Buckie-based MSP hails meteoric promotion to Tory shadow cabinet role
A reshuffle by the new Scottish Conservative leader has meant meteoric promotion for a locally-based MSP.
Highlands and Islands Conservative MSP Tim Eagle, who lives near Buckie, has been elevated from the back benches at Holyrood to serve as Shadow Cabinet Secretary for Rural Affairs, Land Reform and Fishing.
The move comes as the new Scottish Tory leader Russell Findlay unveiled his first shadow cabinet having taken over the reins from former Moray MP Douglas Ross.
Mr Eagle, who formerly was one of the Buckie’s three representatives on Moray Council from 2017-22 and led the Conservative group on the local authority, succeeds Rachel Hamilton MSP in the role. Ms Hamilton has been appointed deputy leader of the Scottish Conservatives.
A sheep farmer who became an MSP only earlier this year in March, Mr Eagle said that he relished the opportunity to put farming, crofting and fishing back into the centre of the political debate at Holyrood.
The Highlands and Islands MSP said: “I am truly delighted and honoured to have been entrusted by Russell with this responsibility which I do not take lightly.
“Farming, crofting and fishing are the backbone of our rural and coastal communities and have enormous economic, social and cultural significance for Scotland.
“As a farmer myself I believe I have a pretty good understanding of the challenges and opportunities facing the sector, and as a former councillor for Buckie I have a great passion for our fishing industry.
“And as a member representing the Highlands and Islands I have already engaged with many people in our island communities who, as we know, are feeling pretty let down by the Scottish Government.
“As Shadow Cabinet Secretary I will make my first priority engaging with industry representatives the length and breadth of Scotland so that I hear first-hand what they are looking for to ensure the prosperity of their sectors.
“There is a real job to be done at Holyrood which, frankly, under the SNP has ignored rural and coastal Scotland for far too long. That neglect needs to be challenged and I will certainly be doing my best to ensure it gets the attention it deserves.”
Mr Eagle became an MSP for the Highlands and Islands region in February 2024 following the resignation of Donald Cameron as a list MSP for the Highlands and Islands .
He made the news shortly after his election by contributing to a debate at Holyrood remotely from his lambing shed.
Mr Eagle originally stood for the Tories in the Moray constituency at Holyrood, although he was eventually to lose out to the SNP’s Richard Lochhead. He nevertheless garnered around 16,000 votes as a result of his campaign.
The new Shadow Cabinet Secretary was also on the Tories' regional list for Highlands and Islands, where he was fifth behind Douglas Ross, Jamie Halcro Johnston, Edward Mountain and Donald Cameron, who were all returned to Holyrood
At that point, he later confessed, he believed his chance to become an MSP had vanished with the defeat in Moray.
However, fate was to turn in his favour earlier on this year when Mr Cameron resigned his seat in order to take up a role with the Scotland Office at Westminster.
Speaking after his election to the Scottish Parliament, Mr Eagle commented: “I knew I was fifth on the list but before this I never considered I'd get in.
“Douglas, Jamie, Edward and Donald were all accomplished MSPs and there was no way I was getting ahead of them; looking at it from the standpoint of the last election these guys were going nowhere for the next five years.
"Then out of the blue I got a phone call from Douglas telling me I was an MSP. I made a quick call to my wife and then accepted the offer. I felt I had to take it; over 16,000 people voted for me in 2021 and I want to represent them, I don't want to let them down.”
Mr Eagle is married with three children. His wife, Rachel, is a local GP.
