The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Scotland is a junior ministerial post (of Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State rank) in the Government of the United Kingdom, supporting the Secretary of State for Scotland. The post is also known as Deputy Secretary of State for Scotland.
Contents
History
The post was first established as the Parliamentary Under-Secretary for Health for Scotland in 1919, before becoming the Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Scotland in 1926. Additional Parliamentary Under-Secretary posts were added in 1940 and 1951, and a Minister of State post was established in 1951. In 1969–70, one of the Under-Secretary posts was replaced by an additional Minister of State. From 1974 to 1979, there were two Ministers of State and three Under-Secretaries, reverting to one Minister of State in 1979. In 1997, the second Minister of State post was reinstated, and a fourth Under-Secretary post was briefly added from August 1998.
Following devolution in 1999, the number of ministers was reduced. There is currently one Under-Secretary to support the Secretary of State, and there is no Minister of State.
List of office holders
Minister of State for Scotland (1951–2008)
2 November 1951: Alec Douglas-Home
7 April 1955: Thomas Galbraith
23 October 1958: Nigel Forbes, 22nd Lord Forbes
22 October 1959: Jack Nixon Browne
20 October 1964: George Willis
7 January 1967: Dickson Mabon (to 19 June 1970)
13 October 1969: William Hughes, Baron Hughes (to 19 June 1970)
23 June 1970: Priscilla Buchan, Baroness Tweedsmuir
7 April 1972: Henry Hepburne-Scott, 10th Lord Polwarth
8 March 1974: Bruce Millan (to 8 April 1976)
8 March 1974: William Hughes, Baron Hughes (to 8 August 1975)
8 August 1975: John Smith, Baron Kirkhill (to 15 December 1978)
14 April 1976: Gregor Mackenzie (to 4 May 1979)
7 May 1979: William Murray, 8th Earl of Mansfield and Mansfield
13 June 1983: Hamish Gray
10 September 1986: Simon Arthur, 4th Baron Glenarthur
13 June 1987: Ian Lang (to 28 November 1990)
13 June 1987: Charles Sanderson, Baron Sanderson of Bowden (to 7 September 1990)
7 September 1990: Michael Forsyth
14 April 1992: Peter Fraser, Baron Fraser of Carmyllie
6 July 1995: Lord James Douglas-Hamilton
6 May 1997: Henry McLeish (to 29 June 1999)
6 May 1997: Brian Wilson (to 28 July 1998)
28 July 1998: Helen Liddell (to 17 May 1999)
29 July 1999: Brian Wilson
26 January 2001: George Foulkes (to 29 May 2002)
July 2007: David Cairns (16 September 2008)