David Gordon Mundell, (born 27 May 1962) is a Scottish

Conservative Party The Conservative Party is a name used by many political parties around the world. These political parties are generally right-wing though their exact ideologies can range from center-right to far-right. Political parties called The Conservative P ...

politician and solicitor who has served as

Member of Parliament A member of parliament (MP) is the representative in parliament of the people who live in their electoral district. In many countries with bicameral parliaments, this term refers only to members of the lower house since upper house members of ...

(MP) for Dumfresshire, Clydesdale and Tweeddale since

2005 File:2005 Events Collage V2.png, From top left, clockwise: Hurricane Katrina in the Gulf of Mexico; the Funeral of Pope John Paul II is held in Vatican City; "Me at the zoo", the first video ever to be uploaded to YouTube; Eris was discovered in ...

. He previously served as

Secretary of State for Scotland The secretary of state for Scotland ( gd, Rùnaire Stàite na h-Alba; sco, Secretar o State fir Scotland), also referred to as the Scottish secretary, is a Secretary of State (United Kingdom), secretary of state in the Government of the Unit ...

from

2015 File:2015 Events Collage new.png, From top left, clockwise: Civil service in remembrance of November 2015 Paris attacks; Germanwings Flight 9525 was purposely crashed into the French Alps; the rubble of residences in Kathmandu following the Apri ...

2019 File:2019 collage v1.png, From top left, clockwise: Hong Kong protests turn to widespread riots and civil disobedience; House of Representatives votes to adopt articles of impeachment against Donald Trump; CRISPR gene editing first used to experim ...

. Mundell was the first

openly gay Coming out of the closet, often shortened to coming out, is a metaphor used to describe LGBT people's self-disclosure of their sexual orientation, romantic orientation, or gender identity. Framed and debated as a privacy issue, coming out of ...

Conservative cabinet minister, coming out in 2016. From 1999 to 2005, Mundell served as a

Member of the Scottish Parliament Member of the Scottish Parliament (MSP; gd, Ball Pàrlamaid na h-Alba, BPA; sco, Memmer o the Scots Pairliament, MSP) is the title given to any one of the 129 individuals elected to serve in the Scottish Parliament. Electoral system The ad ...

(MSP) for the

South of Scotland South of Scotland may refer to: * The southern portion of Scotland ** Geography of Scotland * South of Scotland (Scottish Parliament electoral region) * South of Scotland (European Parliament constituency) * South of Scotland District (rugby union) ...

region. Once elected to the

House of Commons The House of Commons is the name for the elected lower house of the bicameral parliaments of the United Kingdom and Canada. In both of these countries, the Commons holds much more legislative power than the nominally upper house of parliament. ...

, he served as

Shadow Secretary of State for Scotland The Shadow Secretary of State for Scotland is a member of the UK Shadow Cabinet responsible for the scrutiny of the Secretary of State for Scotland and his/her department, the Scotland Office. The incumbent holder of the office is Ian Murray ...

from 2005 to 2010 and

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 know ...

from 2010 to 2015. He served in the Cabinet as Scotland Secretary from 2015 until 2019; the first Conservative to hold the position since Michael Forsyth in 1997.

Early life and career

David Mundell was born on 27 May 1962 in

Dumfries Dumfries ( ; sco, Dumfries; from gd, Dùn Phris ) is a market town and former royal burgh within the Dumfries and Galloway council area of Scotland. It is located near the mouth of the River Nith into the Solway Firth about by road from the ...

. He grew up in

Newton Wamphray Newton Wamphray is a village in Dumfries and Galloway. Wamphray is the name of the surrounding parish and of the Wamphray Water, which flows south-west through the Wamphray Glen to join the River Annan near the small village, or hamlet, of Newto ...

and

Lockerbie Lockerbie (, gd, Locarbaidh) is a small town in Dumfries and Galloway, south-western Scotland. It is about from Glasgow, and from the border with England. The United Kingdom Census 2001, 2001 Census recorded its population as 4,009. The town ...

, attending

Lockerbie Academy Lockerbie Academy is a mainstream non-denominational secondary school in Lockerbie, Scotland. The head teacher A head master, head instructor, bureaucrat, headmistress, head, chancellor, principal or school director (sometimes another title i ...

