David Mundell

Last updated

(1 of 7 Regional MSPs)
The Right Honourable
David Mundell
WS MP
Official portrait of Rt Hon David Mundell MP crop 2.jpg
Official portrait, 2020
Secretary of State for Scotland
In office
11 May 2015 –24 July 2019
In office
6 May 1999 –5 May 2005
Spouse
Lynda Carmichael
​
​
(m. 1987;div. 2012)​
Children3, including Oliver
Alma mater
Website davidmundell.com

David Gordon Mundell, WS (born 27 May 1962) is a Scottish politician and solicitor who served as Secretary of State for Scotland from 2015 to 2019. [1] A member of the Scottish Conservative Party, he has served as the Member of Parliament (MP) for Dumfriesshire, Clydesdale and Tweeddale since 2005. Mundell was the first openly gay Conservative cabinet minister, formally coming out in 2016. [2] [3]

Contents

From 1999 to 2005, Mundell served as a Member of the Scottish Parliament (MSP) for the South of Scotland region. He was first elected to the British House of Commons as the MP for Dumfriesshire, Clydesdale and Tweeddale in 2005 and served as Shadow Secretary of State for Scotland from 2005 to 2010 and Under-Secretary of State for Scotland from 2010 to 2015. [4] He served in the Cabinet as Scotland Secretary from 2015 until 2019; the first Conservative to hold the position since Michael Forsyth in 1997.

Background

Born in Dumfries, Mundell grew up in Newton Wamphray and Lockerbie. He attended Lockerbie Academy before reading Law at the University of Edinburgh (MA), also gaining a Diploma in Legal Practice (Dip LP). [5] After further studies, he graduated from Strathclyde Business School as MBA.[ citation needed ]

Having become a Young Conservative aged 14, he switched to the Social Democratic Party (SDP) while at university in 1981. In 2002, he stated: "the first Thatcher Government did get a bit bogged down and it wasn't really the radical government that subsequently emerged,... And the fact that you had a completely new opportunity to wipe the slate clean, with no baggage, was a very attractive thing". [6]

He practised as a solicitor before joining BT as Group Legal Advisor for Scotland in 1991. He became BT Scotland's Head of National Affairs, remaining with BT until being elected as an MSP. Mundell served as an SDP Councillor on Annandale and Eskdale District Council from 1984 to 1986, representing Dryfe ward, and then for Mid Annandale ward on Dumfries and Galloway Regional Council until 1987, whilst still a postgraduate student. [7] [8]

Mundell is a member of the Society of Writers to His Majesty's Signet (WS) and of the Law Society of Scotland.

Parliamentary career

Scottish Parliament

Mundell was elected to the Scottish Parliament in 1999 and 2003 as a list MSP for the South of Scotland.

House of Commons

In the 2005 general election, Mundell was elected as MP for the Dumfriesshire, Clydesdale and Tweeddale constituency. [9] Following his election to Westminster, Mundell resigned from the Scottish Parliament in June 2005. His seat was taken by Derek Brownlee, who was next on the Conservatives' South of Scotland candidate list. [10] As the sole Conservative Scottish parliamentary representative, David Cameron (as Leader of HM Opposition) appointed him Shadow Secretary of State for Scotland in December 2005.

Mundell was among the 18 MPs (either Scottish or representing Scottish constituencies) who supported the Commons Motion stating football "should not be any different from other competing sports and our young talent should be allowed to show their skills on the world stage", thereby endorsing the idea of Team GB entering a British football team in the London 2012 Olympics. Football's governing bodies in Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland oppose a Great Britain team, fearing it would stop them competing as individual nations in future tournaments. [11]

Mundell represented the Scottish Conservative Party at the three Scottish Leaders' Debates broadcast on ITV1, Sky News and BBC1 during the 2010 general election campaign.

Mundell retained his seat at the 2019 general election with a reduced majority. [12] [13]

On 6 June, Mundell voted no confidence in Prime Minister Johnson.

Government minister

Before the 2010 general election, Mundell served as the Conservative Shadow Scottish Secretary. Following that election, the Conservative Party formed a coalition government with the Liberal Democrats. He held the non-cabinet role of Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Scotland, since the office of Secretary of State for Scotland was given to Liberal Democrat MP Danny Alexander (then Michael Moore and Alistair Carmichael), in view of the Liberal Democrats' greater representation of Scottish seats. On 9 June 2010, Mundell was appointed a Privy Counsellor. [14] [15]

Mundell was returned to Parliament at the 2015 general election with a much reduced majority of 798 votes (1.5%), although the Conservative Party's share of the vote increased by 1.8%. [16] He succeeded Liberal Democrat Alistair Carmichael as Secretary of State for Scotland. In the referendum on EU membership of June 2016, Mundell supported Britain remaining within the EU. [17] Following it, he became a part-time member of the cabinet committee working on strategies for Brexit. [18] He was the only Conservative MP to represent a Scottish constituency in the 56th parliament (2015–2017), but was joined by a further twelve in the 2017 snap general election. Following the election of Boris Johnson as Prime Minister, Mundell was sacked from his role and went to the backbenches for the first time since he was elected as an MP.[ citation needed ]

