Secretary of State for Scotland
Royal Arms as used by Her Majesty's Government in Scotland
Incumbent David Mundell since 8 May 2015
Scotland Office
Style	The Right Honourable
Appointer	Elizabeth II
Inaugural holder	The Earl of Mar
Formation	1926 (current form) 1 May 1707 (original form)
Deputy	The Lord Duncan of Springbank as Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State
Website	Scotland Office

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Her Majesty's Principal Secretary of State for Scotland (Scottish Gaelic: Rùnaire Stàite na h-Alba, Scots: Secretar o State for Scotland) is the principal minister of Her Majesty's Government in the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland representing Scotland. They head the Scotland Office (formerly the Scottish Office), a government department based in London and Edinburgh.

Post history[edit]

Prior to devolution (before 1999)[edit]

The post was first created after the Acts of Union 1707 created the Kingdom of Great Britain from the Kingdom of England and the Kingdom of Scotland. It was abolished in 1746, following the Jacobite rising of 1745. Scottish affairs thereafter were managed by the Lord Advocate until 1827, when responsibility passed to the Home Office. In 1885 the post of Secretary for Scotland was re-created, with the incumbent usually a member of the Cabinet. In 1926 this post was upgraded to a full Secretary of State appointment.

After devolution (since 1999)[edit]

After the 1999 Scottish devolution, the powers of the Scottish Office were divided, with most transferred to the Scottish Government or to other British government departments, leaving only a limited role for the Scotland Office. From June 2003 and October 2008, the holder of the office of Secretary of State for Scotland from 13 June 2003 through to 3 October 2008 also held another Cabinet post concurrently, leading to claims that the Scottish role was seen as a part-time ministry.

The current Secretary of State for Scotland is David Mundell.

Responsibilities[edit]

With the advent of legislative devolution for Scotland in 1999, the role of Secretary of State for Scotland has been diminished, most of the functions vested in the office since administrative devolution in the 19th century were transferred to the newly established Scottish Ministers upon the opening of the Scottish Parliament or otherwise to other UK government ministers.

As a result of this, the office mainly acts as a go-between for the UK and Scottish Governments and Parliaments,^[1] however, due to being a minister in the British government the convention of Cabinet collective responsibility applies and as such the post is usually viewed as being a partisan one to promote the UK government's decision making in Scotland, as adherence to the convention precludes doing anything else.

With the rise of the SNP in the Scottish and British parliaments and the resultant interest in Scottish Independence, the Secretary of states role has also subsequently increased in prominence. The Scotland office itself has received a cumulative increase in budget of 20% from 2013 to 2017 with a 14.4% increase in 2015/16 alone.^[2]

The UK government's website lists the Secretary of State for Scotland's responsibilities as being:

"The main role of the Scottish Secretary is to promote and protect the devolution settlement.
Other responsibilities include promoting partnership between the UK government and the Scottish government, and relations between the 2 Parliaments."^[1]

This seeming lack of responsibility has in recent years seen calls for the scrapping of the role and the wider department of the Scotland Office itself by opposition MPs.^[3][2]

List of Scottish Secretaries[edit]

Secretaries of State for Scotland (1707–1746)[edit]

John Erskine, 22nd Earl of Mar had served as Secretary of State of the independent Scotland from 1705. Following the Acts of Union 1707, he remained in office.

The post of Secretary of State for Scotland existed after the Union of the Parliament of Scotland and the Parliament of England in 1707 till the Jacobite rising of 1745. After the rising, responsibility for Scotland lay primarily with the office of the Home Secretary, usually exercised by the Lord Advocate.

Secretary of State for Scotland

Portrait	Name (Birth–Death)	Term of office
	John Erskine 23rd Earl of Mar (1675–1732)	(since 1705) 1 May 1707	3 February 1709
	James Douglas 2nd Duke of Queensberry (1662–1711)	3 February 1709	6 July 1711
	John Erskine 23rd Earl of Mar (1675–1732)	30 September 1713	24 September 1714
	James Graham 1st Duke of Montrose (1682–1742)	24 September 1714	August 1715
	John Ker 1st Duke of Roxburghe (1680–1741)	13 December 1716	August 1725
	John Hay 4th Marquess of Tweeddale (1695–1762)	16 February 1742	3 January 1746

Office thereafter vacant.

