Civometry

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, 2021-22

160 claims, £251,492 paid. The headings are IPSA’s own categories grouped; the categories inside each are named on the register page.

CategoryWhat it coversClaimsPaidShare
StaffingThe 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.2£185,94973.9%
Office costsRenting and running a constituency office: rent, utilities, equipment, stationery and postage.97£18,8157.5%
AccommodationThe 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.21£21,4778.5%
TravelJourneys 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.40£25,25110.0%

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.

YearClaimsStaffingOffice costsAccommodationTravelStarting up and winding upMiscellaneousTotal
2015-16119£95,959£12,733£23,470£38,443£3,400—£174,006
2016-17233£141,315£23,827£25,460£41,849£2,599—£235,050
2017-18229£148,102£19,722£28,215£25,610——£221,649
2018-19207£152,926£21,931£28,458£44,580——£247,895
2019-20214£143,174£21,430£26,152£28,056——£218,812
2020-21167£155,008£20,691£19,737£5,186——£200,622
2021-22160£185,949£18,815£21,477£25,251——£251,492
2022-23188£208,831£24,726£22,063£43,441——£299,060
2023-24222£229,940£26,918£25,319£42,500——£324,678
2024-25185£250,784£21,163£28,871£55,978—£1,199£357,995
2025-2674—£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, 2021-22

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

Staffing

Cost typeClaimsPaid
Payroll1£174,738
Pooled staffing services1£11,211

Office costs

Cost typeClaimsPaid
Rent1£5,400
Mobile telephone - contract & usage13£2,896
Landline phone & internet - rental & usage12£1,636
Working From Home Allowance1£1,592
Stationery & printing24£1,440
Utilities11£1,354

Accommodation

Cost typeClaimsPaid
Rent1£19,575
Council tax8£1,360
Utilities12£541

Travel

Cost typeClaimsPaid
Air travel8£10,345
Mileage - car5£5,835
Hotel - UK Not London2£1,859
Hotel - London1£1,575
Parking3£1,486
Rail5£1,448

Largest claims, 2021-22

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.

DateCategoryCost typeDescriptionClaimedPaid
31 March 2022StaffingPayrollTotal Staffing budget payroll costs for the 2021-22 year£174,738£174,738
31 March 2022AccommodationRentAggregated figure for this business cost and budget category in 2021-22£19,575£19,575
14 July 2021StaffingPooled staffing servicesScottish National Party Research Team (SNP)£11,211£11,211
31 March 2022MP TravelAir travelAggregated figure for travel during 2021-22£8,829£8,829
31 March 2022Office CostsRentAggregated figure for this business cost and budget category in 2021-22£5,400£5,400
31 March 2022MP TravelMileage - carAggregated figure for travel during 2021-22£3,346£3,346
31 March 2022Office CostsWorking From Home AllowanceAggregated figure for this business cost and budget category in 2021-22£1,592£1,592
31 March 2022Staff TravelHotel - LondonAggregated figure for travel during 2021-22£1,575£1,575
31 March 2022MP TravelParkingAggregated figure for travel during 2021-22£1,261£1,261
31 March 2022MP TravelHotel - EuropeanAggregated figure for travel during 2021-22£1,103£1,103
31 March 2022Staff TravelHotel - UK Not LondonAggregated figure for travel during 2021-22£1,067£1,067
31 March 2022MP TravelMileage - carAggregated figure for travel during 2021-22£1,036£1,036
31 March 2022MP TravelHotel - UK Not LondonAggregated figure for travel during 2021-22£793£793
12 May 2021Office CostsUtilitiesWater£780£780
7 April 2021Office CostsInsurance - contentsHART INSURANCE BROKERS£745£745

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