Rachael Georgina Hamilton (born 1970) is a

Scottish Conservative Party The Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party (), known as Scottish Tories, is part of the UK Conservative Party active in Scotland. It currently holds 5 of the 57 Scottish seats in the House of Commons, 30 of the 129 seats in the Scottish Par ...

politician, who has served as the

Member of the Scottish Parliament Member of the Scottish Parliament (MSP; ; ) is the title given to any one of the 129 individuals elected to serve in the Scottish Parliament. Electoral system The additional member system produces a form of proportional representation, where ...

(MSP) for Ettrick, Roxburgh and Berwickshire since

2017 2017 was designated as the International Year of Sustainable Tourism for Development by the United Nations General Assembly. Events January * January 1 – Istanbul nightclub shooting: A gunman dressed as Santa Claus opens fire at the ...

. Hamilton has served as the Conservative Shadow Cabinet Secretary for Rural Economy and Tourism and for Social Security and Older People. She was previously a list MSP for the South Scotland region, elected in the

2016 Scottish Parliament election The 2016 Scottish parliament election was held on Thursday, 5 May 2016 to elect 129 members to the Scottish Parliament. It was the fifth Next Scottish Parliament election, election held since the devolved parliament was established in 1999. It ...

. She was elected as constituency MSP for Ettrick, Roxburgh and Berwickshire at a 2017 by-election. She is a director of the Buccleuch Arms Hotel in St Boswells.

Background

Hamilton was born in

Brecon Brecon (; ; ), archaically known as Brecknock, is a market town in Powys, mid Wales. In 1841, it had a population of 5,701. The population in 2001 was 7,901, increasing to 8,250 at the 2011 census. Historically it was the county town of Breck ...

, Wales, and grew up on the family farm in

Herefordshire Herefordshire ( ) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in the West Midlands (region), West Midlands of England, bordered by Shropshire to the north, Worcestershire to the east, Gloucestershire to the south-east, and the Welsh ...

. She studied agriculture at

Harper Adams University Harper Adams University, founded in 1901 as Harper Adams College, is a public university located close to the village of Edgmond, near Newport, Shropshire, Newport, in Shropshire, England. Established in 1901, the college is a specialist provi ...

College in

Shropshire Shropshire (; abbreviated SalopAlso used officially as the name of the county from 1974–1980. The demonym for inhabitants of the county "Salopian" derives from this name.) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in the West M ...

and after graduating joined a graduate training programme to become an

agronomist An agriculturist, agriculturalist, agrologist, or agronomist (abbreviated as agr.) is a professional in the science, practice, and management of agriculture and agribusiness. It is a regulated profession in Canada, India, the Philippines, the Uni ...

with Schering Agriculture.

Politics

In 2016 Hamilton stood for the

Scottish Parliament The Scottish Parliament ( ; ) is the Devolution in the United Kingdom, devolved, unicameral legislature of Scotland. It is located in the Holyrood, Edinburgh, Holyrood area of Edinburgh, and is frequently referred to by the metonym 'Holyrood'. ...

as the Conservative candidate for the

East Lothian East Lothian (; ; ) is one of the 32 council areas of Scotland, as well as a Counties of Scotland, historic county, registration county and Lieutenancy areas of Scotland, lieutenancy area. The county was called Haddingtonshire until 1921. In ...

constituency where she came third, then was elected from the South Scotland regional list. Hamilton resigned her list seat in order to contest the 2017 Ettrick, Roxburgh and Berwickshire by-election on 8 June. She won the by-election with a majority of over 9,000. Under the leadership of Ruth Davidson, Rachael Hamilton was Shadow Cabinet Secretary Tourism and Small Business and was Deputy Chief Whip. During

Jackson Carlaw David Jackson Carlaw (born 12 April 1959) is a Scottish politician who served as Leader of the Scottish Conservative Party from February to July 2020, having acted in the position since August 2019. He previously served as Deputy Leader of th ...

's leadership, Rachael Hamilton was Chairwoman of Scottish Conservative Party and served as Shadow Cabinet Secretary Rural Economy and Tourism. In 2018, the Conservatives faced calls to sack Hamilton from the front-bench after a hotel she co-owns with her husband was fined £52,500 by the DWP for failing to comply with the law on workplace pensions. Under Scottish Conservative Leader, Douglas Ross, Hamilton served as Shadow Cabinet Secretary for Social Security and Older People and Shadow Cabinet Secretary for Equalities. She was part of the front bench team as Shadow Cabinet Secretary for Rural Affairs and Islands. During her time as an MSP, Hamilton has served on the following committees; Culture, Tourism, Europe, External Affairs 2016-2018 Delegated Powers and Law Reform 2016 Public Petitions 2018-2019 Rural Economy and Tourism 2020 Social Justice and Social Security 2021-2022 Equalities, Human Rights and Criminal Justice 2022-2023 Rural Affairs and Natural Environment 2021-2023 Rural Affairs and Islands 2023 to date In the February 2020 Scottish Conservatives leadership election, Hamilton served as co-chair of Jackson Carlaw's leadership campaign, alongside Liam Kerr. At the 2021 Scottish Parliament election, Hamilton was re-elected as the MSP for Ettrick, Roxburgh and Berwickshire, returning with over 51% of the vote. On 13 May 2021, at the swearing in of the new session, Hamilton took the oath in the Welsh language.

Notes

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Hamilton, Rachael 1970 births Living people Place of birth missing (living people) Conservative MSPs Members of the Scottish Parliament 2016–2021 Members of the Scottish Parliament 2021–2026 Female members of the Scottish Parliament British hoteliers Alumni of Harper Adams University People from Brecon Scottish agronomists