Brendan O'Hara (born 27 April 1963) [1] is a Scottish National Party (SNP) politician. He serves as Member of Parliament (MP) for the constituency of Argyll,Bute and South Lochaber since the 2024 election,having previously represented the Argyll and Bute constituency from 2015 to 2024. He has been the SNP spokesperson for Foreign Affairs since September 2023. [2] [3] He served as the SNP Digital,Culture,Media and Sport spokesperson from 2017 to 2018,the SNP Defence spokesperson from 2015 to 2017,SNP International Development spokesperson from 2022 to 2023,and SNP Chief Whip in 2023. [4]
Born in Glasgow,O'Hara was educated at St Andrew's Secondary in Carntyne and attended Strathclyde University,from where he graduated with a 2:1 in Economic History and Modern History. [5]
He has had a successful career as a TV producer. He wrote,produced and directed the Road To Referendum documentary series, [6] which was broadcast on STV in 2013 and was subsequently nominated for a BAFTA Scotland award in the Current Affairs category. [7] He has worked for STV,Sky Sports and the BBC. His credits include Comedy Connections and Movie Connections (BBC1),The Football Years (STV),and Scotland's Greatest Album (STV). O'Hara also worked on David Hayman's second series,following in the footsteps of Tom Weir. [5]
O'Hara was an unsuccessful SNP candidate on two occasions. He contested Glasgow Springburn at the 1987 UK general election,receiving 3,554 votes (a 10.2% share). He also stood in Glasgow Central at the 1992 UK general election and gained 6,322 votes (a 20.8% share).
In 2015,he received 22,959 votes (44.3% share) in Argyll &Bute,and unseated the sitting Liberal Democrat MP Alan Reid by 8,473 votes. [8] On 20 May 2015,he was appointed the party's spokesman for defence. [9] He was the first of the 2015 intake to make his maiden speech. [10] [11]
At the 2017 snap general election he successfully retained his seat;however,with a reduced majority of 1,328 votes to the Conservative party. [12] [13] At the 2019 general election he retained his seat with a majority of 4,110. [14]
He was elected to the new seat in 2024.
Alan Reid is a Scottish Liberal Democrat politician who has been a councillor in the East Dunbartonshire ward of Bearsden North since 2022.
George Lyon is a Scottish Liberal Democrat politician,and a former Member of the European Parliament (MEP) for Scotland.
Argyll and Bute was a county constituency of the House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. It was created for the 1983 general election,merging most of Argyll with some of Bute and Northern Ayrshire,and then superseded by Argyll,Bute and South Lochaber in the 2023 Periodic Review of Westminster constituencies.
Angus Brendan MacNeil is a Scottish politician who served as Member of Parliament (MP) for Na h-Eileanan an Iar from 2005 to 2024.
Andrew Paton Welsh was a Scottish politician. He was the Scottish National Party Member of Parliament (MP) for South Angus from October 1974 to 1979,East Angus from 1987 to 1997,and Angus from 1997 to 2001. He was the Member of the Scottish Parliament (MSP) for the constituency of Angus from 1999 to 2011.
Duncan Hamilton KC is a Scottish lawyer and Scottish National Party politician. He was a Member of the Scottish Parliament (MSP) for the Highlands and Islands region from 1999 to 2003.
James Anthony Kelly is a Scottish politician who has served as General Secretary of the Scottish Labour Party since 2021. He was a Member of the Scottish Parliament (MSP) for the Glasgow region between 2016 and 2021,having previously been MSP for Rutherglen from 2007 to 2016.
John MacKenzie Nicolson is a Scottish journalist,broadcaster and Scottish National Party (SNP) politician.
Anne McLaughlin is a Scottish National Party (SNP) politician who was the Member of Parliament (MP) for Glasgow North East from 2019 to 2024,and previously from 2015 to 2017. She has been SNP Spokesperson for International Development since 2023.
Richard Gordon Thomson is a Scottish politician. He is a member of the Scottish National Party (SNP) and was the Member of Parliament (MP) for Gordon from 2019 until the seat's abolition in 2024. He was also previously the leader of the SNP group on Aberdeenshire Council. He was the SNP Spokesperson for Business and Trade from 2022,and SNP Spokesperson for Wales and Northern Ireland until 2024.
Christopher Charles Stephens is a Scottish National Party politician who was the Member of Parliament (MP) for Glasgow South West from 2015 until 2024. He was SNP Spokesperson for Justice and Immigration between September 2023 to July 2024.
Alan Brown is a Scottish National Party (SNP) politician who served as the Member of Parliament (MP) for Kilmarnock and Loudoun from 2015 until 2024. Brown previously served as the SNP spokesperson on Energy Security and Net Zero (2022–2023),Energy and Climate Change (2020–2022),Transport (2017–2020) and Infrastructure and Energy (2017–2018) in the House of Commons.
Stewart Malcolm McDonald is a Scottish National Party (SNP) politician. He was the Member of Parliament (MP) for the Glasgow South constituency from May 2015 to May 2024. He was the SNP Spokesperson for Defence from 2017 to 2022,resigning after the election of Stephen Flynn as Leader.
Patricia Gibson is a Scottish National Party (SNP) politician who served as SNP Attorney General Spokesperson since September 2023. She served as the SNP Shadow Secretary of State for Housing,Communities and Local Government from 2021 to 2022. She was the Member of Parliament (MP) for North Ayrshire and Arran 2015–2024.
Stuart Campbell McDonald is a Scottish National Party (SNP) politician. He has been the Member of Parliament (MP) for the Cumbernauld,Kilsyth and Kirkintilloch East constituency since 2015. A member of the House of Commons Home Affairs Select Committee,he previously served as the SNP Spokesperson for Justice and Immigration from 2022 to 2023. He served as the SNP Shadow Home Secretary from 2021 to 2022. He was the SNP Spokesperson on Immigration,Asylum and Border Control from 2015 to 2021.
Tommy Sheppard is a Scottish National Party (SNP) politician who was the Member of Parliament (MP) for Edinburgh East from 2015 until the seat's abolition in 2024. He has been SNP Spokesperson for Scotland since 2023. He is a former SNP spokesperson for the Cabinet Office and a former SNP Shadow Leader of the House of Commons. He is also known for founding The Stand Comedy Clubs in Edinburgh and Glasgow.
Stephen Patrick Gethins is a Scottish National Party (SNP) politician and academic serving as the Member of Parliament (MP) for Arbroath and Broughty Ferry since the 2024 general election.
Martyn Day is a Scottish National Party (SNP) politician,who served as the Member of Parliament (MP) for Linlithgow and East Falkirk from 2015 until 2024. He served as SNP Spokesperson for Health from December 2021 to September 2023.
Maurice Charles Steuart-Corry TD is a Scottish Conservative Party politician. He was a Member of the Scottish Parliament (MSP) for the West Scotland region from the 2016 Scottish Parliament election until the 2021 election. He is currently the Provost of Argyll &Bute.
There was a Scottish National Party leadership election to choose the new Depute leader of the Scottish National Party at the SNP's conference on 14–15 October 2016. The SNP's Westminster Group Leader Angus Robertson MP won the election.