Raymond Robertson

Raymond Robertson is an astute campaigner for the Conservative cause, who seldom shrinks from blunt attacks on his party's opponents. Despite the rethink obviously caused by the party's catastrophic performance in Scotland at the general election, Robertson is running an uncompromising campaign of opposition to Home Rule in the referendum.

In parallel, however, he is popularly supposed to be drawing up a list of potential Conservative candidates for the Scottish Parlaiment should one come about.

Robertson was born in 1959 and educated at the Garrion Academy in Wishaw, Glasgow University and Jordanhill College of Education. He was a teacher of History and Modern Studies before embarking on his political career. Chairman of the Young Conservatives from 1982-84 he unsuccessfully fought for the Clydesdale seat at the 1987 General Election. He was Chairman of the Scottish Conservative Candidates' Association from 1987-89 before becoming MP for Aberdeen South in 1992. The following year he took the post of Vice-chairman of the Scottish Conservative Party. He became Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State at the Scottish Office in 1995 after serving as PPS to Michael Ancram in the Northern Ireland Office for a year. In the wake of the Tory collapse in Scotland in May Robertson was made Chairman of the Party in Scotland.