David Gordon Mundell, (born 27 May 1962) is a Scottish politician and solicitor who 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 April ...

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 ...

. A member of the

Scottish Conservative Party The Scottish Conservative & Unionist Party ( gd, Pàrtaidh Tòraidheach na h-Alba, sco, Scots Tory an Unionist Pairty), often known simply as the Scottish Conservatives and colloquially as the Scottish Tories, is a centre-right political par ...

, he has served as the

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 o ...

(MP) for

Dumfriesshire, Clydesdale and Tweeddale Dumfriesshire, Clydesdale and Tweeddale is a United Kingdom constituencies, constituency of the House of Commons of the United Kingdom, House of Commons, located in the South of Scotland, within the Dumfries and Galloway, South Lanarkshire and S ...

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 discover ...

. 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, formally 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 add ...

(MSP) for the South of Scotland region. He was first elected to the

British House of Commons The House of Commons is the lower house of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. Like the upper house, the House of Lords, it meets in the Palace of Westminster in London, England. The House of Commons is an elected body consisting of 65 ...

as the MP for

in 2005 and 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 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.

Background

Born 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 t ...

, Mundell 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 Newton. ...

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 2001 Census recorded its population as 4,009. The town came to international atte ...

. He attended

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 is ...

before reading 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 1 ...

( MA), 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). After further studies, he graduated from

Strathclyde Business School The Strathclyde Business School (SBS) is one of four faculties forming the University of Strathclyde in Glasgow, Scotland. Founded in 1948, the school is located on Cathedral Street within the John Anderson campus of the University. It offers ...

MBA A Master of Business Administration (MBA; also Master's in Business Administration) is a postgraduate degree focused on business administration. The core courses in an MBA program cover various areas of business administration such as accounti ...

. 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". He 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. 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 ...

for

Annandale and Eskdale Annandale and Eskdale is a committee area in Dumfries and Galloway, Scotland. It covers the areas of Annandale and Eskdale, the straths of the River Annan and the River Esk respectively. From 1975 until 1996 it was a local government distric ...

from 1984 to 1986 and then for

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 historic counties of Dumfriesshire, Kirkc ...

until 1987, while a postgraduate student. Mundell is a member of the

Society of Writers to Her Majesty's Signet The Society of Writers to His Majesty's Signet is a private society of Scottish solicitors, dating back to 1594 and part of the College of Justice. Writers to the Signet originally had special privileges in relation to the drawing up of docume ...

(WS) and of the Law Society of Scotland.

Parliamentary career

Scottish Parliament

Mundell was 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 Holyr ...

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 shoot ...

and

2003 File:2003 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: The crew of STS-107 perished when the Space Shuttle Columbia disintegrated during reentry into Earth's atmosphere; SARS became an epidemic in China, and was a precursor to SARS-CoV-2; A ...

as a

list A ''list'' is any set of items in a row. List or lists may also refer to: People * List (surname) Organizations * List College, an undergraduate division of the Jewish Theological Seminary of America * SC Germania List, German rugby unio ...

MSP for the South of Scotland.

House of Commons

In the 2005 general election, Mundell was elected as MP for the

constituency An electoral district, also known as an election district, legislative district, voting district, constituency, riding, ward, division, or (election) precinct is a subdivision of a larger state (a country, administrative region, or other poli ...

. 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, B ...

, Mundell resigned from the

in June 2005. His

seat A seat is a place to sit. The term may encompass additional features, such as back, armrest, head restraint but also headquarters in a wider sense. Types of seat The following are examples of different kinds of seat: * Armchair, a chair ...

was taken by

Derek Brownlee Derek Brownlee (born 10 August 1974) is a Scottish accountant and politician. A member of the Scottish Conservative Party, he was a Member of the Scottish Parliament (MSP) for the South of Scotland region from 2005 to 2011. Background Brownlee ...

, who was next on the Conservatives' South of Scotland candidate list. 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. 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 ...

"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 represented the

at the three Scottish Leaders' Debates broadcast on

ITV1 ITV1 (formerly known as ITV) is a British free-to-air public broadcast television channel owned and operated by the British media company ITV plc. It provides the Channel 3 public broadcast service across all of the United Kingdom except for t ...

