Robin Lindsay McAlpine (born December 1972) is a Scottish campaigner who was the Director of the Common Weal think tank from 2014 to 2021. He has previously worked as a journalist, and was the first director of the Jimmy Reid Foundation. McAlpine previously worked as a political researcher for Labour MP George Robertson. ^[1] He also worked as a journalist, and was Deputy Director of Universities Scotland. ^{[2] [3]} He later became Director of the Jimmy Reid Foundation. ^[4]

McAlpine is the son of former Labour Party and Scottish National Party Councillor Tom McAlpine and the sociologist and activist Isobel Lindsay. ^[5]

McAlpine first began to develop on economic philosophy based around the idea of a 'common weal' at the Jimmy Reid Foundation, before leaving in 2014 to set up the Common Weal project as a think tank in its own right. ^{[6] [7]}

In 2016 McAlpine published Determination: How Scotland Can Become Independent by 2021. ^[8] In January 2021, he asked to step down as Director of Common Weal for the role of Head of Strategic Development after receiving backlash for a highly critical article he wrote about Nicola Sturgeon in connection with the ongoing row with Alex Salmond. ^[9]

• McAlpine, Robin (2016). Determination: How Scotland can become independent by 2021. Common Print. ISBN  978-0-9930965-4-9.

• McAlpine, Robin; Danson, Mike; Spicker, Paul; Sullivan, Willie (2012). "The Case for Universalism An assessment of the evidence on the effectiveness and efficiency of the universal welfare state". The Jimmy Reid Foundation.
• McAlpine, Robin; Bort, Eberhard; Morgan, Gordon (2012). "The Silent Crisis: Failure and Revival in Local Democracy in Scotland". The Jimmy Reid Foundation.
• McAlpine, Robin; Murray, Craig; Pollock, Allyson; Ramsay, Adam (2013). "The Democratic University: A proposal for university governance for the Common Weal". The Jimmy Reid Foundation.