Alyn Smith

Alyn Smith
MEP
Member of the European Parliament
for Scotland
Assumed office
10 June 2004
Preceded by Neil MacCormick
Personal details
Born (1973-09-15) 15 September 1973
Glasgow, Scotland
Nationality Scottish
Political party Scottish National Party
Residence Edinburgh
Alma mater University of Leeds
Nottingham Trent University
Profession Lawyer
Website alynsmith.eu

Alyn Smith (born 15 September 1973) is a Scottish politician, and Scottish National Party Member of the European Parliament for Scotland.

Early life and education

Smith was born in Glasgow in 1973 and grew up between Scotland and Saudi Arabia.

After returning to Scotland in 1986, he studied law and European law at Leeds University and spent a year studying on the Erasmus Programme at the University of Heidelberg in Germany. Later, he graduated from Nottingham Law School (a department of Nottingham Trent University) in 1996, and gained a master's degree in European studies from the College of Europe in Natolin (class of 1994-1995). He also for one year taught English in India and worked with Scotland Europa in Brussels.[1]

Smith later moved to London where he qualified as a lawyer with commercial law firm Clifford Chance.

Political career

Prior to his election he worked for the SNP in Holyrood. He contested Edinburgh West for the SNP at the 2001 general election, coming fourth. At the 2003 Scottish Parliament election, he contested the same seat, again coming fourth.

Smith was elected for the first time - as Scotland's youngest MEP - in the 2004 European Parliament election. He has since been re-elected twice at the 2009 European Parliament election, and 2014 European Parliament election.[2]He is a member of the SNP's National Executive Committee.

In his first two terms in the European Parliament, Smith served as a full member of the Committee on Agriculture and Rural Development winning the coveted Scottish Farmer Magazine award for "Outstanding Contribution to Scottish Agriculture" at the Highland Show in 2009.

Since his re-election in 2014, Smith serves as a full member of the Foreign Affairs Committee, remaining a voice in agriculture as alternate member of the Agriculture and Rural Development Committee. He is also a full member of both the Delegation for relations with the Arabian Peninsula, and the Delegation for relations with Iraq.[3]

Personal life

Smith is openly gay, and lives in Edinburgh.[4]

See also

References

  1. ↑ Alyn Smith - SNP2015
  2. ↑ "MEPs: Alyn Smith: History of parliamentary service". European Parliament. Retrieved 22 March 2015.
  3. ↑ "About Alyn Smith". alynsmith.eu. Retrieved 2014-12-10.
  4. ↑ "Alyn Smith MEP: About Alyn".
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