Secretary of State for Scotland

The secretary of state for Scotland (Scottish Gaelic: Rùnaire Stàite na h-Alba; Scots: Secretar o State fir Scotland), also referred to as the Scottish secretary, is a secretary of state in the Government of the United Kingdom, with responsibility for the Scotland Office. The incumbent is a member of the Cabinet of the United Kingdom.

Not to be confused with Secretary of State (Kingdom of Scotland).

Secretary of State
for Scotland
Scottish Gaelic: Rùnaire Stàite na h-Alba
Scots: Secretar o State fir Scotland
Royal Arms of His Majesty's Government in Scotland
Incumbent
Alister Jack
since 24 July 2019
Office of the Secretary of State for Scotland
StyleThe Right Honourable
StatusSecretary of state
Minister of the Crown
AppointerThe King
(on the advice of the Prime Minister)
Term lengthAt His Majesty's pleasure
Inaugural holderThe Earl of Mar
Formation1926 (current form)
1 May 1707 (original form)
DeputyJohn Lamont
(as Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State)
Salary£151,649 per annum (2022)[1]
(including £84,144 MP salary)[2]
WebsiteScotland Office
This article is part of a series within the
Politics of the United Kingdom on the
Politics of Scotland
The Crown

Charles III

William, Duke of Rothesay
Executive

Yousaf government

The Rt Hon Humza Yousaf MSP

Shona Robison MSP
Legislature

Sixth session

Alison Johnstone MSP
Law and justice

Keith Brown MSP

Dorothy Bain KC

The Rt Hon Lord Carloway KC PC
Elections and referendums
Scottish Parliament elections

United Kingdom Parliament elections

European Parliament elections

Local elections

Referendums
Scotland and the United Kingdom

Sunak ministry

The Rt Hon Rishi Sunak MP

The Rt Hon Alister Jack MP
Administration

The office holder works alongside the other Scotland Office ministers. The corresponding shadow minister is the shadow secretary of state for Scotland.

The incumbent is Alister Jack, following his appointment by Prime Minister Boris Johnson in July 2019 and who was reappointed by Liz Truss and Rishi Sunak.

History

Prior to devolution (before 1999)

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)

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 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 Alister Jack, who was appointed by Boris Johnson, replacing David Mundell. He was later reappointed by Liz Truss and Rishi Sunak.

Responsibilities

With the advent of legislative devolution for Scotland in 1999, the role of Secretary of State for Scotland was 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 to other UK government ministers. However, the Secretary of State does represent Scotland in the Cabinet on matters that are not devolved to Holyrood and also holds Scotland Questions on the first Wednesday of every month between 11:30 am and 12 noon, when any Member of Parliament can ask a question on any matter relating to Scotland. However, devolved issues are not usually raised by MPs. The Secretary of State is also the group leader of the Scottish MPs from the government party.

As a result of this, the office mainly acts as a go-between for the UK and Scottish Governments and Parliaments.[3] However, due to the Secretary's position as 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 Scottish National Party (SNP) in both the Scottish Parliament and the British Parliament and the resultant interest in Scottish Independence, the Secretary of State's 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.[4]

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.[3]

This seeming lack of responsibility has in recent years seen calls from opposition MPs for the scrapping of the role and the Scotland Office.[5][4] Robert Hazell has suggested merging the offices of Secretary of State for Northern Ireland, Scotland and Wales into one Secretary of State for the Union,[6] in a department into which Rodney Brazier has suggested adding a Minister of State for England with responsibility for English local government.[7]

List of Scottish secretaries

Secretaries of State for Scotland (1707–1746)
John Erskine, 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 Term of office
John Erskine
Earl of Mar		 (since 1705)
1 May
1707		 3 February
1709
James Douglas
2nd Duke of Queensberry		 3 February
1709		 6 July
1711
John Erskine
Earl of Mar		 9 September
1713		 24 September
1714
James Graham
1st Duke of Montrose		 24 September
1714		 August
1715
John Ker
1st Duke of Roxburghe		 13 December
1716		 August
1725
John Hay
4th Marquess of Tweeddale		 25 February
1742		 3 January
1746

Office thereafter vacant.

