Elizabeth Smith

MA Economics and Politics, 1984

Born in 1960 and educated at George Watson’s College and the University of Edinburgh, where she gained an Honours Degree in Economics and Politics. Elizabeth taught Economics and Modern Studies at George Watson’s College for 15 years. During that time, in 1992, she was elected the Fellow Commoner at Corpus Christi College, Cambridge, where she undertook academic work on the collapse of Soviet Communism.

Between the General Elections of 1997 and 2001 she was Political Advisor to Sir Malcolm Rifkind and from Autumn 2001 to Autumn 2003 she was Head of the Chairman’s Office in Scottish Conservative Central Office.

Following this, Elizabeth has been working as a part-time teacher at George Watson’s College, as well as working as a political consultant and Schools’ Development Officer (Girls’ Cricket) for Cricket Scotland.

Elizabeth stood as the Scottish Conservative and Unionist Candidate for Edinburgh South in the 1997 General Election, was the Party’s Spokesman on Education in 1998-99, and in the 2001 General Election she was the Party’s Candidate in Perth - a seat she failed to win from the SNP by the tightest margin of 48 votes. In May 2005 she stood as the Party’s Parliamentary Candidate for the new seat of Ochil and South Perthshire, and she has now been selected as the Party’s Candidate for the Perth seat for the forthcoming Holyrood elections.

Elizabeth is a keen sportswoman with particular interest in cricket and hill-walking. She won seven caps with the Scottish Ladies’ Cricket XI and has taken part in several mountaineering expeditions to the Alps and Himalayas. Elizabeth’s other interests include travel, photography, listening to classical music and cooking and writing (joint author of “Outdoor Adventures” published in October 2003).

In 2004-2005 she was President of the Watsonian Club and she has just finished writing a history of George Watson’s Ladies’ College to be published in autumn 2006.