SNP campaign director Angus Robertson has conceded that “politics is a really, really hard business” after losing his Edinburgh Central seat at Holyrood to the Scottish Greens. The former constitution, external affairs and culture secretary said his four-year-old daughter was “apparently absolutely delighted I will have more time to take her to the park”.
This marks Robertson’s second electoral defeat in less than a decade, having previously lost his Westminster seat in Moray to the Scottish Conservatives in 2017. He returned to elected politics in 2021 by winning Edinburgh Central, and was appointed to the cabinet by then first minister Nicola Sturgeon. However, boundary changes and a strong Green challenge ended his tenure after five years.
Speaking after the result, Robertson acknowledged the changed constituency as a “significant contributory factor”, but added: “At the end of the day what matters most is who gets the most votes and that wasn’t me.” He stressed the importance of treating people equally regardless of political fortunes.
Robertson’s time in office was marked by several controversies. He faced criticism over his handling of the 2022 Scottish census, which had a lower return rate than in England and Wales, and for a meeting with an Israeli deputy ambassador that drew internal party backlash. He also defended budget cuts to Creative Scotland, citing “massive additional and unforeseen pressures” on public finances.
Opposition MSPs accused him of a “shocking lack of oversight” of Historic Environment Scotland after a watchdog report found “unacceptable weaknesses” in its leadership. Robertson declined to say whether he had confidence in the heritage body’s board earlier this year.