Secretaries for Scotland (1885–1926)

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.[8] 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.[9]

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.[10] From 1999, the position of Keeper of the Great Seal of Scotland has been held by the First Minister of Scotland.[11]

Secretary of State Term of office Party Ministry
Charles Gordon-Lennox
6th Duke of Richmond
[nb 1]		 17 August
1885		 28 January
1886		 Conservative Salisbury I
George Trevelyan
MP for Hawick Burghs		 8 February
1886		 March
1886		 Liberal Gladstone III
John Ramsay
13th Earl of Dalhousie		 5 April
1886		 20 July
1886		 Liberal
Arthur Balfour
MP for Manchester East		 5 August
1886		 11 March
1887		 Conservative Salisbury II
Schomberg Kerr
9th Marquess of Lothian		 11 March
1887		 11 August
1892		 Conservative
George Trevelyan
MP for Glasgow Bridgeton		 18 August
1892		 21 June
1895		 Liberal Gladstone IV
Rosebery
Alexander Bruce
6th Lord Balfour of Burleigh		 29 June
1895		 9 October
1903
 Conservative Salisbury
(III & IV)
(Con.–Lib.U.)
Balfour
(Con.–Lib.U.)
Andrew Murray
MP for Buteshire		 9 October
1903		 2 February
1905		 Conservative
John Hope
1st Marquess of Linlithgow		 2 February
1905		 4 December
1905		 Conservative
John Sinclair
1st Baron Pentland[nb 2]		 10 December
1905		 13 February
1912		 Liberal Campbell-Bannerman
Asquith
(I–III)
Thomas McKinnon Wood
MP for Glasgow St Rollox		 13 February
1912		 9 July
1916		 Liberal
Asquith Coalition
(Lib.–Con.–Lab.)
Harold Tennant
MP for Berwickshire		 9 July
1916		 5 December
1916		 Liberal
Robert Munro
MP for Roxburgh and Selkirk [nb 3]		 10 December
1916		 19 October
1922		 Liberal Lloyd George
(I & II)
(Lib.–Con.–Lab.)
Ronald Munro Ferguson
1st Viscount Novar		 24 October
1922		 22 January
1924		 Independent Law
Baldwin I
William Adamson
MP for West Fife		 22 January
1924		 3 November
1924		 Labour MacDonald I
John Gilmour
MP for Glasgow Pollok		 6 November
1924		 26 July
1926		 Unionist Baldwin II

