23,390	To observe and contribute to the Congress of the Australian Labour Party. Information exchange with with the ALC on campaigning, policy development etc. Meetings with sister parties from Norway, Italy etc also present at the Congress
Hoover Institution	Conservative and Unionist Party	16 October 2025	£23,364	Overseas Trip
Centre for Strategic and International Studies	Mr Andrew Mitchell MP	1 April 2017	£21,158	Meetings on international development with Senate and Congress
BRIDGE	Oliver Dowden MP	6 December 2025	£20,850	Speaker at BRIDGE Summit 2025
Mr Nigel Doughty	Labour Party	31 October 2011	£20,844	Overseas visit
Green Dragon Coalition	The Rt Hon Elizabeth Truss	1 February 2024	£19,541	To attend a political conference.
Pacific Forum International	The Rt Hon Elizabeth Truss	6 May 2023	£17,912	Attendance at a Pacific Forum meeting on freedom and democracy.
Singapore Government	Wes Streeting	3 December 2023	£17,591	To take part in the Lee Kuan Yew Exchange Fellowship meeting Singapore Government officials and learn about their health and social care system.
Pallas Foundation	The Rt Hon John Healey MP	9 October 2022	£17,450	Speech at the Wilson Center, policy discussions and briefings with US Government officials, officials from Congress, think tanks and industry
American Enterprise Institute (AEI)	Mr Boris Johnson MP	12 September 2018	£16,846	To receive Irving Kristol Award at AEI Annual Dinner.
Conservative Friends of Ukraine	The Rt Hon Elizabeth Truss	27 November 2023	£16,830	To attend a variety of political meetings and events.
Australian Labor Party	Labour Party	14 May 2016	£15,618	For two staff members to help out with the election campaign for our sister party in Australia, one returning on 8th July and one returning on 21st July.
Pakistan High Commission	Debbie Abrahams	18 February 2020	£15,590	APPG Kashmir fact finding visit to meet with the leadership, administration, civil society, refugees, UNMOGIP and the British High Commission in Islamabad.Travel and accommodation for me and two members of staff.
Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Sri Lanka	Ranil Jayawardena MP	2 January 2018	£15,500	Participation in a study tour (Anglo-Sri Lankan relations, international trade, port city reconstruction, endangered species).
David Ross	Mr Boris Johnson MP	26 December 2019	£15,000	Private Holiday
Heritage Foundation	The Rt Hon Dr Liam Fox MP	5 January 2022	£14,990	Keynote speaker at the Awakening Conference
E2 Summit	The Rt Hon Elizabeth Truss	8 October 2023	£14,212	To deliver a speech at Stein Eriksen Lodge.
Mr Anthony Watson	Dawn Butler MP	5 April 2018	£14,200	Women and Equalities LGBT fact finding visit.
Kingdom of Saudi Arabia Ministry of Foreign Affairs	Mr Boris Johnson MP	18 September 2018	£14,000	Meeting with regional figures to promote education for women and girls.
Office of International Visitors	Stephen Flynn	21 February 2026	£13,948	US Department of State International Visitor Leadership Programme Numerous engagements in the United States of America with various stakeholders operating in the energy and economy sectors.
Embassy of the United Arab Emirates	Oliver Dowden MP	27 January 2026	£13,645	A cross-party visit to engage with parliamentarians and civic society representatives.
The Alliance of European Conservatives and Reformists	Conservative and Unionist Party	25 August 2012	£13,415	To visit the Republican convention
Mauritius Labour Party	Sir Geoffrey Cox	8 November 2024	£13,302	invitation of the Mauritius Labour Party, to observe and monitor the general election, to hold discussions with members of the incoming government and to witness the transition of power to the new government
Forstmann Little & Co	The Rt Hon Jack Straw MP	25 September 2010	£12,955	Attend Forstmann Little Weekend Conference
Temasek Holdings	The Rt Hon Gordon Brown MP	25 September 2011	£12,752	Airfare, accommodation and other travel paid to travel to Singapore on 26 September to address the Temasek International Panel
Flying Lion Ltd	Mr Andrew Mitchell MP	15 April 2007	£12,465	not recorded
Progressive Policy Institute	Mr Ian Liddell-Grainger MP	21 October 2023	£12,335	To meet with Canadian Parliamentarians and others in Ottawa and US Senators and others in Washington DC to talk about energy, taxation and other related matters.
Federation of Indian Chambers and Commerce and Industry	Angela Rayner	18 February 2024	£12,332	A Labour delegation to several cities in the Republic of India to meet business, political and faith groups.
Muslim World League	Mr Rehman Chishti MP	12 June 2023	£12,280	Invited to speak at an event at the UN, at a Conference hosted by the Muslim World League with faith leaders, Representatives from the UN, Academia, USA Government, NGOS, Civil Society.
Michael Ashcroft	The Rt Hon Elizabeth Truss	4 December 2022	£12,211	To attend the 2022 International Democracy Union Conference in Washington.
Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Japan	Ranil Jayawardena MP	4 August 2018	£12,209	As a member of the APPG on Japan, participation in a study tour (Anglo-Japanese relations, international trade, defence, technology).