Abbi Garton-Crosbie

Abbi Garton-Crosbie covers how political power is contested and exercised in contemporary Scotland, with a focus on parties, parliament and the mechanics of independence. She works as a multimedia political reporter at The National, Scotland’s pro-independence newspaper. Her reporting and broadcasting link Holyrood decisions, party manoeuvres and grassroots pressure to the real-world impact on voters.

Holyrood power and the independence question

Garton-Crosbie’s core patch is Holyrood and the struggle over constitutional change. She reports on parliamentary votes and government strategy around securing powers for a future independence referendum, including coverage of John Swinney’s framing of a Holyrood vote as the start of a renewed push for indyref2 authority. Her interviews with newly elected Scottish Green MSPs explore how pro-independence parties intend to use their positions in parliament to advance constitutional change and resist unionist opposition. She examines how elections in Scotland fit into a wider picture of devolution across Wales and Northern Ireland, discussing the fallout of Scottish votes in the context of the broader UK settlement. Across these pieces she treats independence as a live process shaped by legislative decisions, coalition-building and intra-party debate rather than a static yes/no question.

Party leadership, internal conflict and political careers

Her work often centres on figures at the heart of party politics and the consequences of their decisions. In long-form interviews with politicians such as Mhairi Black, she probes why high-profile figures leave major parties and what those exits reveal about internal culture and leadership. She covers emerging and smaller parties, including reporting on Jeremy Corbyn’s Your Party and detailed conversations with former Scottish committee members about why they resigned en masse and judged the project unsuitable for Scotland. On podcasts she dissects leadership contests, such as the Scottish Labour leadership race, treating them as tests of party identity as much as personal ambition. Her recurring focus on resignations, leadership challenges and candidate selections shows an interest in how parties manage dissent, succession and their public image over time.

Far right, protest politics and movement organisation

Garton-Crosbie regularly examines the overlap between formal politics and street-level agitation. In video reports she explains how allies of far-right activist Tommy Robinson have staged chaotic scenes outside hotels, tracing how these flashpoints connect to organised attempts to influence debate on immigration and public order. On The National’s podcast she discusses Channel 4’s undercover reporting on Reform UK, exploring how party branding interacts with more extreme rhetoric and behaviour. Her coverage links individual incidents and media exposés to broader questions about how extremist or fringe actors seek legitimacy and attention within the political system.

This strand of her work gives communicators a clear view of how she treats security, public safety and democratic norms as part of the political beat, not as separate topics.

Policy, data and the material impact of decisions

Alongside personalities and campaigns, Garton-Crosbie spends significant time on policy detail and evidence. In her reporting on rent caps, she tests landlord claims that regulation would destroy the housing market against actual data, presenting research that undercuts those warnings.

She is part of The National’s multi-article investigation into AI data centres, contributing to a series that asks who benefits from new infrastructure, what risks it poses and how government oversight should respond.

On the podcast she continues this work, discussing AI data centres and their political implications with colleagues, and connecting them to other major stories such as undercover investigations into political parties. She also covers structural reforms in government, including John Swinney’s plans to overhaul health boards and create a single ferries agency, treating institutional design as a political story in its own right. This mix of data-driven analysis, infrastructure reporting and scrutiny of public services reinforces her emphasis on how policy choices translate into lived conditions.

Multimedia reporting and ongoing output

Garton-Crosbie works across formats, combining written pieces with regular appearances on video and audio platforms. She hosts Holyrood Weekly, using the show to break down parliamentary developments and party manoeuvres for a broad audience. She is a frequent voice on The National’s podcast, where she joins editors and fellow political reporters to walk through the day’s biggest stories, from leadership races to major public inquiries.

Her YouTube interviews and explainers provide on-camera access to politicians and activists, offering viewers direct testimony alongside her framing and questioning. External profiles credit her with thousands of published articles, underscoring a high-volume, beat-focused output over several years.

Across platforms she keeps a consistent focus on contemporary politics while using different mediums to reach audiences who follow Holyrood, party dynamics and policy debates in depth.