Sky News Sky News is a British free-to-air television news channel and organisation. Sky News is distributed via an English-language radio news service, and through online channels. It is owned by Sky Group, a division of Comcast. John Ryley is the he ...

and

BBC1 BBC One is a British free-to-air public broadcast television network owned and operated by the BBC. It is the corporation's flagship network and is known for broadcasting mainstream programming, which includes BBC News television bulletins, ...

during the 2010 general election campaign. Mundell retained his seat at the 2019 general election with a reduced majority. On 6 June, Mundell voted no confidence in Prime Minister Johnson.

Government minister

Before the 2010 general election, Mundell served as the

Conservative Conservatism is a cultural, social, and political philosophy that seeks to promote and to preserve traditional institutions, practices, and values. The central tenets of conservatism may vary in relation to the culture and civilization in ...

Shadow Scottish Secretary. Following that election, the Conservative Party formed a

coalition government A coalition government is a form of government in which political parties cooperate to form a government. The usual reason for such an arrangement is that no single party has achieved an absolute majority after an election, an atypical outcome in ...

with the Liberal Democrats. He held 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 kno ...

, since the

office An office is a space where an organization's employees perform administrative work in order to support and realize objects and goals of the organization. The word "office" may also denote a position within an organization with specific ...

was given to Liberal Democrat MP

Danny Alexander Sir Daniel Grian Alexander (born 15 May 1972) is a former politician who was Chief Secretary to the Treasury between 2010 and 2015. He was the Member of Parliament (MP) for the Inverness, Nairn, Badenoch & Strathspey constituency from 2005 u ...

(then

Michael Moore Michael Francis Moore (born April 23, 1954) is an American filmmaker, author and left-wing activist. His works frequently address the topics of globalization and capitalism. Moore won the 2002 Academy Award for Best Documentary Feature for ' ...

and

Alistair Carmichael Alexander Morrison "Alistair" CarmichaelFull name is given as "CARMICHAEL, Alexander Morrison, commonly known as Alistair Carmichael" in the returning officer'2010 general election declaration (born 15 July 1965) is a Scottish politician and s ...

), in view of the Liberal Democrats' greater representation of Scottish

seats A seat is a place to sit. The term may encompass additional features, such as back, armrest, head restraint but also headquarters in a wider sense. Types of seat The following are examples of different kinds of seat: * Armchair, a chair eq ...

. On 9 June 2010, Mundell was appointed a

Privy Counsellor The Privy Council (PC), officially His Majesty's Most Honourable Privy Council, is a formal body of advisers to the sovereign of the United Kingdom. Its membership mainly comprises senior politicians who are current or former members of ei ...

. Mundell was returned to

Parliament In modern politics, and history, a parliament is a legislative body of government. Generally, a modern parliament has three functions: representing the electorate, making laws, and overseeing the government via hearings and inquiries. Th ...

at the 2015 general election with a much reduced majority of 798 votes (1.5%), although the

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 ...

's share of the vote increased by 1.8%. He succeeded Liberal Democrat

. In the referendum on EU membership of June 2016, 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 from the European Union, withdrawal of the United Kingdom (UK) from the European Union (EU) at 23:00 Greenwich Mean Time, GMT on 31 January 2020 (00:00 1 February 2020 Central Eur ...

. He was the only Conservative MP to represent a Scottish constituency in the 56th parliament (2015–2017), but was joined by a further twelve in the 2017 snap general election. Following the election of

Boris Johnson Alexander Boris de Pfeffel Johnson (; born 19 June 1964) is a British politician, writer and journalist who served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom and Leader of the Conservative Party from 2019 to 2022. He previously served as ...

as Prime Minister, Mundell was sacked from his role and went to the backbenches for the first time since he was elected as an MP.

Constituency issues

In 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 direct ...

in the

constituency, which adjoins his own 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 th ...

's Richard Arkless. 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". Mundell said he was willing to work with all local organisations who wanted to eradicate poverty.

Trade envoy

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 Mini ...

Personal life

On 13 January 2016, Mundell publicly came out as gay on his personal website; he is believed to be the first openly gay Conservative cabinet minister. His nickname is 'Fluffy'. He was previously married to Lynda Carmichael but the couple have divorced. He has three children, one of whom, Oliver Mundell, is the Conservative MSP for Dumfriesshire, having won his seat in the

in May 2016.