The Right Honourable
Alister Jack
DL MP
Official portrait, 2022
Secretary of State for Scotland
Assumed office
24 July 2019
Prime MinisterBoris Johnson
Liz Truss
Rishi Sunak
Preceded byDavid Mundell
Lord Commissioner of the Treasury
In office
23 April 2019 – 24 July 2019
Prime MinisterTheresa May
Preceded byCraig Whittaker
Succeeded byColin Clark
Member of Parliament
for Dumfries and Galloway
Assumed office
8 June 2017
Preceded byRichard Arkless
Majority1,805 (3.5%)
Personal details
Born
Alister William Jack

(1963-07-07) 7 July 1963 (age 60)[1]
Dumfries, Dumfriesshire, Scotland[2]
Political partyConservative
SpouseAnn Hodgson
Children3
EducationGlenalmond College
Alma materHeriot-Watt University

Alister William Jack DL[3] (born 7 July 1963) is a Scottish politician serving as Secretary of State for Scotland since 2019. A member of the Scottish Conservatives, he has been the Member of Parliament (MP) for Dumfries and Galloway since 2017.[4][5][6]

Early life

Jack was born on 7 July 1963 in Dumfries, Dumfriesshire, in Scotland to David and Jean Jack (who was Lord Lieutenant of Dumfries between 2006 and 2016). He was raised in Dalbeattie and Kippford. He was educated at Dalbeattie Primary School, at Crawfordton House – a private prep school near Moniaive, Dumfriesshire – and then at Glenalmond College, at that time an all-boys private boarding school.[2] He later attended Heriot-Watt University.[7]

Business career

Alister Jack is a businessman, having founded tent-hire and self-storage companies, the latter building his fortune of £20 million. He currently owns a farm of 1,200 acres in Courance, near Lockerbie.[8][7][9] He formerly chaired the River Annan Fishery Board and Trust, Fisheries Management Scotland and Galloway Woodlands.[10][11]

Political career

House of Commons

In the 1997 general election, Jack stood in Tweeddale, Ettrick and Lauderdale, but came third, being defeated by the Liberal Democrat future Secretary of State for Scotland Michael Moore.

Jack was elected to the House of Commons of the United Kingdom in the 2017 general election. He stood in the rural Scottish constituency of Dumfries and Galloway and defeated incumbent Scottish National Party MP Richard Arkless. Jack was one of the 13 Scottish Conservative MPs elected to the UK Parliament being the highest number since the 1983 general election.

He was a member of the Treasury Select Committee in the 57th Parliament.[5] He signed a letter to the prime minister, Theresa May, on 16 February 2018, making suggestions about the way the United Kingdom should leave the European Union.[12]

Jack was appointed Parliamentary Private Secretary (PPS) to the Leader of the House of Lords on 31 August 2018,[13] a position he held until he was appointed an Assistant Government Whip on 20 February 2019.[14] On 23 April 2019 he was appointed Lord Commissioner of the Treasury, a role in the Government Whips Office.[14]

Secretary of State for Scotland

Jack (right) at Royal Highland Show bicentenary celebrations with Bill Gray of the Royal Highland and Agricultural Society of Scotland (left)

He was appointed as Secretary of State for Scotland by Boris Johnson on 24 July 2019.[15] Jack was the first MP of the 2017 intake to join the Cabinet.[16]

Jack retained his seat at the 2019 general election with an increased share of the vote but with a reduced majority.[17][18]

He was reappointed to the Truss ministry in September 2022.[19]

On 10 September 2022, Jack attended the Accession Council and Principal Proclamation for His Majesty King Charles III at St James's Palace, London. Jack signed the Official Proclamation and witnessed His Majesty's Oath relating to the security of the Church of Scotland.[20]

On 15 September 2022, as a member of the Royal Company of Archers, Jack and fellow Cabinet Minister Ben Wallace stood vigil at Queen Elizabeth II's coffin.[21]

He was retained by Rishi Sunak when he became prime minister on 25 October 2022.[22]

On 17 January 2023, Jack exercised the Section 35 power granted to him as Secretary of State for Scotland in the 1998 Scotland Act[23] and stopped the Scottish Government's Gender Recognition Reform Bill[24] from proceeding to Royal Assent.[25]

On 17 May 2023, he announced he would stand down at the next general election.[26]

Personal life

Jack is married to Ann (née Hodgson)[2] and has three adult children.[11] On 28 March 2020 he developed COVID-19 symptoms and became the third Cabinet minister to begin self-isolating.[27]

