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There was a 286% rise in the number of parliamentary staff who lost their job after July’s general election compared with 2019, the Independent Parliamentary Standards Authority (IPSA) has revealed.

IPSA, which regulates and administers MPs’ business costs and staffing, said it has processed redundancy payments for 2,023 people who worked for MPs.

That is on top of 218 MPs who were effectively made redundant as they were voted out, as well as 132 who stood down.

Any MP who was not returning had until 4 November to close down their office, which is run like a small business so involved ending lease agreements, returning property and making members of staff redundant.

Staff who lost their jobs included constituency caseworkers, parliamentary assistants and administrative support workers.

‘A once-in-a-generation change’

IPSA provided £52.8m to enable the transition from one parliament to the next – about a quarter of that went on redundancy pay.

At the 2019 election there was a 24% turnover in MPs, with 460 staff losing their jobs, but last year saw a 51% turnover and 2,023 job losses.

IPSA chair Richard Lloyd said: “This was a once-in-a-generation change of parliament.

“An MP’s office is like a small business. They are the employer, and any MP not returned in the 2024 General Election had until 4 November to close down their office entirely. 

“IPSA’s task was to support the thousands of newly-unemployed members of staff and facilitate the transition between parliaments.”