Shona Robison

Shona McRory Robison (born 26 May 1966) is a Scottish politician serving as Deputy First Minister of Scotland and Cabinet Secretary for Finance since 2023.

Shona McRory Robison was born in Redcar, North Yorkshire, England, on 26 May 1966.

She attended Alva Academy in Clackmannanshire.

Robison joined the Scottish National Party (SNP) in 1988.

She was an active member of the party's youth wing the Young Scottish Nationalist, now known as Young Scots for Independence, where she met the likes of Nicola Sturgeon and Fiona Hyslop.

Before being elected to the Scottish Parliament, she worked in Glasgow City Council's Social Work Department.

Robison contested in the first election to the Scottish Parliament for the Dundee East constituency.

Although she was unsuccessful, having came second to Scottish Labour's John McAllion, she was elected as an additional member for the North East Scotland region.

In her first term, she was member of the Health and Community Care Committee and was the Deputy Convenor of the Equal Opportunities Committee.

She served in the SNP's opposition cabinet as the shadow deputy minister for health and community care.

She gained a Master of Arts in Social Science at the University of Glasgow in 1989.

The following year, she gained a Postgraduate Cert in Community Education at Jordanhill College.

She was an active member of the SNP's youth wing and worked in Glasgow City Council's Social Work Department, until her election to the Scottish Parliament in 1999.

A member of the Scottish National Party (SNP), she has been the Member of the Scottish Parliament (MSP) for Dundee City East since 2003 and was an additional member for the North East Scotland region from 1999 to 2003.

Born in England, Robison studied at the University of Glasgow and Jordanhill College.

In the 2003 Scottish Parliament election, Robison successfully defeated McAllion by just 100 votes in Dundee East.

She served as the Shadow Minister for Health and Social Justice in the SNP's opposition benches.

Robison was a member of the Health Committee.

Robison served as Minister for Public Health and Sport from 2007 to 2011.

After the SNP's victory in the 2007 election, Robison was appointed as the Minister for Public Health.

In 2009, she added Sport onto her portfolio.

In the 2011 election, Robison was re-elected into the newly drawn, Dundee City East constituency.

She was appointed Minister for Commonwealth Games and Sport.

She then oversaw the Scottish Government's preparations for the 2014 Commonwealth Games as Minister for Commonwealth Games and Sport from 2011 to April 2014, when she was promoted to the Scottish Cabinet by Alex Salmond as Cabinet Secretary for Commonwealth Games, Sport, Equalities and Pensioners' Rights.

When Nicola Sturgeon succeeded Salmond as First Minister in November 2014, she appointed Robison the Cabinet Secretary for Health and Sport.

In the run up to the Scottish independence referendum in 2014, Robison wrote to the University of Dundee to complain that a Dundee professor had chaired an event for the Better Together campaign.

Robison insisted that Christopher Whatley's involvement in the Five Million Questions project about the implications of the referendum meant he should have taken a neutral stance on the constitutional issue.

However, Scottish Conservative leader Ruth Davidson said: "I'm not sure this kind of bullying and intimidation is the best advert for the SNP's vision of a future separate Scotland. In fact, it is chilling."

In April 2014, Alex Salmond promoted her to the full Cabinet position of Cabinet Secretary for Commonwealth Games, Sport, Equalities and Pensioners' Rights.

On 21 November 2014, Robison was appointed by Sturgeon as Cabinet Secretary for Health, Wellbeing and Sport, in Sturgeon's first government.

Following the 2016 election, she was reappointed into Sturgeon's cabinet as Cabinet Secretary for Health and Sport.

In 2018, she resigned from government during a cabinet reshuffle after being widely criticised for her poorly received tenure as Heath Secretary.

She returned to the backbenches, where she served on the justice and health committees.

In 2021, Robison returned to Sturgeon's government as the Cabinet Secretary for Social Justice, Housing and Local Government.

During her tenure in the position, she oversaw the government's efforts to pass the controversial Gender Recognition Reform (Scotland) Bill.

Following Sturgeon's resignation as first minister in 2023, Robison was appointed Deputy First Minister and Finance Secretary by Humza Yousaf in his new government.

In January 2018, during an appearance at Holyrood's Health and Sport Committee, she was warned by Labour MSP Neil Findlay of a "drugs disaster".

In 2018, Scotland went on to record the highest number of drug deaths per head in the European Union, at a rate nearly three times higher than the UK average.

On 26 June 2018, she announced her intention to resign from Cabinet.

Shortly after a cabinet reshuffle was made by Sturgeon.