David Robertson ( British politician ) Sir David Robertson ( 19 January 1890 – 3 June 1970 ) was a British accountant , company director and politician . From a Scottish family , he represented first a constituency in London and then the Scottish highlands constituency of UK Parliament constituency . He was an expert on the fishing industry . Family and early career . Robertson ' s father John was from Caithness but became Chief Inspector of the General Post Office in Glasgow , and Robertson was brought up in the city . He went to Woodside School and Allan Glen ' s School . In 1907 he was apprenticed to Mitchell and Smith , Chartered Accountants , before going to the University of Glasgow . Wartime civil service . On leaving university in 1912 Robertson joined the staff of Cole , Dickin and Hills in London . In 1915 , having been a member of Glasgow University Officer Training Corps , he was commissioned into the Argyll and Sutherland Highlanders and served during the First World War with the British Expeditionary Force in France . He was wounded in action and returned to Britain to join the civil service . He was Sectional Accountant for the Fish , Game , Poultry and Eggs Section of the Ministry of Food for a time before being promoted to Assistant Director of Finance . Frozen fish industry . After the end of the war , Robertson was Chief Accountant to the Ministry of Food at the Peace Conference in Paris . Shortly after the end of the conference he left the civil service to go into business . He was involved in companies working in the fishing and cold storage industries , pioneering the sale of frozen fish , and became Managing Director of several businesses . In 1939 , Robertson used his knowledge of the industry to propose a scheme whereby the United Kingdom could maintain a supply of frozen fish from safe fishing grounds in the event of war . Member of Parliament . In July 1938 , Robertson was chosen as Conservative Party candidate for UK Parliament constituency , a predominantly middle - class area of London where the sitting Member of Parliament ( MP ) Sir William Lane - Mitchell was retiring . In the event , the postponement of the general election due to the outbreak of war led Lane - Mitchell to resign by being appointed Steward of the Manor of Northstead in November 1939 . Robertson was returned unopposed at the ensuing by - election on 7 December 1939 . Robertson ' s maiden speech , on his frozen fish plan , was well received . On 26 June , Robertson used a debate in the House of Commons to raise the issue of facilities for troops at London ' s mainline train stations . He complained that most had no facilities at all for troops to wash and sleep , and the facility at Liverpool Street station run by the YMCA was like the " Black Hole of Calcutta " . Robertson ' s debate produced an immediate move to improve conditions . Dual constituency role . In 1941 , Robertson volunteered to take an additional role looking after the interests of the constituency of Peebles and Southern Midlothian , whose Member of Parliament Archibald Maule Ramsay had been detained under Defence Regulation 18b . However , Robertson found that the expense of representing two constituencies was too much because he was unable to charge his expenses in respect of Peebles against income tax , and he gave up the role in October 1942 . Housing campaign . Later in the war , Robertson pressed for faster repair of bomb - damaged housing in London , and called for the appointment of a " restless dynamic driver " such as Lord Beaverbrook , rather than the lawyer ( Sir Malcolm Eve ) who had been appointed . He returned to the subject after the war , complaining in July 1946 that not one house in Streatham had been repaired . However , during the Parliament his main contributions to debate were on the subject of food and especially fishing . Robertson was given a Knighthood in 1945 . Caithness and Sutherland . At the 1950 general election , Robertson moved constituencies from Streatham to fight UK Parliament constituency , the northernmost part of mainland Scotland . The constituency had a long Liberal tradition but the Conservatives had won the seat from Liberal leader Sir Archibald Sinclair in 1945 on a pledge by the candidate Eric Gandar Dower to seek re - election after the capitulation of Japan ; as a result of breaking that promise ( among other things ) , Gandar Dower had fallen out with his Unionist Association . Robertson faced a rematch against Sir Archibald Sinclair , who was Lord Lieutenant of Caithness . He objected that Sinclair was bringing the Lieutenancy into politics , although Sinclair pointed out that he had held the office since 1919 and had first been elected in 1922 . Sinclair described Robertson ' s objections as " exceptionally silly pre - election stuff " . Robertson won his seat , but only by 269 votes ; Sinclair accepted a Viscountcy rather than try to win the seat again , and Robertson had easy re - elections thereafter . Highlands industries . Robertson campaigned for economic development of the Scottish Highlands , arguing that Caithness made cement which came from the Medway in Kent . In 1953 he attempted to amend the budget to exempt from income tax the profits of trades by local communities , motivated by the people of Thurso who had banded together to do work which was normally reserved to local government . He failed to persuade the Treasury . When the site of Dounreay was chosen for a nuclear power establishment , Robertson welcomed the choice and hoped it would lead to repopulation of the highlands . He also attempted to stop the increase in charges for freight on rail , claiming that sheep could be brought from New Zealand cheaper than from his constituency . After the Suez Crisis , Robertson went on a tour of the United States defending the British policy . In 1957 he introduced a Private Member ' s Bill , the North of Scotland Development Corporation Bill , which was aimed at setting up a group to attract new industries to his constituency and around . The Government talked the Bill out . Dissatisfaction with party . Robertson was increasingly more interested in his own constituency than in party politics . In July 1957 , while debating highlands roads in the Scottish Grand Committee , he declared that unless the problem was dealt with , " I can assure this Committee that I will have the greatest difficulty remaining in this party " ; he also described the Minister John Maclay as " a Treasury lackey and a mouthpiece for officialdom " . In January 1959 , he seconded an amendment moved by Labour MP Tom Fraser to continue marginal agricultural production grants , but again found Maclay unwilling to help . This was the last straw and a week later Robertson resigned the whip in protest at the Government ' s handling of Scottish affairs , declaring he would sit as an Independent Member of Parliament . He stated he continued to support the Conservative position on foreign affairs . Police brutality . In his first month as an Independent MP , Robertson obtained the signatures of 150 other MPs in support of a motion for an inquiry into the case of a 15 - year - old boy who had been assaulted by police in Thurso ; the Cabinet debated the issue and decided to set up their own inquiry . Robertson faced some local disquiet over the cost . Independent Member . At the 1959 general election , Robertson fought Caithness and Sutherland as an Independent Unionist . Knowing of his local popularity , he was not opposed by an official candidate , and won his biggest majority at the election . He began the new Parliament by turning 70 , and decided that it would be his last . In March 1962 he protested to the Prime Minister Harold Macmillan that as an Independent MP he had not been nominated to serve on any Select Committees , because the selection was done according to the party proportion of the House . He was particularly anxious to serve on the Sea Fish Industry Bill , on which he had immense experience , and other MPs of all parties campaigned for him to be put on the committee . The Government conceded the point in relation to future committees . Retirement . In May 1963 , Robertson was given the Freedom of Thurso . Although he did not fight the 1964 general election , his supporters did nominate another Independent candidate , John Young , and Robertson gave Young his support . The official Unionist , Hon . Patrick Maitland , accused Robertson ' s supporters of spreading defamatory rumours about him . The division in Unionist ranks led to a Liberal gain .