Calendar An icon of a desk calendar. Cancel An icon of a circle with a diagonal line across. Caret An icon of a block arrow pointing to the right. Email An icon of a paper envelope. Facebook An icon of the Facebook "f" mark. Google An icon of the Google "G" mark. Linked In An icon of the Linked In "in" mark. Logout An icon representing logout. Profile An icon that resembles human head and shoulders. Telephone An icon of a traditional telephone receiver. Tick An icon of a tick mark. Is Public An icon of a human eye and eyelashes. Is Not Public An icon of a human eye and eyelashes with a diagonal line through it. Pause Icon A two-lined pause icon for stopping interactions. Quote Mark A opening quote mark. Quote Mark A closing quote mark. Arrow An icon of an arrow. Folder An icon of a paper folder. Breaking An icon of an exclamation mark on a circular background. Camera An icon of a digital camera. Caret An icon of a caret arrow. Clock An icon of a clock face. Close An icon of the an X shape. Close Icon An icon used to represent where to interact to collapse or dismiss a component Comment An icon of a speech bubble. Comments An icon of a speech bubble, denoting user comments. Comments An icon of a speech bubble, denoting user comments. Ellipsis An icon of 3 horizontal dots. Envelope An icon of a paper envelope. Facebook An icon of a facebook f logo. Camera An icon of a digital camera. Home An icon of a house. Instagram An icon of the Instagram logo. LinkedIn An icon of the LinkedIn logo. Magnifying Glass An icon of a magnifying glass. Search Icon A magnifying glass icon that is used to represent the function of searching. Menu An icon of 3 horizontal lines. Hamburger Menu Icon An icon used to represent a collapsed menu. Next An icon of an arrow pointing to the right. Notice An explanation mark centred inside a circle. Previous An icon of an arrow pointing to the left. Rating An icon of a star. Tag An icon of a tag. Twitter An icon of the Twitter logo. Video Camera An icon of a video camera shape. Speech Bubble Icon A icon displaying a speech bubble WhatsApp An icon of the WhatsApp logo. Information An icon of an information logo. Plus A mathematical 'plus' symbol. Duration An icon indicating Time. Success Tick An icon of a green tick. Success Tick Timeout An icon of a greyed out success tick. Loading Spinner An icon of a loading spinner. Facebook Messenger An icon of the facebook messenger app logo. Facebook An icon of a facebook f logo. Facebook Messenger An icon of the Twitter app logo. LinkedIn An icon of the LinkedIn logo. WhatsApp Messenger An icon of the Whatsapp messenger app logo. Email An icon of an mail envelope. Copy link A decentered black square over a white square.

Moray sheep farmer Tim Eagle joins Scottish shadow cabinet

He tells us he's relishing the opportunity to put farming, crofting and fishing back into the centre of the political debate at Holyrood.

Highlands and Islands MSP Tim Eagle at home on the farm.
Highlands and Islands MSP Tim Eagle at home on the farm. Image: Alan Tissiman

Moray sheep farmer Tim Eagle is now shadow cabinet secretary for rural affairs, land reform and fishing.

New Scottish Conservative leader Russell Findlay chose him for the role in a reshuffle.

Mr Eagle succeeds Rachel Hamilton MSP, who is now deputy leader of the party north of the border.

He only became an MSP for the Highlands and Islands in March.

His selection from the regional list came after new life peer Lord Cameron of Lochiel stepped down as an MSP.

MSP ‘Delighted and honoured’

The new shadow secretary said he relished the opportunity to put farming, crofting and fishing back into the centre of the political debate at Holyrood.

He added “I am truly delighted and honoured to have been entrusted by Russell with this responsibility which I do not take lightly.

Rural ‘backbone’

“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.”

Tim Eagle
Mr Eagle has been an MSP since March. He was previously a Moray councillor. Image: Alan Tissiman

Mr Eagle continued: “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.”

Live from the lambing shed

Mr Eagle, who farms near Buckie, is married with three children. His wife, Rachel, is a local GP. He served on Moray Council, representing Buckie, between 2017 and 2022.

He made the news shortly after his election to the Scottish Parliament by contributing to a debate remotely from his lambing shed.

Conversation