ISAba1 was found in all widespread clones of Acinetobacter baumannii in the United Kingdom. All isolates studied had a bla(OXA-51-like) carbapenemase gene; some also had bla(OXA-23-like) and/or bla(OXA-58-like). Among isolates with bla(OXA-51-like) as sole carbapenemase gene, only those with ISAba1 adjacent to bla(OXA-51-like) were carbapenem resistant. Minor differences in bla(OXA-51-like) sequence were observed in resistant and susceptible isolates. Isolates with bla(OXA-23-like) in addition were consistently resistant to carbapenems; in all of these ISAba1 lay upstream of bla(OXA-23-like), but was not associated with bla(OXA-51-like). These results suggest that ISAba1 is providing the promoter for bla(OXA-51-like) and, probably, for bla(OXA-23-like).