Education
Hamilton attended Glasgow University, obtaining a first class Master of Arts in Modern History before attaining a Bachelor of Laws at Edinburgh University. He also attended the John F. Kennedy School of Government at Harvard University.
In 1994, he won the World Debating Championship.
Career
He was a Scottish National Party Member of the Scottish Parliament for Highlands and Islands region from 1999 to 2003. He writes a column for The Scotsman newspaper. He worked briefly for Procter & Gamble before becoming Assistant to Scottish National Party Leader, Alex Salmond and then to the Scottish National Party Chief Executive, Michael Russell.
In Holyrood he was a shadow deputy spokesman for the Scottish National Party. Shadow Deputy Minister for Health and Community Care, May 1999 - September 2000
Shadow Deputy Minister for Enterprise & Lifelong Learning, September 2000 - April 2003
In February 2002, he wrote an open letter to his Argyll and Bute constituency party in which he said he believed it was best for elected representatives to have "real life experience" outside politics.
Along with fellow Scottish National Party MSPs Winnie Ewing, Kay Ullrich, Colin Campbell he decided not to stand for election in 2003. He had been tipped to be one of the rising stars of the Scottish Parliament and was regarded as one of the Scottish National Party"s most able politicians.
He has since pursued a career in law, having been admitted to the Faculty of Advocates in 2006. He has criticised the quality of the legislation passed by the Scottish Parliament.
In 2007 Hamilton was appointed as a political advisor to First Minister Alex Salmond.
Politics
In the 1999 election he stood as a constituency candidate in Argyll and Bute, where he finished second behind Liberal Democrat George Lyon achieving the largest swing from the Liberal Democrats to the Scottish National Party.
Membership
Upon his election in 1999 he was the youngest Member of the Scottish Parliament. He is also served as the Scottish National Party Deputy Health and Community Care spokesperson, and was a member of the Health and Community Care Committee.