Honours

This list is incomplete; you can help by adding missing items. (January 2022)

References

  1. ^ "Members' Names Data Platform query". UK Parliament. Retrieved 24 April 2019.
  2. ^ a b c "Jack, Alister William". Who's Who. Vol. 2018 (February 2018 online ed.). A & C Black. Retrieved 13 February 2018. (Subscription or UK public library membership required.)
  3. ^ "Alister Jack: What do we know about the new Scottish Secretary?". BBC News. 24 July 2019. Retrieved 6 April 2021.
  4. ^ "No. 27885". The Edinburgh Gazette. 19 June 2017. p. 1076.
  5. ^ a b "Mr Alister Jack MP". UK Parliament. Retrieved 2 August 2017.
  6. ^ "BLOG: The voters of Scotland have spoken | Border - ITV News". Itv.com. 9 June 2017. Retrieved 9 June 2017.
  7. ^ a b "'You can sleep when you're dead' Alister Jack". The Scotsman. 27 January 2007. Archived from the original on 7 May 2016. Retrieved 9 March 2021.
  8. ^ "Profiles of the new Scottish MPs". Holyrood Magazine. 21 June 2017.
  9. ^ "Conservatives select local farmer to fight Galloway seat". The Galloway Gazette. Retrieved 2 August 2017.
  10. ^ "Fisheries Management Scotland". Retrieved 23 April 2019.
  11. ^ a b "Who are Scotland's new MPs?". BBC News. 9 June 2017.
  12. ^ Asthana, Anushka (20 February 2018). "Tory MPs' hard Brexit letter to May described as ransom note". The Guardian.
  13. ^ "New role for local MP". Retrieved 15 September 2018.
  14. ^ a b "Alister Jack MP". GOV.UK. Retrieved 22 February 2019.
  15. ^ 10 Downing Street [@10DowningStreet] (24 July 2019). "Alister Jack has been appointed Secretary of State for Scotland" (Tweet) – via Twitter.((cite web)): CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link)
  16. ^ Sandhu, Serina; Butterworth, Benjamin (25 July 2019). "Boris Johnson's cabinet: Who's in and who's out". inews.co.uk. Retrieved 7 October 2019.
  17. ^ "Dumfries & Galloway parliamentary constituency - Election 2019". Retrieved 13 December 2019.
  18. ^ Gillespie, Stuart; McFarlane, Stuart (13 December 2019). "Scottish Secretary Alister Jack re-elected as Dumfries and Galloway MP for Conservatives". Daily Record. Retrieved 13 December 2019.
  19. ^ Cochrane, Alan (5 September 2022). "With Alister Jack set to keep his job, only time will tell if he can take on Sturgeon". The Telegraph. ISSN 0307-1235. Retrieved 6 September 2022.
  20. ^ "Attendees at the Accession Council" (PDF). Privy Council. Retrieved 17 May 2023.
  21. ^ Glenn Campbell (broadcaster) [@GlennBBC] (15 September 2022). "Changing of the guard. Cabinet ministers Alister Jack and Ben Wallace are now standing vigil at the Queen's coffin, as members of the Royal Company of Archers" (Tweet) – via Twitter.
  22. ^ "Twitter". Twitter. Retrieved 17 December 2022.
  23. ^ "Devolution settlement: Scotland". GOV.UK. Retrieved 7 February 2023.
  24. ^ "Gender Recognition Reform (Scotland) Bill". www.parliament.scot. Retrieved 7 February 2023.
  25. ^ "Gender Recognition Reform (Scotland) Bill: statement from Alister Jack". GOV.UK. Retrieved 7 February 2023.
  26. ^ "Scottish Secretary Alister Jack to stand down at the next election". BBC News. 17 May 2023. Retrieved 17 May 2023.
  27. ^ Walawalkar, Aaron (28 March 2020). "Alister Jack is third UK cabinet member to self-isolate during Covid-19 outbreak". The Guardian. Retrieved 28 March 2020.
  28. ^ King, Ceri (25 July 2019). "ORDERS APPROVED AND BUSINESS TRANSACTED AT THE PRIVY COUNCIL HELD BY THE QUEEN AT BUCKINGHAM PALACE ON 25TH JULY 2019" (PDF). The Privy Council Office. Archived from the original (PDF) on 27 October 2022. Retrieved 14 November 2022.

External links

Parliament of the United Kingdom Preceded byRichard Arkless Member of Parliamentfor Dumfries and Galloway 2017–present Incumbent Political offices Preceded byDavid Mundell Secretary of State for Scotland 2019–present Incumbent
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