MPs’ business costs

Brendan O'Hara

IPSA paid £2,546,894 against 1,998 published rows for Brendan O'Hara between 2015-16 and 2025-26 as the member for Argyll and Bute CC, then Argyll, Bute and South Lochaber CC. These are the costs of running an office and employing staff under IPSA’s rules. They are not salary, and the largest part of them is wages IPSA pays to the member’s employees rather than money the member receives.

By category, 2020-21

167 claims, £200,622 paid. The headings are IPSA’s own categories grouped; the categories inside each are named on the register page.

Category	What it covers	Claims	Paid	Share
Staffing	The salaries and employment costs of the people an MP employs to run their office and casework. IPSA pays these directly; they are not money an MP receives.	5	£155,008	77.3%
Office costs	Renting and running a constituency office: rent, utilities, equipment, stationery and postage.	117	£20,691	10.3%
Accommodation	The cost of somewhere to stay for an MP whose constituency is far enough from Westminster that IPSA's rules allow it. An MP representing a London seat is not eligible on the same terms.	36	£19,737	9.8%
Travel	Journeys between the constituency and Westminster and within the constituency. Until 2018-19 IPSA published one travel category; from 2019-20 it publishes travel by the MP, by staff and by a dependant separately.	9	£5,186	2.6%

Every year in the register

Brendan O'Hara’s own years, not the register’s: the first is 2015-16 and the last is 2025-26. Figures are not adjusted for inflation, so a rise between two distant years is partly a rise in prices. Select a year to read it on its own.

Year	Claims	Staffing	Office costs	Accommodation	Travel	Starting up and winding up	Miscellaneous	Total
2015-16	119	£95,959	£12,733	£23,470	£38,443	£3,400	—	£174,006
2016-17	233	£141,315	£23,827	£25,460	£41,849	£2,599	—	£235,050
2017-18	229	£148,102	£19,722	£28,215	£25,610	—	—	£221,649
2018-19	207	£152,926	£21,931	£28,458	£44,580	—	—	£247,895
2019-20	214	£143,174	£21,430	£26,152	£28,056	—	—	£218,812
2020-21	167	£155,008	£20,691	£19,737	£5,186	—	—	£200,622
2021-22	160	£185,949	£18,815	£21,477	£25,251	—	—	£251,492
2022-23	188	£208,831	£24,726	£22,063	£43,441	—	—	£299,060
2023-24	222	£229,940	£26,918	£25,319	£42,500	—	—	£324,678
2024-25	185	£250,784	£21,163	£28,871	£55,978	—	£1,199	£357,995
2025-26	74	—	£14,385	£1,250	—	—	—	£15,635

A year in which Brendan O'Hara joined or left the House part-way through is a part year, and is not comparable with a full one.

What each category is made of, 2020-21

The cost types IPSA records inside each heading, largest first by what it paid.

Staffing

Cost type	Claims	Paid
Payroll	1	£142,083
Pooled staffing services	2	£11,100
Training - staff	2	£1,825

Office costs

Cost type	Claims	Paid
Rent	11	£4,950
Mobile telephone - contract & usage	11	£2,942
Equipment - purchase	8	£2,058
Stationery & printing	25	£1,494
Working From Home Allowance	1	£1,406
Utilities	8	£1,331

Accommodation

Cost type	Claims	Paid
Rent	8	£17,160
Council tax	7	£1,233
Utilities	12	£667
Cleaning services	1	£432
Landline phone & internet - rental & usage	7	£245
MP Budget Overspend	1	£0

Travel

Cost type	Claims	Paid
Mileage - car	5	£4,187
Air travel	1	£456
Hotel - London	1	£447
Rail	1	£67
Other public transport	1	£29

Largest claims, 2020-21

The 15 rows IPSA paid most against, with IPSA’s own description of each. Read the description before the amount: IPSA publishes most of a member’s staffing as one row for the whole year — “Total Staffing budget payroll costs for the ⟨year⟩ year” — so the largest row here is usually a year of wages for the member’s employees and not something bought.

Date	Category	Cost type	Description	Claimed	Paid
31 March 2021	Staffing	Payroll	Total Staffing budget payroll costs for the 2020-21 year	£142,083	£142,083
3 September 2020	Staffing	Pooled staffing services	Scottish National Party Research Team (SNP)	£5,550	£5,550
20 April 2020	Staffing	Pooled staffing services	Scottish National Party Research Team (SNP)	£5,550	£5,550
31 March 2021	MP Travel	Mileage - car	Aggregated figure for travel during 2020-21	£3,695	£3,695
15 November 2020	Accommodation	Rent	—	£2,145	£2,145
18 October 2020	Accommodation	Rent	—	£2,145	£2,145
15 September 2020	Accommodation	Rent	—	£2,145	£2,145
16 August 2020	Accommodation	Rent	—	£2,145	£2,145
15 July 2020	Accommodation	Rent	—	£2,145	£2,145
17 June 2020	Accommodation	Rent	—	£2,145	£2,145
20 May 2020	Accommodation	Rent	—	£2,145	£2,145
15 April 2020	Accommodation	Rent	—	£2,145	£2,145
12 February 2021	Staffing	Training - staff	WWW.ICSLEARN.CO.UK	£1,675	£1,675
31 March 2021	Office Costs	Working From Home Allowance	Aggregated figure for 2020-21	£1,406	£1,406
19 November 2020	Office Costs	Equipment - purchase	Computer, laptop, PC, tablet & accessories	£1,005	£1,005

Claims refused and money repaid, 2020-21

2 claims carry an amount IPSA did not pay or an amount repaid to it: £0 not paid and £662 repaid. A refusal is not a finding of wrongdoing — most are claims outside the scheme’s rules, or submitted without the evidence IPSA requires — and it is shown because leaving it out would show only the money that went out.

What this page does not show

Whether any of it was justified. IPSA accepted these claims under its own rules and the register records what was paid, not whether it should have been. A large total is not a finding about the member.

Nor how Brendan O'Hara compares with another member. After staffing the largest headings are accommodation and travel, and both are decided mostly by where a constituency is: a member several hundred miles from Westminster is eligible for costs a member with a London seat is not. Two members’ totals are two sets of rules as much as two sets of choices, and the length of service differs too.

It is also not pay. IPSA sets and publishes MPs’ salaries separately and they are not in this register; the staffing figure here is the salaries of the member’s employees.

All MPs’ business costs · Brendan O'Hara’s register of interests and votes · Sources