Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Scotland

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.

United Kingdom Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Scotland
Royal Arms of His Majesty's Government in Scotland
Incumbent Kirsty McNeill since 9 July 2024
Scotland Office
Appointer	The Monarch (on the advice of the Prime Minister)
Inaugural holder	John Pratt
Formation	8 August 1919
Website	Scotland Office

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

Under-Secretary for Health for Scotland (1919–1926)

Name	Portrait	Party	Term start	Prime Minister
John Pratt MP for Glasgow Cathcart		Liberal Party	8 August 1919	David Lloyd George
James Kidd MP for Linlithgowshire		Unionist Party	31 October 1922	Bonar Law
Walter Elliot MP for Lanark		Unionist Party	15 January 1923	Stanley Baldwin
James Stewart MP for Glasgow St Rollox		Labour Party	23 January 1924	Ramsay MacDonald
Walter Elliot MP for Glasgow Kelvingrove		Unionist Party	11 November 1924	Stanley Baldwin

Under-Secretary of State for Scotland (1926–)

Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Scotland

Name	Portrait	Party	Term start	Term end	Prime Minister
Walter Elliott MP for Glasgow Kelvingrove		Unionist Party	26 July 1926	7 June 1929
Thomas Johnston MP for Dundee		Labour Party	7 June 1929	25 March 1931
Joseph Westwood MP for Stirling and Falkirk			25 March 1931	August 1931
Noel Skelton MP for Combined Scottish Universities		Unionist Party	3 September 1931	22 November 1935 (Died in office)
John Colville MP for Midlothian and Peebles Northern			28 November 1935	29 October 1936
Henry Scrymgeour-Wedderburn MP for West Renfrewshire			29 October 1936	6 September 1939
Captain Sir John McEwen MP for Berwick and Haddington			6 September 1939	17 May 1940
Joseph Westwood MP for Stirling and Falkirk		Labour Party	17 May 1940	23 May 1945
Captain Henry Scrymgeour-Wedderburn MP for West Renfrewshire		Unionist Party	8 February 1941	4 March 1942
Allan Chapman MP for Rutherglen			4 March 1942	26 July 1945
Thomas Galbraith MP for Glasgow Pollok			26 May 1945
George Buchanan MP for Glasgow Gorbals		Labour Party	4 August 1945	7 October 1947
Tom Fraser MP for Hamilton				26 October 1951
John Robertson MP for Berwick			7 October 1947
Margaret Herbison MP for North Lanarkshire			2 March 1950
Thomas Galbraith MP for Glasgow Pollok		Unionist Party	2 November 1951	5 April 1955
Sir William McNair Snadden MP for Kinross and Western Perthshire				3 June 1955
Sir James Henderson Stewart MP for East Fife		Liberal National	4 February 1952	9 January 1957	Harold Macmillan
Jack Nixon Browne MP for Glasgow Craigton		Scottish Conservative Party	7 April 1955	9 January 1957
Niall Macpherson MP for Dumfriesshire		Liberal National	13 June 1955	9 January 1957
Jack Nixon Browne MP for Glasgow Craigton		Conservative Party	18 January 1957	22 October 1959
Major Lord John Hope MP for Edinburgh Pentlands		Unionist Party
Niall Macpherson MP for Dumfriesshire		Liberal National	19 January 1957	28 October 1960
Thomas Galbraith 1st Baron Strathclyde		Unionist Party	22 October 1959	8 November 1962
Gilmour Leburn MP for Kinross and West Perthshire		Conservative Party		15 August 1963
Lieutenant-Colonel Richard Brooman-White MP for Rutherglen			28 October 1960	12 December 1963
The Lady Tweedsmuir MP for Aberdeen South		Unionist Party	3 December 1962	16 October 1964
Anthony Stodart MP for Edinburgh West		Conservative Party	19 August 1963		Sir Alec Douglas-Home
Gordon Campbell MP for Moray and Nairn			12 December 1963
Dickson Mabon MP for Greenock		Labour and Co-operative Party	20 October 1964	7 January 1967	Harold Wilson
William Hughes Baron Hughes		Labour Party	21 October 1964	13 October 1969
Bruce Millan MP for Glasgow Craigton			6 April 1966	19 June 1970
Norman Buchan MP for West Renfrewshire			7 January 1967
Alick Buchanan-Smith MP for North Angus and Mearns		Conservative Party	24 June 1970	4 March 1974	Edward Heath
George Younger MP for Ayr				8 January 1974