Secretaries for Scotland (1885–1926)[edit]

The Secretary for Scotland was chief minister in charge of the Scottish Office in the United Kingdom government. The Scotland Office was created in 1885 with the post of Secretary for Scotland.^[4] From 1892 the Secretary for Scotland sat in cabinet. The post was upgraded to full Secretary of State rank as the Secretary of State for Scotland in 1926.^[5]

From 1885 to 1999, Secretaries for Scotland and Secretaries of State for Scotland also ex officio held the post of Keeper of the Great Seal of Scotland.^[6] From 1999, the position of Keeper of the Great Seal has been held by the First Minister of Scotland.^[7]

Secretary for Scotland

Portrait		Name (Birth–Death)	Term of office		Party	Ministry
		His Grace Charles Gordon-Lennox 6th Duke of Richmond KG PC [nb 1] (1818–1903)	17 August 1885	28 January 1886	Conservative	Salisbury I
		The Right Honourable Sir George Trevelyan Bt MP for Hawick Burghs (1838–1928)	8 February 1886	March 1886	Liberal	Gladstone III
		The Right Honourable John Ramsay 13th Earl of Dalhousie KT PC (1847–1887)	5 April 1886	20 July 1886	Liberal
		The Right Honourable Arthur Balfour DL MP for Manchester East (1848–1930)	5 August 1886	11 March 1887	Conservative	Salisbury II
		The Most Honourable Schomberg Kerr 9th Marquess of Lothian KT PC FRSE (1833–1900)	11 March 1887	11 August 1892	Conservative
		The Right Honourable Sir George Trevelyan Bt MP for Glasgow Bridgeton (1838–1928)	18 August 1892	21 June 1895	Liberal	Gladstone IV
						Rosebery
		The Right Honourable Alexander Bruce 6th Lord Balfour of Burleigh KT PC (1849–1921)	29 June 1895	9 October 1903	Conservative	Salisbury (III & IV) (Con.–Lib.U.)
						Balfour (Con.–Lib.U.)
		The Right Honourable Andrew Murray KC MP for Buteshire (1849–1942)	9 October 1903	2 February 1905	Conservative
		The Right Honourable John Hope 1st Marquess of Linlithgow KT GCMG GCVO PC (1860–1908)	2 February 1905	4 December 1905	Conservative
		The Right Honourable John Sinclair 1st Baron Pentland PC [nb 2] (1860–1925)	10 December 1905	13 February 1912	Liberal	Campbell-Bannerman
						Asquith (I–III)
		The Right Honourable Thomas Wood MP for Glasgow St Rollox (1855–1927)	13 February 1912	9 July 1916	Liberal
						Asquith Coalition (Lib.–Con.–Lab.)
		The Right Honourable Harold Tennant MP for Berwickshire (1865–1935)	9 July 1916	5 December 1916	Liberal
		The Right Honourable Robert Munro KC MP for Roxburgh and Selkirk [nb 3] (1868–1955)	10 December 1916	19 October 1922	Liberal	Lloyd George (I & II) (Lib.–Con.–Lab.)
		The Right Honourable Ronald Munro Ferguson 1st Viscount Novar GCMG PC (1860–1934)	24 October 1922	22 January 1924	Independent	Law
						Baldwin I
		The Right Honourable William Adamson MP for West Fife (1863–1936)	22 January 1924	3 November 1924	Labour	MacDonald I
		The Right Honourable Sir John Gilmour Bt DSO TD JP DL MP for Glasgow Pollok (1876–1940)	6 November 1924	26 July 1926	Unionist	Baldwin II

Secretaries of State for Scotland (1926–present)[edit]

