David Mundell

David Mundell – the first openly gay Conservative MP to hold a position in the cabinet – was elected as an MP in 2005. Alongside practising as a solicitor, Mundell first entered politics as a local councillor for the Social Democratic Party (SDP) before joining the Conservatives in 1988 after the Liberal-SDP merger. Between 1999 and 2003, Mundell was a member of the Scottish Parliament for the South of Scotland. He served as shadow Scottish secretary after becoming an MP and as minister of state at the Scotland Office during the coalition years. After the Conservatives won the 2015 general election and formed its first majority government for a generation, Mundell became secretary of state for Scotland, as the party’s only Scottish MP. Mundell backed David Cameron’s decision to hold a referendum on Britain’s membership of the European Union and voted with the prime minister for Remain. He supported Michael Gove in the leadership race to succeed Theresa May and criticised Boris Johnson, claiming he was “not an asset” to the Conservative Party. Following Johnson’s victory in the leadership election, Mundell returned to the backbenches.