Angus Robertson

Angus Struan Carolus Robertson (born 28 September 1969) is a Scottish politician serving as the Cabinet Secretary for the Constitution, External Affairs and Culture since 2021.

Robertson joined the Scottish National Party in 1984, at the age of 15, after being given a leaflet about the party's youth wing by Charlie Reid of The Proclaimers.

He was the European and International Affairs Adviser to the SNP Group in the Scottish Parliament.

He was educated at Broughton High School, Edinburgh and the University of Aberdeen, where he graduated in 1991 with an MA Honours degree in politics and international relations.

After university he embarked on a journalistic career, and worked as a foreign and diplomatic correspondent in Central Europe for the BBC World Service.

Robertson previously served as a Westminster MP for Moray from 2001 to 2017, where he served from 2007 to 2017 as the Leader of the SNP in the House of Commons.

A graduate of the University of Aberdeen, Robertson previously worked as a journalist.

He was first elected to the House of Commons in 2001.

Robertson was first elected to the UK House of Commons in June 2001, representing the Moray constituency.

During his first parliamentary session, Robertson was Scotland's youngest MP and was rated Scotland's "hardest working MP" according to statistics from the House of Commons.

He was a member of the European Scrutiny Committee from 2001 to 2010, and served as the SNP's spokesman on Defence and International Relations.

Robertson was well above average amongst MPs in the number of contributions he made in the House of Commons.

In January 2006, Robertson provided Swiss Senator Dick Marty a report containing what he calls 'a detailed report of numerous suspect movements of aircraft transiting through Scotland.

In May 2007, he became SNP Leader in the House of Commons, following Alex Salmond's election as First Minister of Scotland.

In 2007 Robertson pushed for a UK-wide referendum on the Lisbon Treaty, something that the SNP opposed because it entrenched EU control over Scottish affairs.

"We'll trust the people, while Gordon Brown will not trust the people," Robertson told The Daily Record, "We are honour-bound to support a referendum."

Robertson said: "In 2009 I was called by an Edinburgh Airport manager about Alex Salmond's perceived 'inappropriateness' towards female staff at the airport. I was asked if I could informally broach the subject with Mr Salmond to make him aware of this perception. I raised the matter directly with Mr Salmond, who denied he had acted inappropriately in any way. I communicated back to the Edinburgh Airport manager that a conversation had happened. The matter being resolved, and without a formal complaint having been made, it was not reported further."

It was subsequently reported that Salmond had been banned from using a VIP access corridor at the airport.

In a profile of the seat for The Guardian after the election, journalist Severin Carrell summarised the result: "Moray had been an SNP seat for 30 years but... using Brexit as the basis for a second independence vote so soon after 2014 crystallised an irritation with the party brewing for several years. The Tory cry that Sturgeon needed “to get on with the day job” resonated."

After losing his seat, Robertson resigned as a Depute Leader of the SNP and established Progress Scotland, a pro-independence think-tank.

Following the 2015 general election and the election of Salmond as MP for Gordon, it was confirmed that he would continue in his role as leader in the Commons.

In September 2015, he was appointed to the Privy Council and as a member of the Intelligence and Security Committee of Parliament.

Ahead of the 2015 General Election, Robertson had the SNP pass a code of conduct that stated any MP must, "accept that no member shall within or outwith the parliament publicly criticise a group decision, policy or another member of the group".

Rival parties labelled it a "Stalinist" crackdown on free speech and independent thought.

Former Depute Leader of the Scottish National Party (SNP) from 2016 to 2018, he has served as the Member of the Scottish Parliament (MSP) for Edinburgh Central since 2021.

In January 2016, Robertson said that British Prime Minister David Cameron should admit to British involvement in Saudi Arabian-led intervention in Yemen: "Isn't it time for the Prime Minister to admit that Britain is effectively taking part in a war in Yemen that is costing thousands of civilians lives and he has not sought parliamentary approval to do this?"

On 13 October 2016, he was elected Depute Leader of the SNP, replacing Stewart Hosie.

Robertson received 52.5% of the votes, defeating Tommy Sheppard (25.5%), Alyn Smith (18.6%) and Chris McEleny (3.3%) in the election.

In 2017, he sought re-election as the MP for Moray and lost to the Scottish Conservative candidate, Douglas Ross.

He was succeeded as SNP Westminster Leader by Ian Blackford.

During the 2017 general election Robertson told the media that "Tory is a four letter word in Scotland", but amid a backlash to Nicola Sturgeon's decision to call for a second independence referendum, he lost his Moray seat to Douglas Ross of the Scottish Conservatives.

Robertson resigned as SNP Depute Leader in February 2018, before launching the pro-independence think tank Progress Scotland in 2019, alongside Mark Diffley.

In the 2021 Scottish Parliament election, Robertson was elected to the Scottish Parliament for Edinburgh Central.

Robertson was born in Wimbledon, London, to a Scottish father, Struan, who was an engineer, and a German mother, Anna, who was a nurse.

Robertson was brought up in Edinburgh and speaks fluent German.

In 2018 it was revealed that Robertson had been contacted a decade ago by staff at Edinburgh Airport about the alleged behaviour of then First Minister Alex Salmond.

He resigned in February 2018.

Robertson's handling of the allegations were later investigated by the Committee on the Scottish Government Handling of Harassment Complaints in 2020 and he submitted written evidence.

In February 2020, Robertson announced his intention to contest the Edinburgh Central constituency in the 2021 Scottish Parliament election.

He won selection ahead of Marco Biagi, a former MSP for the area.