David Mundell

The Right Honourable David Mundell MP PC
Parliamentary Under-Secretary 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 (1962-05-27) Dumfries, Dumfriesshire, Scotland
Nationality	Scottish
Political party	Conservative
Alma mater	University of Strathclyde, University of Edinburgh
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 Westminster constituency (Dumfriesshire, Clydesdale and Tweeddale). Since the 2010 UK General Election he has been the Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Scotland, based at the Scotland Office.

Background

David 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 University of 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.

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 on Dumfries and Galloway council for another one until 1987, when a student. He is a member of the Law Society of Scotland and Writers to the Signet.

Mundell currently lives in Moffat. He has one daughter (Eve) and two sons (Oliver and Lewis) from a previous marriage. The former, Oliver 'Hapless' Mundell, gained noteriety in 2009 after impaling his foot on a spike. In a foolish attempt to build a snowman in Edinburgh University's George Square garden, he failed to scale the enclosing fence, which resulted in the injury. The wound meant that for some time his only viable means of transportation was a motorised mobility scooter. The event crippled Mundell physically and politically, as his then presidential campaign for president of the Edinburgh University Students Association was in full swing. Despite difficulties, Oliver Mundell remained hopeful, claiming 'I don't really see the accident as a setback as I have a great team of students behind me putting in the leg work, who think I have the ideas and passion to make a difference. I still hope to speak to most students, if a little slower than before!' However, his best efforts proved fruitless as he failed to win the election and faded into political obscurity. The unprecedented fallout from the impalement proved also to be a massive embarassment to David Mundell's reputation as a father and an MP. Oliver Mundell's actions were equated to those of Matthew Lewis, who distastefully dressed up as Madeleine McCann. Despite his son's reckelss behaviour, he till this day has never apoligised on behalf of Oliver or for his party as a whole.

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. He is presently 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.

Being the lone 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 a total of 18 MPs who are either Scottish or represent Scottish constituencies in signing a Commons motion saying 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.

Mundell represented the Scottish Conservative Party on the three Scottish Leaders' Debates broadcast on ITV1, Sky News and BBC1.

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 a the Liberal Democrat MP's 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 Counsellor on 9 June 2010.

External links

• David Mundell MP official constituency website
• David Mundell Conservative Party profile
• David Mundell MP Scottish Conservative Party profile
• DCT Conservatives
• Contributions in Parliament at Hansard 1803–2005
• Electoral history and profile at The Guardian
• Voting record at PublicWhip.org
• Record in Parliament at TheyWorkForYou.com
• Profile at Westminster Parliamentary Record
• Profile at BBC News Democracy Live

Scottish Parliament
New constituency creation of Scottish Parliament	Member of the Scottish Parliament for South of Scotland 1999–2005	Succeeded by Derek Brownlee
Parliament of the United Kingdom
New constituency	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	Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for the Scotland Office 2010–present	Incumbent