Constituency issues

In 2015, Mundell opened a food bank in the Dumfries and Galloway constituency, which adjoins his own and was at the time represented by the Scottish National Party's Richard Arkless. After the opening, Mundell was escorted from an angry anti-austerity demonstration by police. [19] Mundell, who had previously denied that welfare reform changes were behind the increased demand for food banks, was accused of hypocrisy by opponents who said the opening was "nothing to celebrate". Mundell said he was willing to work with all local organisations who wanted to eradicate poverty. [2]

Trade envoy

On 23 August 2021, Boris Johnson appointed Mundell as the UK's trade envoy to New Zealand. [20] On 6 July 2022, he resigned from his position as Trade Envoy following the Chris Pincher scandal, amid the July 2022 United Kingdom government crisis. [21]

Personal life

On 13 January 2016, Mundell publicly came out as gay on his personal website; he is believed to be the first openly gay Conservative cabinet minister. [2] [3]

His nickname is 'Fluffy'. [22]

Previously married to Lynda Jane Carmichael from 1987, the couple divorced in 2012. He has three children, one of whom, Oliver Mundell, is the Conservative MSP for Dumfriesshire, having won his seat in the Scottish Parliament in May 2016. [23]

See also

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References

  1. ↑ "Election 2015: David Mundell named new secretary of state for Scotland". BBC News. Archived from the original on 11 May 2015.
  2. 1 2 3 David Mundell (13 January 2016). "New Year, New Start". Davidmundell.com. Retrieved 13 January 2016.
  3. 1 2 "Scottish secretary David Mundell comes out as gay". BBC News. 13 January 2016. Retrieved 13 January 2016.
  4. ↑ "www.parliament.uk". Archived from the original on 11 October 2011.
  5. ↑ "Diploma in Legal Practice – Professional Legal Studies – Postgraduate Studies". www.scottishlaw.org.uk.
  6. ↑ "David Torrance: Mutual respect is crucial as Tories bid to govern Scotland". scotsman.com.[ permanent dead link ]
  7. ↑ J. M. Bochel; D. T. Denver. "The Scottish District Elections 1984" (PDF). electionscentre.co.uk. p. 82.
  8. ↑ J. M. Bochel; D. T. Denver. "Scottish Regional Elections 1986" (PDF). electionscentre.co.uk. p. 33.
  9. ↑ "Conservatives hail lone success". BBC News. 6 May 2005.
  10. ↑ "Tory MSP takes place in chamber". BBC News. 22 June 2005.
  11. ↑ "GB football tops Olympic agenda". BBC. 9 January 2009. Retrieved 16 May 2010.
  12. ↑ "Dumfriesshire, Clydesdale & Tweeddale parliamentary constituency - Election 2019" . Retrieved 13 December 2019.
  13. ↑ Gillespie, Stuart; McFarlane, Stuart (13 December 2019). "Mundell re-elected Dumfriesshire MP". dailyrecord. Retrieved 13 December 2019.
  14. ↑ "Privy Council appointments, 9 June 2010". Privy Council. Archived from the original on 2 December 2010. Retrieved 26 July 2010.
  15. ↑ "Privy Counsellors". Privy Council Office. Archived from the original on 21 December 2011. Retrieved 20 June 2012.
  16. ↑ Haswell, Alex (8 May 2015). "UK Parliamentary Elections Results 2015 for the Dumfriesshire, Clydesdale and". dumgal.gov.uk. Archived from the original on 9 May 2015. Retrieved 9 May 2015.
  17. ↑ "EU vote: Where the cabinet and other MPs stand". BBC News. 22 June 2016. Retrieved 26 June 2021.
  18. ↑ Settle, Michael (15 October 2016). "May accused of treating Scotland with contempt as Mundell given part-time role on key Brexit committee". Herald Scotland. Retrieved 15 October 2016.
  19. ↑ "David Mundell opens Dumfries foodbank amid protests". 24 July 2015. Retrieved 28 March 2017.
  20. ↑ "PM announces new Trade Envoys to boost British business around the world". GOV.UK (Press release). 23 August 2021. Retrieved 23 August 2021.
  21. ↑ "Which Scottish MPs are backing Boris Johnson - and who is walking away". ITV News. 6 July 2022. Retrieved 6 July 2022.
  22. ↑ "Profile: David Mundell, Secretary of State for Scotland – BBC News". BBC Online . 12 May 2015. Retrieved 14 May 2016.
  23. ↑ Johnson, Simon; Dominiczak, Peter; Wilkinson, Michael (13 January 2016). "Cabinet minister David Mundell comes out as gay". The Telegraph. Retrieved 13 January 2016.
Scottish Parliament
New constituency Member of the Scottish Parliament
for South of Scotland
1999–2005		Succeeded by
Parliament of the United Kingdom
New constituency Member of Parliament
for Dumfriesshire, Clydesdale and Tweeddale
2005 		Incumbent
Political offices
Preceded by Shadow Secretary of State for Scotland
2005–2010		Succeeded by
Preceded by Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Scotland
2010–2015		Succeeded by
Preceded by Secretary of State for Scotland
2015–2019		Succeeded by
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