Shona Robison

Robison contested in the first election to the Scottish Parliament for the Dundee East constituency. Although she was unsuccessful, having came second to Scottish Labour's John McAllion, she was elected as an additional member for the North East Scotland region. In her first term, she was member of the Health and Community Care Committee and was the Deputy Convenor of the Equal Opportunities Committee.[6]

In the 2003 Scottish Parliament election, Robison successfully defeated McAllion by just 100 votes in Dundee East. She served as the Shadow Minster for Health and Social Justice in the SNP's opposition benches.[7] Robison was a member of the Health Committee.[5]

Robison with Nicola Sturgeon at am Active Nation reception in Kirkcaldy, 2011

After the SNP's victory in the 2007 election, Robison was appointed as the Minister for Public Health.[8] In 2009, she added Sport onto her portfolio.[9] In the 2011 election, Robison was re-elected into the newly drawn, Dundee City East constituency. She was appointed Minister for Commonwealth Games and Sport.

In the run up to the Scottish independence referendum in 2014, Robison wrote to the University of Dundee to complain that a Dundee professor had chaired an event for the Better Together campaign. Robison insisted that Christopher Whatley's involvement in the Five Million Questions project about the implications of the referendum meant he should have taken a neutral stance on the constitutional issue.[10] However, Scottish Conservative leader Ruth Davidson said: “I'm not sure this kind of bullying and intimidation is the best advert for the SNP's vision of a future separate Scotland. In fact, it is chilling."[11]

In April 2014, Alex Salmond promoted her to the full Cabinet position of Cabinet Secretary for Commonwealth Games, Sport, Equalities and Pensioners' Rights.

Robison speaking at the Parliament of Canada, 2014

On 21 November 2014, Robison was appointed by Sturgeon as Cabinet Secretary for Health, Wellbeing and Sport, in Sturgeon's first government. Following the 2016 election, she was reappointed into Sturgeon's cabinet as Cabinet Secretary for Health and Sport.[12]

In January 2018, during an appearance at Holyrood's Health and Sport Committee, she was warned by Labour MSP Neil Findlay of a "drugs disaster".[13] In 2018, Scotland went on to record the highest number of drug deaths per head in the European Union, at a rate nearly three times higher than the UK average.[14]

On 26 June 2018, she announced her intention to resign from Cabinet. Shortly after a cabinet reshuffle was made by Sturgeon.[15] BBC political correspondent Glenn Campbell wrote after the reshuffle: "The most widely anticipated departure was that of health secretary, Shona Robison. She's been under considerable pressure over NHS performance. She stood down on the day the Scottish government confirmed its worst cancer waiting times for six years."[16]

Following her resignation from government, Robison returned to the backbenches. She served on the Parliament's Justice Committee and Social Security Committee. Amid the outbreak of the Coronavirus pandemic, she served as a member of the COVID-19 Committee.

In February 2021, Audit Scotland published a report that concluded the Scottish Government had not prepared adequately for a pandemic. The watchdog also noted that recommendations from pandemic planning exercises during Robison's time as Health Secretary had not been fully implemented. One particular failure it highlighted was that not enough had been done to ensure Scottish hospitals and care homes had enough personal protective equipment (PPE). Overall, it concluded that ministers "could have been better prepared to respond to the Covid-19 pandemic". Nicola Sturgeon said there were "lots of lessons to learn".[17][18]

On 20 May 2021, Sturgeon announced her third government, with Robison returning as Cabinet Secretary for Social Justice, Housing and Local Government.