Secretary of State for Scotland

Portrait		Name (Birth–Death)	Term of office		Party	Ministry	Ref.
		The Right Honourable Sir John Gilmour Bt DSO TD JP DL MP for Glasgow Pollok (1876–1940)	15 July 1926	4 June 1929	Unionist	Baldwin II	[8]
		The Right Honourable William Adamson MP for West Fife (1863–1936)	7 June 1929	24 August 1931	Labour	MacDonald II
		The Right Honourable Sir Archibald Sinclair Bt CMG MP for Caithness and Sutherland (1890–1970)	25 August 1931	28 September 1932	Liberal	National I (N.Lab.–Con.–Lib.N.–Lib.)	[9]
						National II (N.Lab.–Con.–Lib.N.–Lib.)
		The Right Honourable Sir Godfrey Collins KBE CMG MP for Greenock (1875–1936)	28 September 1932	29 October 1936	Liberal National		[10]
						National III (Con.–N.Lab.–Lib.N.)
		The Right Honourable Dr Walter Elliot MC FRS FRSE MP for Glasgow Kelvingrove (1888–1958)	29 October 1936	6 May 1938	Unionist		[11]
						National IV (Con.–N.Lab.–Lib.N.)
		The Right Honourable John Colville MP for Midlothian and Peebles Northern (1894–1954)	6 May 1938	10 May 1940	Unionist		[12]
						Chamberlain War (Con.–N.Lab.–Lib.N.)
		The Right Honourable Ernest Brown MP for Leith (1881–1962)	14 May 1940	8 February 1941	Liberal National	Churchill War (All parties)	[13]
		The Right Honourable Thomas Johnston MP for West Stirlingshire (1881–1965)	8 February 1941	23 May 1945	Labour		[14]
		The Right Honourable Harry Primrose 6th Earl of Rosebery DSO MC PC (1882–1974)	25 May 1945	26 July 1945	Liberal National	Churchill Caretaker (Con.–N.Lib.)
		The Right Honourable Joseph Westwood MP for Stirling and Falkirk (1884–1948)	3 August 1945	7 October 1947	Labour	Attlee (I & II)	[15]
		The Right Honourable Arthur Woodburn MP for Clackmannan and Eastern Stirlingshire (1890–1978)	7 October 1947	28 February 1950	Labour		[16]
		The Right Honourable Hector McNeil MP for Greenock (1907–1955)	28 February 1950	26 October 1951	Labour		[17]
		The Right Honourable James Stuart MVO MC MP for Moray and Nairn (1897–1971)	30 October 1951	13 January 1957	Unionist	Churchill III
						Eden
		The Right Honourable John Maclay CMG MP for West Renfrewshire (1905–1992)	13 January 1957	13 July 1962	Unionist	Macmillan (I & II)	[18]
		The Right Honourable Michael Noble MP for Argyllshire (1913–1984)	13 July 1962	16 October 1964	Unionist		[19]
						Douglas-Home
		The Right Honourable Willie Ross MBE MP for Kilmarnock (1911–1988)	18 October 1964	19 June 1970	Labour	Wilson (I & II)	[20]
		The Right Honourable Gordon Campbell MC MP for Moray and Nairn (1921–2005)	20 June 1970	4 March 1974	Conservative	Heath
		The Right Honourable Willie Ross MBE MP for Kilmarnock (1911–1988)	5 March 1974	8 April 1976	Labour	Wilson (III & IV)	[20]
		The Right Honourable Bruce Millan MP for Glasgow Craigton (1927–2013)	8 April 1976	4 May 1979	Labour	Callaghan	[21]
		The Right Honourable George Younger TD MP for Ayr (1931–2003)	5 May 1979	11 January 1986	Conservative	Thatcher I	[22]
						Thatcher II
		The Right Honourable Malcolm Rifkind QC MP for Edinburgh Pentlands (born 1946)	11 January 1986	28 November 1990	Conservative		[23]
						Thatcher III
		The Right Honourable Ian Lang MP for Galloway and Upper Nithsdale (born 1940)	28 November 1990	5 July 1995	Conservative	Major I	[24]
						Major II
		The Right Honourable Michael Forsyth MP for Stirling (born 1954)	5 July 1995	2 May 1997	Conservative		[25]
		The Right Honourable Donald Dewar MP for Glasgow Anniesland (1937–2000)	3 May 1997	17 May 1999	Labour	Blair (I–III)	[26]
		The Right Honourable Dr John Reid MP for Hamilton North and Bellshill (born 1949)	17 May 1999	25 January 2001	Labour		[27]
		The Right Honourable Helen Liddell MP for Airdrie and Shotts (born 1950)	25 January 2001	13 June 2003	Labour		[28]
		The Right Honourable Alistair Darling [nb 4] MP for Edinburgh South West [nb 5] (born 1953)	13 June 2003	5 May 2006	Labour		[29]
		The Right Honourable Douglas Alexander [nb 4] MP for Paisley and Renfrewshire South (born 1967)	5 May 2006	27 June 2007	Labour		[30]
		The Right Honourable Des Browne [nb 6] MP for Kilmarnock and Loudoun (born 1952)	28 June 2007	3 October 2008	Labour	Brown	[31]
		The Right Honourable Jim Murphy MP for East Renfrewshire (born 1967)	3 October 2008	11 May 2010	Labour		[32]
		The Right Honourable Danny Alexander MP for Inverness, Nairn, Badenoch and Strathspey (born 1972)	11 May 2010	29 May 2010	Liberal Democrat	Cameron–Clegg (Con.–L.D.)	[33]
		The Right Honourable Michael Moore MP for Berwickshire, Roxburgh and Selkirk (born 1965)	29 May 2010	7 October 2013	Liberal Democrat		[34]
		The Right Honourable Alistair Carmichael MP for Orkney and Shetland (born 1965)	7 October 2013	8 May 2015	Liberal Democrat		[35]
		The Right Honourable David Mundell WS MP for Dumfriesshire, Clydesdale and Tweeddale (born 1962)	11 May 2015	Incumbent	Conservative	Cameron II	[36]
						May I
						May II

Notes

See also[edit]

• First Minister of Scotland


• 
  Secretary of State, a senior post in the pre-Union government of the Kingdom of Scotland
  


• 
  Under-Secretary of State for Scotland, junior minister supporting the Secretary of State for Scotland


• Shadow Secretary of State for Scotland


• Secretary of State for Northern Ireland


• Secretary of State for Wales

References[edit]

External links[edit]

• Official website of the Scotland Office