. Mundell then studied Law at the

University of Edinburgh The University of Edinburgh ( sco, University o Edinburgh, gd, Oilthigh Dhùn Èideann; abbreviated as ''Edin.'' in post-nominals) is a public research university based in Edinburgh, Scotland. Granted a royal charter by King James VI in 15 ...

, graduating with an MA and also gaining a

Diploma in Legal Practice A diploma is a document awarded by an educational institution (such as a college or university) testifying the recipient has graduated by successfully completing their courses of studies. Historically, it has also referred to a charter or offici ...

(Dip LP). Having become a Young Conservative aged 14, he switched to the

Social Democratic Party The name Social Democratic Party or Social Democrats has been used by many political parties in various countries around the world. Such parties are most commonly aligned to social democracy as their political ideology. Active parties For ...

(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". Mundell 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.

Political career

Mundell served as an SDP

Councillor A councillor is an elected representative for a local government council in some countries. Canada Due to the control that the provinces have over their municipal governments, terms that councillors serve vary from province to province. Unl ...

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 Dumfries and Galloway ( sco, Dumfries an Gallowa; gd, Dùn Phrìs is Gall-Ghaidhealaibh) is one of 32 unitary council areas of Scotland and is located in the western Southern Uplands. It covers the historic counties of Dumfriesshire, Kirkcu ...

until 1987, whilst still a

postgraduate student Postgraduate or graduate education refers to Academic degree, academic or professional degrees, certificates, diplomas, or other qualifications pursued by higher education, post-secondary students who have earned an Undergraduate education, un ...

. Mundell was first elected to the

Scottish Parliament The Scottish Parliament ( gd, Pàrlamaid na h-Alba ; sco, Scots Pairlament) is the devolved, unicameral legislature of Scotland. Located in the Holyrood area of the capital city, Edinburgh, it is frequently referred to by the metonym Holyro ...

1999 File:1999 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The funeral procession of King Hussein of Jordan in Amman; the 1999 İzmit earthquake kills over 17,000 people in Turkey; the Columbine High School massacre, one of the first major school shootin ...

as a Conservative as a

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MSP for the

. He was re-elected in

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Parliamentary career

At the 2005 general election, Mundell was elected to Parliament as MP for

Dumfriesshire, Clydesdale and Tweeddale Dumfriesshire, Clydesdale and Tweeddale is a constituency of the House of Commons, located in the South of Scotland, within the Dumfries and Galloway, South Lanarkshire and Scottish Borders council areas. It elects one Member of Parliament (MP) ...

with 36.2% of the vote and a majority of 1,738. Following his election to

Westminster Westminster is an area of Central London, part of the wider City of Westminster. The area, which extends from the River Thames to Oxford Street, has many visitor attractions and historic landmarks, including the Palace of Westminster, Bu ...

, Mundell resigned from the

in June 2005. As the sole Conservative Scottish parliamentary representative,

David Cameron David William Donald Cameron (born 9 October 1966) is a British former politician who served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 2010 to 2016 and Leader of the Conservative Party from 2005 to 2016. He previously served as Leader o ...

(as Leader of HM Opposition) appointed him

in December 2005. In January 2009 Mundell was among the 18 MPs (either Scottish or representing Scottish constituencies) who supported the Commons Motion stating

football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kicking a ball to score a goal. Unqualified, the word ''football'' normally means the form of football that is the most popular where the word is used. Sports commonly c ...

"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 Team GB is the brand name used since 1999 by the British Olympic Association (BOA) for their British Olympic team. The brand was developed after the nation's poor performance in the 1996 Summer Olympics, and is now a trademark of the BOA. I ...

entering a British football team in the

London 2012 Olympics The 2012 Summer Olympics (officially the Games of the XXX Olympiad and also known as London 2012) was an international multi-sport event held from 27 July to 12 August 2012 in London, England, United Kingdom. The first event, the ...

. 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. Mundell was re-elected as MP for Dumfriesshire, Clydesdale and Tweeddale at the 2010 general election with an increased vote share of 38% and an increased majority of 4,194. Following the election, he was given the non-cabinet role of

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 know ...