Sir Teddy Taylor MP for Glasgow Cathcart				28 July 1971
Hector Monro MP for Dumfries			28 July 1971	4 March 1974
Sir Teddy Taylor MP for Glasgow Cathcart			8 January 1974
Robert Hughes MP for Aberdeen North		Labour Party	11 March 1974	22 July 1975	Harold Wilson
Hugh Brown MP for Glasgow Provan			28 June 1974	4 May 1979
Harry Ewing MP for Stirling, Falkirk and Grangemouth			18 October 1974
Frank McElhone MP for Glasgow Queen's Park			12 September 1975
					James Callaghan
Alex Fletcher MP for Edinburgh North		Conservative Party	7 May 1979	14 June 1983	Margaret Thatcher
Russell Fairgrieve MP for Aberdeenshire West				15 September 1981
Sir Malcolm Rifkind MP for Edinburgh Pentlands				6 April 1982
Allan Stewart MP for East Renfrewshire (until 1983) MP for Eastwood (1983–1997)			15 September 1981	10 September 1986
John MacKay MP for Argyll (until 1983) MP for Argyll and Bute (1983–1987)			6 April 1982	14 June 1987
Michael Ancram MP for Edinburgh South			13 June 1983	14 June 1987
Ian Lang MP for Galloway and Upper Nithsdale			10 September 1986	13 June 1987
James Douglas-Hamilton MP for Edinburgh West			13 June 1987	6 July 1995
Michael Forsyth MP for Stirling				7 September 1990
Thomas Galbraith 2nd Baron Strathclyde			7 September 1990	14 April 1992
Allan Stewart MP for Eastwood			28 November 1990	8 February 1995	John Major
Hector Monro MP for Dumfries			14 April 1992	6 July 1995
George Kynoch MP for Kincardine and Deeside			8 February 1995	2 May 1997
James Lindsay-Bethune 16th Earl of Lindsay			6 July 1995	2 May 1997
Raymond Robertson MP for Aberdeen South
Sam Galbraith MP for Strathkelvin and Bearsden		Labour Party	6 May 1997	29 July 1999	Tony Blair
John Sewel Baron Sewel
Malcolm Chisholm MP for Edinburgh North and Leith				10 December 1997
Calum MacDonald MP for Western Isles			11 December 1997	29 July 1999
Gus Macdonald Baron Macdonald of Tradeston			3 August 1998
Vacant			29 July 1999	29 May 2002
Anne McGuire MP for Stirling		Labour Party	29 May 2002	11 May 2005
David Cairns MP for Inverclyde			11 May 2005	28 June 2007
Ann McKechin MP for Glasgow North			16 September 2008	11 May 2010	Gordon Brown
David Mundell MP for Dumfriesshire, Clydesdale and Tweeddale		Conservative Party	14 May 2010	11 May 2015	David Cameron
Andrew Dunlop Baron Dunlop			14 May 2015	10 June 2017
Ian Duncan Baron Duncan of Springbank			15 June 2017	27 July 2019	Theresa May
Robin Walker MP for Worcester			27 July 2019	16 December 2019	Boris Johnson
Colin Clark MP for Gordon
Douglas Ross MP for Moray			16 December 2019	26 May 2020
David Duguid MP for Banff and Buchan			2 June 2020	16 September 2021
Iain Stewart MP for Milton Keynes South				8 September 2022
David Duguid MP for Banff and Buchan			20 September 2022	27 October 2022	Liz Truss
Malcolm Offord Baron Offord of Garvel[1][2][3]			4 October 2021	9 February 2024	Liz Truss
					Rishi Sunak
John Lamont MP for Berwickshire, Roxburgh and Selkirk			27 October 2022	5 July 2024
Donald Cameron Baron Cameron of Lochiel			9 February 2024	5 July 2024
Kirsty McNeill MP for Midlothian		Labour Party	9 July 2024	Incumbent	Sir Keir Starmer

Minister of State for Scotland (1951–2008)

• 2 November 1951: The Earl of Home
• 7 April 1955: Thomas Galbraith
• 23 October 1958: The 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: The Lord Hughes (to 19 June 1970)
• 23 June 1970: The Lady Tweedsmuir
• 7 April 1972: The Lord Polwarth
• 8 March 1974: Bruce Millan (to 8 April 1976)
• 8 March 1974: The Lord Hughes (to 8 August 1975)
• 8 August 1975: The Lord Kirkhill (to 15 December 1978)
• 14 April 1976: Gregor Mackenzie (to 4 May 1979)
• 7 May 1979: The Earl of Mansfield
• 13 June 1983: The Lord Gray of Contin
• 10 September 1986: The Lord Glenarthur
• 13 June 1987: Ian Lang (to 28 November 1990)
• 13 June 1987: The Lord Sanderson of Bowden (to 7 September 1990)
• 7 September 1990: Michael Forsyth
• 14 April 1992: The Lord 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)

See also

• Deputy First Minister of Scotland