Preceded by Position established Majority 8,473 (16.3%) | ||
Political party Scottish National Party Education University of Strathclyde (1992) Profiles | ||
Brendan O'Hara (born 27 April 1963) is a Scottish National Party (SNP) politician in the United Kingdom. He was elected Member of Parliament (MP) for the constituency of Argyll and Bute in 2015. He is the SNP Defence spokesperson in the House of Commons.
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Early life and education
Born in Glasgow, O'Hara was educated at St. Andrew's Secondary, Carntyne, and attended Strathclyde University from where he graduated with a 2:1 in Economic History and Modern History.
Director and producer
He has had a successful career as a TV producer. He wrote, produced and directed the Road To Referendum documentary series which was broadcast on STV in 2013 and was subsequently nominated for a BAFTA Scotland award in the Current Affairs category. 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 is currently working on David Hayman's second series, following in the footsteps of Tom Weir.
Political career
O'Hara was an unsuccessful candidate for the SNP on two occasions. He contested Glasgow Springburn at the United Kingdom general election, 1987 securing 3,554 votes (10.2% share). He also stood in Glasgow Central at the United Kingdom general election, 1992 securing 6,322 votes (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. On 20 May 2015, he was appointed the party's spokesman for defence. He was the first of the 2015 intake to make his maiden speech.