Brendan O’Hara is the Scottish National Party (SNP) MP for Argyll, Bute and South Lochaber, and was first elected to parliament at the 2015 general election for the predecessor constituency of Argyll and Bute.

In the 2024 general election, O’Hara won 15,582 votes, representing 34.7% of the vote. The Conservative candidate, Amanda Hampsey, received 9,350 votes (20.8%), while the Labour candidate, Hamish Maxwell, secured 8,585 votes (19.1%). O’Hara was duly elected with a majority of 6,232.

The Argyll, Bute and South Lochaber constituency is a large rural seat on the west coast of Scotland.

It comprises a large majority of the abolished Argyll and Bute constituency. It includes the coastal town of Oban, the Glasgow commuter town of Helensburgh, and the towns of Dalmally, Arrochar, Garelochhead, Tarbet and Taynuilt.

Following the 2023 boundary review, the seat was expanded to parts of the Ross, Skye and Lochaber constituency.

The predecessor Argyll and Bute constituency was held by the Liberal Democrats from 1987 until O’Hara’s victory in 2015. The immediate predecessor MP for the area was Alan Reid.

Political Career

O’Hara serves as the SNP Westminster spokesperson for the Cabinet Office, culture, media and sport, and the Middle East (since July 2024).

Prior to the 2024 general election, O’Hara held a series of frontbench roles for the SNP at Westminster. He served as the SNP foreign affairs spokesperson from September 2023 to May 2024.

From January to September 2023, O’Hara was the SNP chief whip in the House of Commons. He previously held the positions of SNP spokesperson for international development (December 2022 – January 2023) and SNP deputy spokesperson for the Cabinet Office (February 2021 – January 2023).

O’Hara also served as the SNP spokesperson for international human rights and conflict resolution (March 2020 to January 2023) and SNP spokesperson for inclusive society (July 2018 to March 2020). He was the SNP spokesperson for culture and media from June 2017 to May 2018, and the SNP defence spokesperson from May 2015 to June 2017.

In July 2023, SNP MP Angus MacNeil was suspended for a week after clashing with O’Hara. MacNeil denied making threats after he was reportedly confronted over missing commons votes. MacNeil was subsequently suspended from the SNP.

O’Hara was reportedly a member of the “Tuesday club” of SNP MPs who played five-a-side football and held curry nights in London. This group was styled as close to Stephen Flynn in the weeks and months leading up to his elevation as SNP Westminster leader. The “Tuesday group” were sometimes styled as plotting against the former SNP Westminster leader, Ian Blackford.

O’Hara has sat as a member of the House of Commons foreign affairs select committee (2023-2024) and the culture, media and sport committee (2017-2019).

O’Hara is listed as chair of the all-party parliamentary groups (APPGs) for genocide prevention, international law, justice and accountability, Greenland, and the vice chair for arbitrary detention and hostage affairs.

O’Hara delivered his maiden speech on 27 May 2015 during a debate on the queen’s speech. He was the first member of the 2015 parliamentary intake to do so. The deputy speaker, Sir Roger Gale, described O’Hara as the “first maiden speaker of the 2015 parliament”.

In his maiden speech, O’Hara said: “For the first time ever, the four constituent parts of this United Kingdom delivered four very different verdicts on how this country should progress. This may seem like a circle that cannot be squared, but our constituents expect us to find a way of working together constructively – and that we must do.”

He added: “I am the first nationalist MP to represent the people of Argyll and Bute since the late Iain MacCormick was elected in 1974. Iain lived long enough to vote in September’s independence referendum, managing – despite being gravely ill – to get to the polling station to vote yes on 18 September. Iain sadly died the following day, without living long enough to see an independent Scotland.”

Before entering parliament in 2015, O’Hara stood unsuccessfully as the SNP candidate for Glasgow Springburn at the 1987 general election and for Glasgow Central at the 1992 general election.

Political Views

The SNP is a social democratic political party that campaigns for Scottish independence.

Fair elections APPG: O’Hara is listed as a member of the all-party parliamentary group (APPG) for fair elections – a cross-party group of MPs and peers that campaigns for electoral reform. The group’s stated aims include replacing the first past the post (FPTP) voting system with a form of proportional representation, eliminating “dark money” and “undemocratic influence” from politics, and countering disinformation.

Brexit and Europe

Brexit referendum: O’Hara supported Remain in the 2016 Brexit referendum, and therefore agreed with a majority of constituents, 60.6% of whom voted to Remain.

Article 50: In February 2017, O’Hara voted against the European Union (Notification of Withdrawal) Bill. The legislation empowered the prime minister to notify the Council of the European Union of the UK’s intention to withdraw, formally triggering the process set out in Article 50 of the Treaty on European Union. MPs supported the bill by 498 votes to 114 at second reading.

Customs union vote (2025): In December 2025, O’Hara voted in favour of the UK-EU Customs Union (Duty to Negotiate) Bill. The bill, introduced under the 10-minute rule procedure by Liberal Democrat Europe spokesperson Al Pinkerton, sought to mandate the government to enter into negotiations with the European Union to establish a bespoke customs union. In total, 13 Labour MPs joined the Liberal Democrats in supporting the motion, while the majority of the party abstained.

Foreign policy and security

Trident renewal (2016): O’Hara voted against a government motion calling for the renewal of the Trident nuclear deterrent system in July 2016. The motion, which was passed by 472 votes to 117, committed the UK to constructing a new fleet of submarines to carry the nation’s nuclear weapons. Labour was split over the issue with 140 of its 230 MPs going against leader Jeremy Corbyn and backing the motion.

Syria airstrikes (2015): O’Hara voted against a government motion to extend UK airstrikes against Isis from Iraq into Syria in December 2015. The motion, which was passed by 397 votes to 223 after a ten-hour debate in the House of Commons, authorised the RAF to conduct strikes against Isis targets in Syria.

Palestine

Palestinian recognition letter (July 2025): In July 2025, O’Hara was among the over 254 MPs to sign a cross-party letter calling for the government to immediately recognise the state of Palestine. The letter called on the prime minister and foreign secretary to recognise Palestine at the UN Conference then taking place in New York.

Ceasefire vote (November 2023): O’Hara voted for a Scottish National Party amendment to the king’s speech in the House of Commons calling for an “immediate ceasefire” in the Israel-Hamas war. Labour had tabled a rival motion, making a more moderate appeal for a “humanitarian pause” in the conflict.

Before Politics

Born in Glasgow on 27 April 1963, O’Hara studied at St Andrew’s Secondary School in Carntyne.

O’Hara worked for Glasgow District Council before attending the University of Strathclyde. He graduated in 1992 with a 2:1 degree in economic history and modern history.

Prior to his election to parliament, O’Hara worked as a television producer and director. He was employed by STV, Sky Sports and the BBC.

O’Hara wrote, directed and served as a producer on the STV documentary series Road To Referendum (2013). The programme was nominated for a BAFTA Scotland award.

Personal Life

O’Hara lives in Helensburgh with his wife and two daughters.

He serves as an unpaid director of the Westminster Foundation for Democracy. He is also a director of Oh! Television, a television production company.

Trivia

O’Hara worked on the second series of David Hayman’s television show following in the footsteps of the Scottish climber and broadcaster Tom Weir.