Secretary of State for Scotland facts for kids

Quick facts for kids Secretary of State for Scotland
Royal Arms of His Majesty's Government in Scotland
Incumbent Ian Murray since 5 July 2024
Office of the Secretary of State for Scotland
Style	Scottish Secretary (informal) The Right Honourable (within the UK and Commonwealth)
Member of	Cabinet Privy Council
Reports to	The Prime Minister
Seat	Westminster
Nominator	The Prime Minister
Appointer	The Monarch (on the advice of the Prime Minister)
Term length	At His Majesty's pleasure
Formation	1 May 1707 (as Secretary of State for Scotland) 17 August 1885 (as Secretary for Scotland) 26 July 1926 : (as Secretary of State for Scotland)
Deputy	Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Scotland
Salary	£159,038 per annum (2022) (including £86,584 MP salary)
Website	Scotland Office

The Secretary of State for Scotland (also known as the Scottish Secretary) is an important government job in the Government of the United Kingdom. This person is in charge of the Scotland Office. The Secretary of State for Scotland is also a member of the Cabinet of the United Kingdom, which is a group of the most important ministers in the government.

This role helps make sure that the rules for Scottish devolution (where Scotland has its own parliament and government) are followed. The Secretary also speaks up for Scotland's interests within the UK Government. They also explain the UK Government's plans in Scotland. Another key part of the job is to help the UK Government and the Scottish Government work together. They also manage the relationship between the UK Parliament and the Scottish Parliament.

Many of the Secretary of State for Scotland's duties moved to the First Minister of Scotland when the Scottish Parliament started in 1999. This happened after the Scotland Act 1998 was passed. The person in this job works with other ministers in the Scotland Office. The Secretary is helped by their deputy, the Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Scotland. The current Secretary is Ian Murray. He was chosen by Prime Minister Keir Starmer in July 2024.

Understanding the Role of Scottish Secretary

How the Job Started

From 1707 to 1746

The job of Secretary of State for Scotland was first created in 1707. This was after the Acts of Union 1707 joined the Kingdom of England and the Kingdom of Scotland to form the Kingdom of Great Britain. However, the job was stopped in 1746 after a rebellion called the Jacobite rising of 1745. After that, Scottish matters were handled by the Lord Advocate. Later, in 1827, the Home Office took over these duties.

The Job Returns in 1885

In 1885, the job was brought back as "Secretary for Scotland." The person in this role was usually part of the Cabinet of the United Kingdom. Then, in 1926, the job was made even more important. It became a full "Secretary of State" position.

Changes After 1999

After Scotland gained more power in 1999, the role of the Secretary of State for Scotland changed a lot. This is known as "devolution." Most of the powers that the Scottish Office used to have were given to the new Scottish Government or to other UK government departments. This left the Scotland Office with a smaller role. For a few years, from 2003 to 2008, the Secretary of State for Scotland also held another Cabinet job at the same time. Some people thought this meant the Scottish role was not a full-time job.

What the Secretary Does Now

Fewer Direct Responsibilities

When Scotland got its own parliament in 1999, the Secretary of State for Scotland's direct power became less. Many of the duties moved to the new Scottish Ministers. The First Minister of Scotland took over most of the powers. Donald Dewar was the first First Minister of Scotland from 1999 to 2000. Before that, he was the Secretary of State for Scotland from 1997 to 1999.

However, the Secretary of State still represents Scotland in the UK Cabinet. This is for things that the Scottish Parliament does not control. They also hold "Scotland Questions" every month. During this time, any Member of Parliament can ask questions about Scotland. But they usually don't ask about things that the Scottish Government handles. This is because those decisions are made in Edinburgh by members of the Scottish Parliament. The Secretary of State also cannot introduce new laws in the UK Parliament about things that Scotland's government controls. This is a rule to respect Scotland's own parliament. The Secretary of State also leads the Scottish Members of Parliament from the government's party.

Working with the Scottish Government

First Minister of Scotland Nicola Sturgeon and Scottish Secretary David Mundell at a meeting in Glasgow (Scotland) in 2016

The Secretary of State mainly acts as a link between the UK and Scottish Governments and Parliaments. Because the Secretary is a minister in the UK government, they must support the UK government's decisions. This means their job is often seen as promoting the UK government's views in Scotland.

The role of the Secretary of State has become more important as the Scottish National Party (SNP) has grown. The SNP wants Scotland to be independent. The Scotland Office has also received more money in recent years.

Main Duties

The UK government website lists the Secretary of State for Scotland's main duties:

• They are the UK Government Cabinet Minister who represents Scotland.
• They make sure the rules for Scotland's self-governance are kept.
• They speak for Scotland's interests within the UK Government.
• They explain the UK Government's plans in Scotland.
• They also help the UK Government and the Scottish Government work together. They also manage the relationship between the UK and Scottish Parliaments.

Dover House, the London office of the Office of the Secretary of State for Scotland

The UK Government says that all Cabinet ministers who have a role like the Secretary of State for Scotland are responsible for:

• Making sure that the way power is shared with Scotland works well. They are a key link between the Scottish Government and the UK Government.
• Dealing with laws that affect Scotland.
• Representing Scotland's interests in Cabinet meetings.
• Answering questions from Parliament about Scottish matters.
• Sending money (called a "block grant") to the Scottish Government.
• Helping the UK Government and the Scottish Government work together.
• Promoting Scotland's interests.