Secretaries of State for Scotland (1926–present)
Secretary of State Term of office Party Ministry
John Gilmour[12]
MP for Glasgow Pollok		 26 July
1926
 4 June
1929		 Unionist Baldwin II
William Adamson
MP for West Fife		 7 June
1929		 24 August
1931		 Labour MacDonald II
Archibald Sinclair[13]
MP for Caithness and Sutherland		 25 August
1931		 28 September
1932		 Liberal National I
(N.Lab.–Con.–Lib.N.–Lib.)
National II
(N.Lab.–Con.–Lib.N.–Lib.)
Godfrey Collins[14]
MP for Greenock		 28 September
1932		 29 October
1936		 Liberal National
National III
(Con.–N.Lab.–Lib.N.)
Walter Elliot[15]
MP for Glasgow Kelvingrove		 29 October
1936		 6 May
1938		 Unionist
National IV
(Con.–N.Lab.–Lib.N.)
John Colville[16]
MP for Midlothian and Peebles Northern		 6 May
1938		 10 May
1940		 Unionist
Chamberlain War
(Con.–N.Lab.–Lib.N.)
Ernest Brown[17]
MP for Leith		 14 May
1940		 8 February
1941		 Liberal National Churchill War
(All parties)
Thomas Johnston[18]
MP for West Stirlingshire		 8 February
1941		 23 May
1945		 Labour
Harry Primrose
6th Earl of Rosebery		 25 May
1945		 26 July
1945		 Liberal National Churchill Caretaker
(Con.–N.Lib.)
Joseph Westwood[19]
MP for Stirling and Falkirk		 3 August
1945		 7 October
1947		 Labour Attlee
(I & II)
Arthur Woodburn[20]
MP for Clackmannan and Eastern Stirlingshire		 7 October
1947		 28 February
1950		 Labour
Hector McNeil[21]
MP for Greenock		 28 February
1950		 26 October
1951		 Labour
James Stuart
MP for Moray and Nairn		 30 October
1951		 13 January
1957		 Unionist Churchill III
Eden
John Maclay[22]
MP for West Renfrewshire		 13 January
1957		 13 July
1962		 Unionist Macmillan
(I & II)
Michael Noble[23]
MP for Argyllshire		 13 July
1962		 16 October
1964		 Unionist
Douglas-Home
Willie Ross[24]
MP for Kilmarnock		 18 October
1964		 19 June
1970		 Labour Wilson
(I & II)
Gordon Campbell
MP for Moray and Nairn		 20 June
1970		 4 March
1974		 Conservative Heath
Willie Ross
MP for Kilmarnock		 5 March
1974		 8 April
1976		 Labour Wilson
(III & IV)
Bruce Millan[25]
MP for Glasgow Craigton		 8 April
1976		 4 May
1979		 Labour Callaghan
George Younger[26]
MP for Ayr		 5 May
1979		 11 January
1986		 Conservative Thatcher I
Thatcher II
Malcolm Rifkind[27]
MP for Edinburgh Pentlands		 11 January
1986		 28 November
1990		 Conservative
Thatcher III
Ian Lang[28]
MP for Galloway and Upper Nithsdale		 28 November
1990		 5 July
1995		 Conservative Major I
Major II
Michael Forsyth[29]
MP for Stirling		 5 July
1995		 2 May
1997		 Conservative
Donald Dewar[30]
MP for Glasgow Anniesland		 2 May
1997		 17 May
1999		 Labour Blair I
John Reid[31]
MP for Hamilton North and Bellshill		 17 May
1999		 25 January
2001		 Labour
Helen Liddell[32]
MP for Airdrie and Shotts		 25 January
2001		 13 June
2003		 Labour Blair II
Alistair Darling[33][lower-alpha 1]
MP for Edinburgh South West[lower-alpha 2]
(born 1953)		 13 June
2003		 5 May
2006		 Labour
Blair III
Douglas Alexander[34][lower-alpha 1]
MP for Paisley and Renfrewshire South		 5 May
2006		 28 June
2007		 Labour
Des Browne[35][lower-alpha 3]
MP for Kilmarnock and Loudoun		 28 June
2007		 3 October
2008		 Labour Brown
Jim Murphy[36]
MP for East Renfrewshire		 3 October
2008		 11 May
2010		 Labour
Danny Alexander[37]
MP for Inverness, Nairn, Badenoch and Strathspey		 12 May
2010		 29 May
2010		 Liberal Democrat Cameron–Clegg
(Con.–L.D.)
Michael Moore[38]
MP for Berwickshire, Roxburgh and Selkirk		 29 May
2010		 7 October
2013		 Liberal Democrat
Alistair Carmichael[39]
MP for Orkney and Shetland		 7 October
2013		 8 May
2015		 Liberal Democrat
David Mundell[40]
MP for Dumfriesshire, Clydesdale and Tweeddale		 11 May
2015		 24 July
2019		 Conservative Cameron II
May I
May II
Alister Jack[41]
MP for Dumfries and Galloway		 24 July
2019		 Incumbent Conservative Johnson I
Johnson II
Truss
Sunak
Notes
  1. Concurrently served as Secretary of State for Transport
  2. MP for Edinburgh Central until 2005; MP for Edinburgh South West thereafter
  3. Concurrently served as Secretary of State for Defence

See also

Notes
  1. Duke of Lennox in the peerage of Scotland
  2. MP for Forfar until 1909; created Baron Pentland 1909
  3. MP for Wick Burghs until 1918; MP for Roxburgh and Selkirk thereafter

