Sir Robert Hill Smith, 3rd Baronet of Crowmallie (born 15 April 1958) is a Scottish

Liberal Democrat Several political party, political parties from around the world have been called the Liberal Democratic Party or Liberal Democrats. These parties usually follow a liberal democracy, liberal democratic ideology. Active parties Former parties ...

politician A politician is a person active in party politics, or a person holding or seeking an elected office in government. Politicians propose, support, reject and create laws that govern the land and by an extension of its people. Broadly speaking, a ...

who was the

Member of Parliament A member of parliament (MP) is the representative in parliament of the people who live in their electoral district. In many countries with bicameral parliaments, this term refers only to members of the lower house since upper house members of ...

for West Aberdeenshire and Kincardine from

1997 File:1997 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The movie set of ''Titanic'', the highest-grossing movie in history at the time; ''Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone'', is published; Comet Hale-Bopp passes by Earth and becomes one of t ...

2015 File:2015 Events Collage new.png, From top left, clockwise: Civil service in remembrance of November 2015 Paris attacks; Germanwings Flight 9525 was purposely crashed into the French Alps; the rubble of residences in Kathmandu following the Apri ...

Early life

Educated at the Merchant Taylors' School,

London London is the capital and largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary down to the North Sea, and has been a majo ...

and the

University of Aberdeen The University of Aberdeen ( sco, University o' 'Aiberdeen; abbreviated as ''Aberd.'' in List of post-nominal letters (United Kingdom), post-nominals; gd, Oilthigh Obar Dheathain) is a public university, public research university in Aberdeen, Sc ...

(MA), he was a member of the

Social Democratic Party The name Social Democratic Party or Social Democrats has been used by many political parties in various countries around the world. Such parties are most commonly aligned to social democracy as their political ideology. Active parties For ...

before its merger with the

Liberal Party The Liberal Party is any of many political parties around the world. The meaning of ''liberal'' varies around the world, ranging from liberal conservatism on the right to social liberalism on the left. __TOC__ Active liberal parties This is a li ...

to form the Liberal Democrats. He served as an

Aberdeenshire Aberdeenshire ( sco, Aiberdeenshire; gd, Siorrachd Obar Dheathain) is one of the 32 Subdivisions of Scotland#council areas of Scotland, council areas of Scotland. It takes its name from the County of Aberdeen which has substantially differe ...

Councillor and Convener of the Grampian Joint Police Board 1995–97. His grandfather represented the same constituency as a Unionist from 1924 until 1945.

Parliamentary career

Smith contested Aberdeen North in 1987 and was first elected to Parliament in 1997. He was the Liberal Democrat Deputy Chief

Whip A whip is a tool or weapon designed to strike humans or other animals to exert control through pain compliance or fear of pain. They can also be used without inflicting pain, for audiovisual cues, such as in equestrianism. They are generally e ...

in the

House of Commons The House of Commons is the name for the elected lower house of the bicameral parliaments of the United Kingdom and Canada. In both of these countries, the Commons holds much more legislative power than the nominally upper house of parliament. ...

. Smith's areas of political interest include energy policy, rural issues and international development. He has been a member of the Energy & Climate Change Select Committee since it was created in 2009, acting as Interim Committee Chair from June to November 2013. He sat on the International Development Select Committee from 2007 to 2009. He serves as Honorary Vice-President of Energy Action Scotland, a fuel poverty charity, and is a Vice-Chair of the All-Party Group for the UK Offshore Oil and Gas Industry. He is Vice-Chair of the Post Offices APPG and Co-Chairs the APPG on Afghanistan. He represents a large rural constituency where the oil and gas industry, subsea engineering and marine renewables are major employers. He served on the Energy and Climate Change committee from 2009 to 2015. His previous portfolios include party Energy spokesperson, Deputy Chief Whip and shadowing the Scotland Office; he has served on the Trade & Industry Select Committee, Scottish Affairs Select Committee and the Procedure Committee. Smith stood for reelection in the 2015 general election, but was defeated by

Stuart Donaldson Sir Stuart Alexander Donaldson (16 December 1812 – 11 January 1867) was the first Premier of the Colony of New South Wales. Early life Donaldson was born in London, England. He entered his father's firm at the age of 15 and was sent first t ...

of the

Scottish National Party The Scottish National Party (SNP; sco, Scots National Pairty, gd, Pàrtaidh Nàiseanta na h-Alba ) is a Scottish nationalist and social democratic political party in Scotland. The SNP supports and campaigns for Scottish independence from ...

Personal life

Smith succeeded to the baronetcy of Crowmallie upon his father's death in 1983. He married Fiona Cormack in 1993; they have three daughters. The heir presumptive to the title is his brother, Charles Smith. In 2013, Smith was diagnosed with

Parkinson's disease Parkinson's disease (PD), or simply Parkinson's, is a long-term degenerative disorder of the central nervous system that mainly affects the motor system. The symptoms usually emerge slowly, and as the disease worsens, non-motor symptoms becom ...

. In 2020, the family seat, Crowmallie House, was put up for sale.

References

External links

Profile
at the Liberal Democrats
Sir Robert Smith Bt MP
Scottish Liberal Democrats profile *

{{DEFAULTSORT:Smith, Robert, Sir, 3rd Baronet 1958 births Living people Alumni of the University of Aberdeen Anglo-Scots Smith, Robert Hill, 3rd Baronet People educated at Merchant Taylors' School, Northwood Scottish Liberal Democrat councillors Scottish Liberal Democrat MPs Social Democratic Party (UK) politicians UK MPs 1997–2001 UK MPs 2001–2005 UK MPs 2005–2010 UK MPs 2010–2015