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, 2016-17

233 claims, £235,050 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.	1	£141,315	60.1%
Office costs	Renting and running a constituency office: rent, utilities, equipment, stationery and postage.	186	£23,827	10.1%
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.	35	£25,460	10.8%
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.	1	£41,849	17.8%
Starting up and winding up	The one-off costs of opening an office on election and of closing one on leaving. These fall in the years around a general election and are absent from the rest.	10	£2,599	1.1%

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, 2016-17

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

Staffing

Cost type	Claims	Paid
Payroll	1	£141,315

Office costs

Cost type	Claims	Paid
Const Office Rent	21	£7,066
Const Office Tel. Usage/Rental	34	£4,560
Computer HW Purchase	1	£3,224
Stationery Purchase	31	£2,852
Const Office Electricity	10	£1,183
Const Office Water	4	£928

Accommodation

Cost type	Claims	Paid
Accommodation Rent	14	£25,109
Council Tax	6	£1,033
Electricity	12	£709
Ground Rent	1	£93
Water	1	£74
Budget Repayment (Accomm.)	1	£-1,558

Travel

Cost type	Claims	Paid
Aggregated Travel Costs	1	£41,849

Starting up and winding up

Cost type	Claims	Paid
Other Equipment Purch StartUp	1	£1,000
Office Alterations StartUp	3	£700
Landline Purch StartUp	1	£317
Office Consumables StartUp	1	£234
Business Rates	1	£200
Install Office Equip. StartUp	1	£120

Largest claims, 2016-17

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 2017	Staffing	Payroll	Total Staffing budget payroll costs for the 2016-17 year	£141,315	£141,315
31 March 2017	Travel	Aggregated Travel Costs	Aggregated figure for travel during 2016-17	£41,849	£41,849
14 April 2016	Office Costs	Computer HW Purchase	IPSA Card from 28/3-24/4/16	£3,224	£3,224
11 February 2017	Accommodation	Accommodation Rent	—	£2,102	£2,102
11 January 2017	Accommodation	Accommodation Rent	—	£2,102	£2,102
9 December 2016	Accommodation	Accommodation Rent	—	£2,102	£2,102
10 November 2016	Accommodation	Accommodation Rent	—	£2,102	£2,102
11 October 2016	Accommodation	Accommodation Rent	—	£2,102	£2,102
6 September 2016	Accommodation	Accommodation Rent	—	£2,102	£2,102
9 August 2016	Accommodation	Accommodation Rent	—	£2,102	£2,102
12 July 2016	Accommodation	Accommodation Rent	—	£2,058	£2,058
7 June 2016	Accommodation	Accommodation Rent	—	£2,058	£2,058
11 May 2016	Accommodation	Accommodation Rent	—	£2,058	£2,058
13 April 2016	Accommodation	Accommodation Rent	—	£2,058	£2,058
1 April 2016	Accommodation	Accommodation Rent	—	£1,150	£1,150

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