. On 9 June 2010, Mundell was appointed a

Privy Counsellor The Privy Council (PC), officially His Majesty's Most Honourable Privy Council, is a privy council, formal body of advisers to the British monarchy, sovereign of the United Kingdom. Its membership mainly comprises Politics of the United King ...

. At the 2015 general election, Mundell was again re-elected, with an increased vote share of 39.8% and a decreased majority of 798. * In July 2015, Mundell opened a

food bank A food bank is a non-profit, charitable organization that distributes food to those who have difficulty purchasing enough to avoid hunger, usually through intermediaries like food pantries and soup kitchens. Some food banks distribute food direc ...

in the

Dumfries and Galloway Dumfries and Galloway ( sco, Dumfries an Gallowa; gd, Dùn Phrìs is Gall-Ghaidhealaibh) is one of 32 unitary council areas of Scotland and is located in the western Southern Uplands. It covers the counties of Scotland, historic counties of ...

, which it is adjacent to his own constituency and was at the time represented by the

Scottish National Party The Scottish National Party (SNP; sco, Scots National Pairty, gd, Pàrtaidh Nàiseanta na h-Alba ) is a Scottish nationalist and social democratic political party in Scotland. The SNP supports and campaigns for Scottish independence from ...

Richard Arkless Richard Lambert Thomas Arkless (born 7 July 1975) is a Scottish National Party politician, who was elected as MP for Dumfries and Galloway (UK Parliament constituency), Dumfries and Galloway at the 2015 United Kingdom general election, 2015 UK ...

. After the opening, Mundell was escorted from an angry anti-austerity demonstration by police. 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". In the

Brexit referendum The United Kingdom European Union membership referendum, commonly referred to as the EU referendum or the Brexit referendum, took place on 23 June 2016 in the United Kingdom (UK) and Gibraltar to ask the electorate whether the country shoul ...

, Mundell supported Britain remaining within the EU. Following it, he became a part-time member of the cabinet committee working on strategies for

Brexit Brexit (; a portmanteau of "British exit") was the withdrawal of the United Kingdom (UK) from the European Union (EU) at 23:00 GMT on 31 January 2020 (00:00 1 February 2020 CET).The UK also left the European Atomic Energy Community (EAEC or ...

. At the snap

2017 general election This national electoral calendar for 2017 lists the national/federal elections held in 2017 in all sovereign states and their dependent territories. By-elections are excluded, though national referendums are included. January *5 November ...

, Mundell was again re-elected, with an increased vote share of 49.4% and an increased majority of 9,441. He was again re-elected at the 2019 general election, with a decreased vote share of 46% and a decreased majority of 3,781. On 23 August 2021, Boris Johnson appointed Mundell as the UK's trade envoy to New Zealand. On 6 July 2022, he resigned from his position as Trade Envoy following the

Chris Pincher scandal The Chris Pincher scandal is a political controversy in the United Kingdom related to allegations of sexual misconduct by the former Conservative Party Deputy Chief Whip, Chris Pincher. In early July 2022, allegations of Pincher's misconduct ...

, amid the

July 2022 United Kingdom government crisis In early July 2022, 62 of the United Kingdom's 179 government ministers, parliamentary private secretaries, trade envoys, and party vice-chairmen resigned from their positions in the second administration formed by Boris Johnson as Prime Min ...

Personal life

On 13 January 2016, Mundell publicly came out as gay on his personal website, becoming the first openly gay Conservative cabinet minister. His nickname is 'Fluffy'. Mundell was previously married to Lynda Jane Carmichael from 1987, and the couple divorced in 2012. He has three children, one of whom,

Oliver Mundell Oliver Gordon Watson Mundell (born 1 December 1989) is a Scottish politician of the Scottish Conservative Party. He has been the Member of the Scottish Parliament (MSP) for the Dumfriesshire constituency since 2016. He served as Shadow Cabinet ...

, is the Conservative MSP for Dumfriesshire, having won his seat in the

in May 2016.

Early life and career

Political career

Parliamentary career

Personal life

References

External links