May snubs her Scots young guns in Lords
THERESA May is to award a peerage to Scotland’s only Tory MEP – and appoint him to her ministerial team.
In a shock move which could increase tensions within her party, the Prime Minister will snub the 12 new Scottish Conservative MPs by making Ian Duncan a member of the House of Lords then selecting him as Scotland Office Minister.
It had been expected that a Scottish MP would become Scottish Secretary David Mundell’s deputy after the party’s General Election success north of the Border.
But concerns were expressed about giving a ministerial job to someone who had been an MP for only a few days. That meant appointing someone from the Lords – with former Scottish Tory leader Annabel Goldie, bra tycoon Michelle Mone and former CBI Scotland chairman Nosheena Mobarik in the running.
But the Mail can reveal that Mr Duncan, who has been an MEP since the 2014 elections, will be made a peer to succeed Lord Andrew Dunlop, who quit after the General Election, in the role.
It is understood that Scottish Tory leader Ruth Davidson – who has emerged as an influential figure within Mrs May’s top team since the election – played a key part in the decision.
The appointment is expected to be confirmed after the Queen’s Speech on Wednesday – only a fortnight after Mr Duncan failed in his bid to become an MP after the SNP’s Pete Wishart defeated him in Perth and North Perthshire by just 21 votes. One MP said: ‘It was felt that a ministerial job couldn’t go to someone who had only been an MP for a few days.’
John Lamont, the former Scottish Conservative chief whip at Holyrood, and former MSP now MP Douglas Ross had been among those expected to be frontrunners for the post.
A senior Tory source said: ‘It does seem weird and I think it looks bad. You’ve got 12 folks to pick, some have more experience than others.
‘Some have been MSPs for more than a decade – there is plenty experience. Why create for yourself what will be another story?’
Mr Duncan will need to resign as an MEP because no elected politician at the European Parliament is allowed to hold a ministerial job in their home country.