The SNP's election campaign director, Angus Robertson, has failed to retain his constituency seat in the Scottish Parliament, marking his second electoral defeat in less than a decade. Mr Robertson, who previously lost his Westminster seat in 2017, was ousted from Edinburgh Central by the Scottish Greens, finishing in third place.
Background to the defeat
Mr Robertson was the SNP's depute leader and Westminster leader before losing the Moray seat to Scottish Tory chief Douglas Ross in the 2017 general election. He returned to elected politics in 2021, winning Edinburgh Central for the SNP at Holyrood. Former first minister Nicola Sturgeon subsequently appointed him as constitution, external affairs and culture secretary in her cabinet after the 2021 Scottish Parliament election. However, after five years and boundary changes in the constituency, he now finds himself unelected once again.
Controversies during tenure
Mr Robertson's time at Holyrood has been marked by several controversies. He apologised after a 2024 meeting with the Israeli deputy ambassador, acknowledging that the talks should have been strictly limited to calling for an immediate ceasefire in Gaza. However, he stated that Daniela Grudsky raised issues unrelated to the conflict, including energy, tourism, and economic co-operation. The meeting drew backlash from within his own party, with then SNP MSP Christine Grahame branding him a “liability”.
He also faced criticism over the Scottish Government's funding of the arts after Creative Scotland's budget was cut in 2023, reversing a previous commitment. Mr Robertson said at the time that “massive additional and unforeseen pressures” on public finances due to public sector pay deals necessitated “tough choices”. The following year, he expressed “concerns” about Creative Scotland's decision to award public money for an explicit sex film, while stressing that the Scottish Government had “no role” in the arts body's funding decisions for individual projects.
Opposition MSPs accused him of “botching” the most recent census, which took place a year later in Scotland than in other parts of the UK. Concerns over low return rates led to an extension of the deadline for completing the 2022 Scottish census, ultimately achieving an 89% return rate—compared to 97% in England and Wales.
In January of this year, Mr Robertson refused to say whether he had confidence in the board of Historic Environment Scotland (HES) after the organisation faced a series of controversies. This followed accusations of a “shocking lack of oversight” of HES after Scotland's public spending watchdog found “unacceptable weaknesses” in its leadership in December.
