Sir Robert Smith, 3rd Baronet

Sir Robert Hill Smith, 3rd Baronet of Crowmallie (born 15 April 1958) is a Scottish Liberal Democrat politician who was the Member of Parliament for West Aberdeenshire and Kincardine from 1997 to 2015.

Sir Robert Smith

Bt
Chairman of the Energy and Climate Change Select Committee
Interim
In office
11 June – 26 November 2013
Preceded byTim Yeo
Succeeded byTim Yeo
Member of Parliament
for West Aberdeenshire and Kincardine
In office
1 May 1997 – 30 March 2015
Preceded byConstituency created
Succeeded byStuart Donaldson
Majority3,684 (8.2%)
Personal details
Born (1958-04-15) 15 April 1958
NationalityBritish
Political partyLiberal Democrat
Alma materUniversity of Aberdeen

Early life

Educated at the Merchant Taylors' School, London and the University of Aberdeen (MA), he was a member of the Social Democratic Party before its merger with the Liberal Party to form the Liberal Democrats. He served as an Aberdeenshire Councillor and Convener of the Grampian Joint Police Board 1995–97.

His grandfather represented the same constituency as a Unionist from 1924 until 1945.

Parliamentary career

Smith contested Aberdeen North in 1987 and was first elected to Parliament in 1997. He was the Liberal Democrat Deputy Chief Whip in the House of Commons.

Smith's areas of political interest include energy policy, rural issues and international development. He has been a member of the Energy & Climate Change Select Committee since it was created in 2009, acting as Interim Committee Chair from June to November 2013. He sat on the International Development Select Committee from 2007 to 2009.

He serves as Honorary Vice-President of Energy Action Scotland, a fuel poverty charity, and is a Vice-Chair of the All-Party Group for the UK Offshore Oil and Gas Industry. He is Vice-Chair of the Post Offices APPG and Co-Chairs the APPG on Afghanistan. He represents a large rural constituency where the oil and gas industry, subsea engineering and marine renewables are major employers. He served on the Energy and Climate Change committee from 2009 to 2015.[1]

His previous portfolios include party Energy spokesperson, Deputy Chief Whip and shadowing the Scotland Office; he has served on the Trade & Industry Select Committee, Scottish Affairs Select Committee and the Procedure Committee.[1]

Smith stood for reelection in the 2015 general election, but was defeated by Stuart Donaldson of the Scottish National Party.[2]

Personal life

Smith succeeded to the baronetcy of Crowmallie upon his father's death in 1983. He married Fiona Cormack in 1993; they have three daughters.

The heir presumptive to the title is his brother, Charles Smith.

In 2013, Smith was diagnosed with Parkinson's disease.[3]

In 2020, the family seat, Crowmallie House, was put up for sale.

gollark: > The HDD's spindle system relies on air density inside the disk enclosure to support the heads at their proper flying height while the disk rotates. HDDs require a certain range of air densities to operate properly. The connection to the external environment and density occurs through a small hole in the enclosure (about 0.5 mm in breadth), usually with a filter on the inside (the breather filter).[124] If the air density is too low, then there is not enough lift for the flying head, so the head gets too close to the disk, and there is a risk of head crashes and data loss. Specially manufactured sealed and pressurized disks are needed for reliable high-altitude operation, above about 3,000 m (9,800 ft).[125] Modern disks include temperature sensors and adjust their operation to the operating environment. Breather holes can be seen on all disk drives – they usually have a sticker next to them, warning the user not to cover the holes. The air inside the operating drive is constantly moving too, being swept in motion by friction with the spinning platters. This air passes through an internal recirculation (or "recirc") filter to remove any leftover contaminants from manufacture, any particles or chemicals that may have somehow entered the enclosure, and any particles or outgassing generated internally in normal operation. Very high humidity present for extended periods of time can corrode the heads and platters. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hard_disk_drive#Integrity
gollark: Interweb says it's to keep pressure equalized between the inside and out.
gollark: Ah yes, destroy it as an example to the others.
gollark: I find that threatening my electronics with a hammer or something works.
gollark: Progressive web applications are very cool.

References
  1. "Sir Robert Smith". Parliament UK. Retrieved 7 April 2015.
  2. Joseph, Anthony (8 May 2015). "SNP's Stuart Donaldson wins West Aberdeenshire and Kincardine seat". Evening Express. Retrieved 20 March 2020.
  3. "Liberal Democrat MP has Parkinson's". 14 November 2013 – via www.bbc.co.uk.
Parliament of the United Kingdom
New constituency Member of Parliament for West Aberdeenshire and Kincardine
1997 – 2015		 Succeeded by
Stuart Donaldson
Baronetage of the United Kingdom
Preceded by
Sir William Gordon Smith, 2nd Baronet		 Baronet
(of Crowmallie, Aberdeen)
1983–present		 Incumbent
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