Brendan O'Hara

Brendan O’Hara was born in Glasgow and initially worked as a TV producer, notably producing the Road to Referendum documentary series, which focused on the movement for Scottish independence. O’Hara first ran for parliament in the 1987 general election as the SNP candidate for Glasgow Springburn, unsuccessfully. He stood again in the 1992 general election for Glasgow Central, but was again unsuccessful. In the 2015 general election, O’Hara contested Argyll and Bute and amid an SNP landslide unseated the incumbent Liberal Democrat MP Alan Reid on a swing of 14.5 per cent with a majority of 8,473. Following his election he became the shadow SNP spokesperson for defence. He was re-elected at the 2017 general election with a reduced majority of 1,328 and following his election joined the Digital, Culture, Media and Sport Committee and the DCMS Sub-Committee on Disinformation. O’Hara is the chair of the APPGs on Scotch Whisky and on the Yazidi People, and is an elected officer of the groups on the Falkland Islands, the Faroe Islands, the United Arab Emirates and International Freedom of Religion or Belief.