Sir Robert Hill Smith, 3rd Baronet of Crowmallie (born 15 April 1958) is a Scottish Liberal Democrat politician who was the Member of Parliament for West Aberdeenshire and Kincardine from 1997 to 2015.

Early life

Educated at the Merchant Taylors' School, London and the University of Aberdeen (MA), Robert Smith was a member of the Social Democratic Party before its merger with the Liberal Party to form the Liberal Democrats. He served as an Aberdeenshire Councillor and Convener of the Grampian Joint Police Board 1995–97.

Smith's grandfather, Sir Robert Workman Smith, 1st Baronet, represented the same constituency for the Unionist Party (then a group allied to the Conservatives) 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 in the House of Commons.

Smith's areas of political interest include energy policy, rural issues and international development. His previous portfolios included party Energy spokesperson, Deputy Chief Whip and shadowing the Scotland Office. He represented a large rural constituency where the oil and gas industry, subsea engineering and marine renewables are major employers, and was a member of the Energy & Climate Change Select Committee from its creation in 2009 until 2015, acting as Interim Committee Chair from June to November 2013. He sat on the International Development Select Committee from 2007 to 2009, and served on the Trade & Industry Select Committee, Scottish Affairs Select Committee and the Procedure Committee at a Westminster election where the SNP won all but three seats in Scotland, and the Liberal Democrats were reduced to just eight seats across the UK.

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.

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

References

  • Profile at the Liberal Democrats
  • Sir Robert Smith Bt MP Scottish Liberal Democrats profile
  • Blood money: the MPs cashing in on Zimbabwe's misery