Political Career
Prior to his election he worked on the SNP staff 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.
He was elected as an MEP for the first time in the 2004 European Parliament election and was re-elected in the 2009 European Parliament election.
He is Scotland's youngest MEP and is Honorary President of both the youth wings of the SNP, the Young Scots for Independence and the Federation of Student Nationalists, as well as a member of the SNP's National Executive Committee.
In the European Parliament, he is a full member of the Committee on Agriculture and Rural Development and won the coveted Scottish Farmer Magazine award for "Outstanding Contribution to Scottish Agriculture" at the Highland Show in 2009. He is an alternate member of the Education and Culture Committee in addition to the Constitutional Affairs Committee. He is a full member of the Delegation for relations with the Arabian Peninsula, and also sits as alternate member on the Parliament's Delegation for Relations with Switzerland, Iceland and Norway.
Read more about this topic: Alyn Smith
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