People Who Have Been Scottish Secretaries

Secretaries of State for Scotland (1707–1746)

John Erskine, Earl of Mar was the Secretary of State for independent Scotland from 1705. After the Acts of Union 1707, he stayed in the job.

The job of Secretary of State for Scotland existed from the Union in 1707 until the Jacobite rising of 1745. After the rebellion, the Home Secretary was mainly in charge of Scotland, often through 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

The job was then empty for a long time.

Secretaries for Scotland (1885–1926)

Secretary for Scotland Act 1885
Act of Parliament
Parliament of the United Kingdom
Long title	An Act for appointing a Secretary for Scotland and Vice-President of the Scotch Education Department.
Citation	48 & 49 Vict. c. 61
Dates
Royal assent	14 August 1885
Status: Amended
Text of statute as originally enacted
Text of the Secretary for Scotland Act 1885 as in force today (including any amendments) within the United Kingdom, from legislation.gov.uk

The Secretary for Scotland was the main minister in charge of the Scottish Office in the UK government. The Scottish Office was created along with this job by the Secretary for Scotland Act 1885. From 1892, the Secretary for Scotland was part of the Cabinet. In 1926, this job was made into the full Secretary of State for Scotland.

From 1885 to 1999, Secretaries for Scotland also held the job of Keeper of the Great Seal of Scotland. Since 1999, the First Minister of Scotland has held this position.

Secretary of State			Term of office		Party	Ministry
		Charles Gordon-Lennox 6th Duke of Richmond	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	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	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 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 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 MP for Greenock	28 September 1932	29 October 1936	Liberal National
							National III (Con.–N.Lab.–Lib.N.)
		Walter Elliot MP for Glasgow Kelvingrove	29 October 1936	6 May 1938	Unionist
							National IV (Con.–N.Lab.–Lib.N.)
		John Colville MP for Midlothian and Peebles Northern	6 May 1938	10 May 1940	Unionist
							Chamberlain War (Con.–N.Lab.–Lib.N.)
		Ernest Brown MP for Leith	14 May 1940	8 February 1941	Liberal National		Churchill War (All parties)
		Thomas Johnston 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 MP for Stirling and Falkirk	3 August 1945	7 October 1947	Labour		Attlee (I & II)
		Arthur Woodburn MP for Clackmannan and Eastern Stirlingshire	7 October 1947	28 February 1950	Labour
		Hector McNeil 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 MP for West Renfrewshire	13 January 1957	13 July 1962	Unionist		Macmillan (I & II)
		Michael Noble MP for Argyllshire	13 July 1962	16 October 1964	Unionist
							Douglas-Home
		Willie Ross 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 MP for Glasgow Craigton	8 April 1976	4 May 1979	Labour		Callaghan
		George Younger MP for Ayr	5 May 1979	11 January 1986	Conservative		Thatcher I
							Thatcher II
		Malcolm Rifkind MP for Edinburgh Pentlands	11 January 1986	28 November 1990	Conservative
							Thatcher III
		Ian Lang MP for Galloway and Upper Nithsdale	28 November 1990	5 July 1995	Conservative		Major I
							Major II
		Michael Forsyth MP for Stirling	5 July 1995	2 May 1997	Conservative
		Donald Dewar MP for Glasgow Anniesland	2 May 1997	17 May 1999	Labour		Blair I
		John Reid MP for Hamilton North and Bellshill	17 May 1999	25 January 2001	Labour
		Helen Liddell MP for Airdrie and Shotts	25 January 2001	13 June 2003	Labour		Blair II
		Alistair Darling MP for Edinburgh South West	13 June 2003	5 May 2006	Labour
							Blair III
		Douglas Alexander MP for Paisley and Renfrewshire South	5 May 2006	28 June 2007	Labour
		Des Browne MP for Kilmarnock and Loudoun	28 June 2007	3 October 2008	Labour		Brown
		Jim Murphy MP for East Renfrewshire	3 October 2008	11 May 2010	Labour
		Danny Alexander MP for Inverness, Nairn, Badenoch and Strathspey	12 May 2010	29 May 2010	Liberal Democrat		Cameron–Clegg (Con.–L.D.)
		Michael Moore MP for Berwickshire, Roxburgh and Selkirk	29 May 2010	7 October 2013	Liberal Democrat
		Alistair Carmichael MP for Orkney and Shetland	7 October 2013	8 May 2015	Liberal Democrat
		David Mundell MP for Dumfriesshire, Clydesdale and Tweeddale	11 May 2015	24 July 2019	Conservative		Cameron II
							May I
							May II
		Alister Jack MP for Dumfries and Galloway	24 July 2019	5 July 2024	Conservative		Johnson I
							Johnson II
							Truss
							Sunak
		Ian Murray MP for Edinburgh South	5 July 2024	Incumbent	Labour		Starmer

Timeline

See also

• 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 (Jacobite)
• Secretary of State for Northern Ireland
• Secretary of State for Wales