References
  1. "Salaries of Members of His Majesty's Government – Financial Year 2022–23" (PDF). 15 December 2022.
  2. "Pay and expenses for MPs". parliament.uk. Retrieved 15 December 2022.
  3. "Secretary of State for Scotland - GOV.UK". www.gov.uk. Retrieved 16 January 2017.
  4. "SNP questions budget of 'zombie department' Scotland Office". STV News. Retrieved 16 January 2017.
  5. "BBC NEWS | UK | Scotland | Scrap Scotland Office, SNP urging". news.bbc.co.uk. 25 November 2007. Retrieved 16 January 2017.
  6. "Times letters: Mark Sedwill's call for a cull of the cabinet". The Times. ISSN 0140-0460. Retrieved 30 November 2020.
  7. "Rodney Brazier: Why is Her Majesty's Government so big?". UK Constitutional Law Association. 7 September 2020. Retrieved 30 November 2020.
  8. Secretary for Scotland Act 1885, section 2.
  9. Secretaries of State Act 1926
  10. Secretary for Scotland Act 1885, section 2; Secretaries of State Act 1926, section 1
  11. Scotland Act 1998, section 45(7)
  12. "Mr John Gilmour". Parliamentary Debates (Hansard). Retrieved 24 September 2017.
  13. "Sir Archibald Sinclair". Parliamentary Debates (Hansard). Retrieved 24 September 2017.
  14. "Mr Godfrey Collins". Parliamentary Debates (Hansard). Retrieved 24 September 2017.
  15. "Mr Walter Elliot". Parliamentary Debates (Hansard). Retrieved 24 September 2017.
  16. "Mr John Colville". Parliamentary Debates (Hansard). Retrieved 24 September 2017.
  17. "Mr Ernest Brown". Parliamentary Debates (Hansard). Retrieved 24 September 2017.
  18. "Mr Thomas Johnston". Parliamentary Debates (Hansard). Retrieved 24 September 2017.
  19. "Mr Joseph Westwood". Parliamentary Debates (Hansard). Retrieved 24 September 2017.
  20. "Mr Arthur Woodburn". Parliamentary Debates (Hansard). Retrieved 24 September 2017.
  21. "Mr Hector McNeill". Parliamentary Debates (Hansard). Retrieved 24 September 2017.
  22. "Hon. John Maclay". Parliamentary Debates (Hansard). Retrieved 24 September 2017.
  23. "Mr Michael Noble". Parliamentary Debates (Hansard). Retrieved 24 September 2017.
  24. "Mr William Ross". Parliamentary Debates (Hansard). Retrieved 24 September 2017.
  25. "Rt Hon Bruce Millan". UK Parliament. Retrieved 23 September 2017.
  26. "Rt Hon Sir George Younger". UK Parliament. Retrieved 23 September 2017.
  27. "Rt Hon Sir Malcolm Rifkind QC". UK Parliament. Retrieved 23 September 2017.
  28. "Lord Lang of Monkton". UK Parliament. Retrieved 23 September 2017.
  29. "Lord Forsyth of Drumlean". UK Parliament. Retrieved 23 September 2017.
  30. "Rt Hon Donald Dewar". UK Parliament. Retrieved 23 September 2017.
  31. "Lord Reid of Cardowan". UK Parliament. Retrieved 23 September 2017.
  32. "Baroness Liddell of Coatdyke". UK Parliament. Retrieved 23 September 2017.
  33. "Lord Darling of Roulanish". UK Parliament. Retrieved 23 September 2017.
  34. "Rt Hon Douglas Alexander". UK Parliament. Retrieved 23 September 2017.
  35. "Lord Browne of Ladyton". UK Parliament. Retrieved 23 September 2017.
  36. "Rt Hon Jim Murphy". UK Parliament. Retrieved 23 September 2017.
  37. "Rt Hon Danny Alexander". UK Parliament. Retrieved 23 September 2017.
  38. "Rt Hon Michael Moore". UK Parliament. Retrieved 23 September 2017.
  39. "Rt Hon Alistair Carmichael MP". UK Parliament. Retrieved 23 September 2017.
  40. "Rt Hon David Mundell MP". UK Parliament. Retrieved 23 September 2017.
  41. "Mr Alistair Jack MP". UK Parliament. Retrieved 24 July 2019.
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