# 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. The Secretary of State for Scotland serves as the custodian of the Scottish devolution settlement as outlined in the Scotland Act 1998, and represent Scottish interests within the UK Government as well as advocate for UK Government policies in Scotland. The secretary of state for Scotland is additionally responsible for partnership between the UK Government and the Scottish Government, as well as relations between the Parliament of the United Kingdom and the Scottish Parliament.
Much of the secretary of state for Scotland's responsibility transferred to the office of the first minister of Scotland upon the establishment of a new Scottish Executive, since renamed the Scottish Government, and a new devolved Scottish Parliament in 1999 following the Scotland Act 1998.
The office holder works alongside the other Scotland Office ministers. The secretary of state for Scotland is supported by their deputy, the parliamentary under-secretary of state for Scotland. The incumbent is Ian Murray, following his appointment by Prime Minister Keir Starmer in July 2024. The corresponding shadow minister is the shadow secretary of state for Scotland.

## Overview
### History of office
#### Acts of Union, 1707

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.

#### Devolution, 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 to 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.

### Functions
#### Reduced responsibility

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. Most of the functions and powers of the secretary of state for Scotland transferred to the first minister of Scotland as the head of the Scottish Government. Donald Dewar served as the first first minister of Scotland between 1999–2000, having previously served as the secretary of state for Scotland between 1997–1999.
However, the secretary of state does represent Scotland in the Cabinet of the United Kingdom on matters that are not devolved to the Scottish Parliament, 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, as these are decided solely by Scottish Government policy, and influenced, discussed and voted on by members of the Scottish Parliament in Edinburgh. Moreover, the secretary of state for Scotland cannot introduce any bill or legislation in the UK Parliament relating to a devolved matter under the convention that the UK Government will not introduce legislation on devolved areas without the agreement of the Scottish Parliament. The secretary of state is also the group leader of the Scottish MPs from the government party.

#### Scottish Government collaboration

The office mainly acts as a go-between for the UK and Scottish Governments and Parliaments. 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.

#### Responsibilities

The UK government's website lists the secretary of state for Scotland's responsibilities as being:
* The secretary of state for Scotland is the UK Government Cabinet Minister representing Scotland.
* They act as the custodian of the Scottish devolution settlement.
* They represent Scottish interests within the UK Government
* They advocate for the UK Government’s policies in Scotland.
* They also promote partnership between the UK Government and the Scottish Government, as well as relations between the UK and Scottish Parliaments.
This seeming lack of responsibility has in recent years seen calls from opposition MPs for the scrapping of the role and the Scotland Office. 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, in a department into which Rodney Brazier has suggested adding a minister of state for England with responsibility for English local government.
More broadly, the UK Government advocates that all UK Government cabinet ministers with responsibility for a territorial secretary of state position are responsible for:
* the smooth running of the devolution settlements and act as the lynchpin of the relationship between the devolved government and HM Government
* handling legislation as it affects the territory
* representing the territory’s interests in cabinet and cabinet committees
* responding to parliamentary interests in territorial affairs
* transmitting the block grant to the devolved administration
* supporting collaboration between HM Government and the devolved administration
* promoting the interests of the territory

## 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 | 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 Scottish Office was created with the post of secretary for Scotland by the Secretary for Scotland Act 1885. 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.
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. From 1999, the position of keeper of the Great Seal of Scotland has been held by the first minister of Scotland.
| Secretary of State | Term of office | 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 | Gladstone III |
| 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 | Salisbury II |
| George Trevelyan MP for Glasgow Bridgeton | 18 August 1892 | 21 June 1895 | Liberal | Gladstone IV |
| George Trevelyan MP for Glasgow Bridgeton | 18 August 1892 | 21 June 1895 | Liberal | Rosebery |
| Alexander Bruce 6th Lord Balfour of Burleigh | 29 June 1895 | 9 October 1903 | Conservative | Salisbury (III & IV) (Con.–Lib.U.) |
| Alexander Bruce 6th Lord Balfour of Burleigh | 29 June 1895 | 9 October 1903 | Conservative | Balfour (Con.–Lib.U.) |
| Andrew Murray MP for Buteshire | 9 October 1903 | 2 February 1905 | Conservative | Balfour (Con.–Lib.U.) |
| John Hope 1st Marquess of Linlithgow | 2 February 1905 | 4 December 1905 | Conservative | Balfour (Con.–Lib.U.) |
| John Sinclair 1st Baron Pentland | 10 December 1905 | 13 February 1912 | Liberal | Campbell-Bannerman |
| John Sinclair 1st Baron Pentland | 10 December 1905 | 13 February 1912 | Liberal | Asquith (I–III) |
| Thomas McKinnon Wood MP for Glasgow St Rollox | 13 February 1912 | 9 July 1916 | Liberal | 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 | Asquith Coalition (Lib.–Con.–Lab.) |
| 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 |
| Ronald Munro Ferguson 1st Viscount Novar | 24 October 1922 | 22 January 1924 | Independent | 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–)

| Secretary of State | Term of office | 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.) |
| Archibald Sinclair MP for Caithness and Sutherland | 25 August 1931 | 28 September 1932 | Liberal | National II (N.Lab.–Con.–Lib.N.–Lib.) |
| Godfrey Collins MP for Greenock | 28 September 1932 | 29 October 1936 | Liberal National | 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 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 | 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 | Churchill War (All parties) |
| 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 | Attlee (I & II) |
| Hector McNeil MP for Greenock | 28 February 1950 | 26 October 1951 | Labour | Attlee (I & II) |
| James Stuart MP for Moray and Nairn | 30 October 1951 | 13 January 1957 | Unionist | Churchill III |
| James Stuart MP for Moray and Nairn | 30 October 1951 | 13 January 1957 | Unionist | 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 | 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 |
| George Younger MP for Ayr | 5 May 1979 | 11 January 1986 | Conservative | Thatcher II |
| Malcolm Rifkind MP for Edinburgh Pentlands | 11 January 1986 | 28 November 1990 | Conservative | 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 |
| Ian Lang MP for Galloway and Upper Nithsdale | 28 November 1990 | 5 July 1995 | Conservative | Major II |
| Michael Forsyth MP for Stirling | 5 July 1995 | 2 May 1997 | Conservative | Major II |
| 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 | Blair I |
| 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 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 | Blair III |
| 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 | Brown |
| 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 | Cameron–Clegg (Con.–L.D.) |
| Alistair Carmichael MP for Orkney and Shetland | 7 October 2013 | 8 May 2015 | Liberal Democrat | Cameron–Clegg (Con.–L.D.) |
| David Mundell MP for Dumfriesshire, Clydesdale and Tweeddale | 11 May 2015 | 24 July 2019 | Conservative | Cameron II |
| David Mundell MP for Dumfriesshire, Clydesdale and Tweeddale | 11 May 2015 | 24 July 2019 | Conservative | May I |
| David Mundell MP for Dumfriesshire, Clydesdale and Tweeddale | 11 May 2015 | 24 July 2019 | Conservative | May II |
| Alister Jack MP for Dumfries and Galloway | 24 July 2019 | 5 July 2024 | Conservative | Johnson I |
| Alister Jack MP for Dumfries and Galloway | 24 July 2019 | 5 July 2024 | Conservative | Johnson II |
| Alister Jack MP for Dumfries and Galloway | 24 July 2019 | 5 July 2024 | Conservative | Truss |
| Alister Jack MP for Dumfries and Galloway | 24 July 2019 | 5 July 2024 | Conservative | Sunak |
| Ian Murray MP for Edinburgh South | 5 July 2024 | Incumbent | Labour | Starmer |