David Mundell

The Right Honourable
David Mundell
Minister of State for Scotland
Incumbent
Assumed office
11 May 2010
Prime Minister David Cameron
Preceded by Ann McKechin
Shadow Secretary of State for Scotland
In office
7 December 2005 – 11 May 2010
Leader David Cameron
Preceded by Eleanor Laing
Succeeded by Jim Murphy
Member of Parliament
for Dumfriesshire, Clydesdale and Tweeddale
Incumbent
Assumed office
5 May 2005
Preceded by Constituency Created
Majority 4,194 (9.1%)
Member of the Scottish Parliament
for South of Scotland
In office
6 May 1999 – 6 May 2005
Preceded by Office Created
Succeeded by Derek Brownlee
Personal details
Born 27 May 1962
Dumfries, Dumfriesshire, Scotland
Nationality British
Political party Conservative
Spouse(s) Lynda, née Carmichael
Children 2 sons and 1 daughter
Alma mater University of Edinburgh
University of Strathclyde
Religion Church of Scotland
Website www.davidmundell.com

David Gordon Mundell (born 27 May 1962) is a British Conservative politician and, since 2005, he has been the only Conservative Member of Parliament representing a Scottish constituency (Dumfriesshire, Clydesdale and Tweeddale) at Westminster. Since the 2010 UK general election he has been the Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Scotland, based at the Scotland Office.[1]

Background

Mundell was born in Dumfries and grew up in Newton Wamphray and Lockerbie. He went to Lockerbie Academy in Lockerbie, and studied Law at the University of Edinburgh, also gaining a Diploma in Legal Practice. He received an MBA from the Strathclyde Business School.

He had joined the Young Conservatives when he was 14 but defected to the Social Democratic Party (SDP) when he was studying law in 1981. In 2002, his explanation for the defection was: "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."[2]

He worked as a solicitor then joined BT as Group Legal Advisor for Scotland in 1991. He became BT Scotland's head of national affairs, remaining with BT until becoming an MSP. Mundell was a councillor for the Social Democratic Party (SDP) in Annandale and Eskdale from 1984-6 and then on Dumfries and Galloway council until 1987, when a student. He is a member of the Law Society of Scotland and Writers to the Signet.

Parliamentary career

Scottish Parliament

Mundell was elected to the Scottish Parliament in 1999 and 2003 as a "list" MSP for the South of Scotland, and contested the Scottish parliamentary constituency of Dumfries in 1999 and 2003.

House of Commons

In the 2005 general election, Mundell was elected as MP for the Dumfriesshire, Clydesdale and Tweeddale constituency.[3] He is the only Conservative MP representing a Scottish constituency. 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' list for the South of Scotland region.[4]

Being the sole Conservative representing a Scottish constituency, Mundell quickly gained public attention relative to newly elected MPs. He was appointed by David Cameron to the Shadow Cabinet as Shadow Secretary of State for Scotland in December 2005.

Mundell joined 18 MPs who are either Scottish or represent Scottish constituencies in signing a 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 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.[5]

Mundell represented the Scottish Conservative Party on the three Scottish Leaders' Debates broadcast on ITV1, Sky News and BBC1 as part of the 2010 General Election coverage.

In Government

Mundell had served as the Shadow Scottish Secretary in the Conservative Party's Shadow Cabinet in run-up to the 2010 general election. Following the election, the Conservative Party formed a coalition government with the Liberal Democrats. Due to the Liberal Democrats' larger number of seats in Scotland, the post of Secretary of State for Scotland was appointed to the Liberal Democrat MPs Danny Alexander and then Michael Moore. Mundell was given the non-cabinet role of Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Scotland which is a post supporting the Secretary of State for Scotland.

He was appointed as a Privy Councillor on 9 June 2010.[6][7]

References

  1. ↑ http://www.parliament.uk/biographies/david-mundell/32679
  2. ↑ "David Torrance: Mutual respect is crucial as Tories bid to govern Scotland". scotsman.com.
  3. ↑ "BBC NEWS - UK - UK Election 2005 - Scotland - Conservatives hail lone success". bbc.co.uk.
  4. ↑ "BBC NEWS - UK - Scotland - Tory MSP takes place in chamber". bbc.co.uk.
  5. ↑ "GB football tops Olympic agenda". BBC. 9 January 2009. Retrieved 16 May 2010.
  6. ↑ "Privy Council appointments, 9 June 2010". Privy Council. Retrieved 26 July 2010.
  7. ↑ "Privy Counsellors". Privy Council Office. Retrieved 20 June 2012.

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to David Mundell.
Scottish Parliament
Preceded by
Constituency Created		 Member of the Scottish Parliament
for South of Scotland
1999–2005 		Succeeded by
Derek Brownlee
Parliament of the United Kingdom
Preceded by
Constituency Created		 Member of Parliament for
Dumfriesshire, Clydesdale and Tweeddale
2005–present 		Incumbent
Political offices
Preceded by
Eleanor Laing		 Shadow Secretary of State for Scotland
2005–2010 		Succeeded by
Jim Murphy
Preceded by
Ann McKechin		 Minister of State for Scotland
2010–present 		Incumbent