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Secretary of State for Scotland

It is a hundred years since the contemporary post of Secretary of State for Scotland was created. Since the Scottish Parliament was established 1999, the Secretary of State has been responsible mainly for non-devolved matters affecting Scotland.

This briefing looks at the events of July 1926 and the office of Scottish Secretary as it is today.

History of the pre-1926 post

Before the Anglo-Scottish Union of 1707 John Erskine, the Earl of Mar, had served as “Secretary of State” in the sovereign state of Scotland. Following the Union – which created a new kingdom and parliament of Great Britain – Mar remained in office, this time as Secretary of State for Scotland. The holder of this office had general responsibility for Scottish affairs.

Mar and others occupied this office until it lapsed on the last holder’s resignation shortly after the 1745 Jacobite rebellion. Thereafter, Scottish affairs were managed by the Lord Advocate (the senior law officer in Scotland) until responsibility passed to the Home Office in 1827.

During the 19th century, Conservative and Liberal politicians in Scotland argued for the creation of a Scottish minister and associated government department. The Secretary for Scotland Act 1885 established the Scottish Office (based at Dover House in London) as well as a “Secretary for Scotland”, responsible for Scottish affairs in government. This later became known as administrative devolution.

The 1926 reforms

During 1925 Stanley Baldwin, the Conservative Prime Minister, was urged to “raise the status of the Secretary for Scotland to that of a Secretary of State”, including by the Convention of Royal Burghs, which was a representative body for local government in Scotland.

On 17 December 1925 Baldwin told the House of Commons that:

The King has been graciously pleased to approve my recommendation that the status of the Secretary for Scotland should be raised to that of a Secretary of State. The necessary legislation to bring this into effect will be introduced at the earliest date convenient next Session.

In response, the then Secretary for Scotland, Sir John Gilmour, said that this “recognition of Scotland has been long wished” and rejoiced that “it has been the part of this Government to grant it”.

The necessary legislation, the Secretaries of State Bill, was introduced in June 1926. Moving the second reading in the House of Lords, the Marquess of Salisbury emphasised that it was only “a change of name and a change of status” as “recognition of what is due to the position of the great Kingdom of Scotland in our polity”; it did not change the responsibilities of the Scottish Secretary.

The Secretaries of State Act 1926 received Royal Assent on 15 July 1926. Section 1 provided that:

On the first appointment after the passing of this Act of an additional Principal Secretary of State (if His Majesty is pleased to make such an appointment), all the powers and duties of the Secretary for Scotland shall, by virtue of this Act, become powers and duties of a Principal Secretary of State, and the office of Secretary for Scotland and the office of Parliamentary Under Secretary for Health for Scotland shall be abolished.

Sir John Gilmour was sworn one of King George V’s Principal Secretaries of State at a meeting of the Privy Council 11 days later.

Other “territorial” Ministers of the Crown followed. A Secretary of State for Wales was appointed in 1964, and the first Secretary of State for Northern Ireland in 1972.

Current role

Following the election of a devolved Scottish Parliament in May 1999, the Scottish Executive (later the Scottish Government) took over responsibility for most Scottish affairs from the Scottish Office on 1 July. The Scotland Act 1998 (Transfer of Functions to the Scottish Ministers etc.) Order 1999 provided for the transfer of executive powers to the “Scottish Ministers”. The First Minister of Scotland also became Keeper of the Scottish Seal instead of the Secretary of State.

The UK Cabinet position of Secretary of State for Scotland was retained, and the Scottish Office renamed the “Scotland Office”.

Between 2003 and 2008 the post was combined with another Cabinet position. Alistair Darling was also Secretary of State for Transport (2003 to 2006), as was Douglas Alexander (2006 to 2007), while Des Browne was simultaneously Secretary of State for Defence (2007 to 2008).

Devolution Guidance Notes describe the current role of the Secretary of State for Scotland as continuing to “represent the interests of Scotland in Cabinet as Secretary of State for Scotland, particularly in those matters reserved to the Government by the Scotland Act”. They are also responsible for:

• The “smooth running” of the Scotland’s devolution settlement
• promoting the devolution settlement by encouraging close working relations between UK Government departments and the Scottish Government, and between the UK and Scottish Parliaments
• providing advice in relation to UK Government policy in Scotland, particularly announcements on non-devolved matters that will have a major effect in Scotland
• acting as “custodian” or “guardian” of the Scotland Act 1998 and secondary legislation made under that act (“Scotland Act Orders”), which are used to amend Scotland’s devolution settlement
• certain limited executive functions, notably in relation to the financial transactions between the UK Government and the Scottish Government

The Scotland Office website lists the Secretary of State’s responsibilities as including industrial strategy delivery, investment, defence, energy and North Sea policy, child poverty, oversight of the Brand Scotland programme, free trade agreements and market access, constitutional policy and local growth.