Christian Allard

Christian Allard is a French-born Scottish politician, who has served as a Scottish National Party (SNP) Member of the Scottish Parliament (MSP) for the North East Scotland region 2013−2016.

Allard was born in 1964 in Dijon, France. He has worked in the fishing industry for over 30 years and first came to Scotland around 1988, when he accepted the offer from a European seafood transport and logistics network (Tradimar/STEF) to open an office in Glasgow. After marrying a Scot, he later moved to the North East to work for a seafood exporting company.

Allard joined the SNP around 2004. His belief that Scotland could and should be an independent country was shaped by his experiences in the fishing industry.

Allard worked part-time as a constituency assistant to Dennis Robertson MSP, and was a key part of Mr Robertson’s successful 2011 campaign team in Aberdeenshire West.

He succeeded Mark McDonald after he resigned his list seat to contest the Aberdeen Donside by-election, 2013.

His swearing in to the Scottish Parliament was conducted in both English and French, the first time that the latter language has been used for the purpose.

Allard stood for re-election in 2016 and topped the SNP's regional list in the North East. The SNP's dominated the constituency seats in the North East, with the regional seats going to candidates from the lists of other parties.

Allard has raised three daughters in Scotland, and also now has two grandchildren.