Alister_Jack

Alister Jack

Alister Jack

British Conservative politician, Secretary of State for Scotland

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]

Quick Facts Secretary of State for Scotland, Prime Minister ...

Early life and career

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

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]

Parliamentary career

At the 1997 general election, Jack stood in Tweeddale, Ettrick and Lauderdale, coming third with 22.1% of the vote behind the Liberal Democrat candidate Michael Moore and the Labour candidate.[12]

Jack was elected to Parliament at the snap 2017 general election as MP for Dumfries and Galloway with 43.3% of the vote and a majority of 5,643.[13][14]

Once in Parliament, Jack was a member of the Treasury Select Committee from 2017-2019.[5]

On 16 February 2018, he signed a letter to Theresa May, making suggestions about the way the United Kingdom should leave the European Union.[15]

Jack was appointed Parliamentary Private Secretary (PPS) to the Leader of the House of Lords on 31 August 2018,[16] a position he held until he was appointed an Assistant Government Whip on 20 February 2019.[17]

On 23 April 2019 he was appointed Lord Commissioner of the Treasury, a role in the Government Whips Office.[17]

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.[18] Jack was the first MP of the 2017 intake to join the Cabinet.[19]

At the 2019 general election, Jack was re-elected as MP for Dumfries and Galloway with an increased vote share of 44.1% and a decreased majority of 1,805.[20][21][22][23]

He was reappointed to the Truss ministry in September 2022.[24]

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.[25]

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.[26]

On 17 January 2023, Jack exercised the Section 35 power granted to him as Secretary of State for Scotland in the 1998 Scotland Act[27] and stopped the Scottish Government's Gender Recognition Reform Bill from proceeding to Royal Assent.[28][29]

On 17 May 2023, he announced he would stand down at the next general election.[30]

Appearing at the Covid-19 Inquiry in Edinburgh on 1 February 2024, Jack was asked about Nicola Sturgeon’s testimony, where she became emotional, that she was able to put aside her views on Scottish independence when making decisions during the pandemic. He dismissed this and responded that he did not believe her. Jack went on to remark that Nicola Sturgeon “could cry from one eye if she wanted to”.[31][32]

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.[33]

Honours

References

  1. [1]
    "Members' Names Data Platform query". UK Parliament. Retrieved 24 April 2019.
  2. [2]
    "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. [3]
    "Alister Jack: What do we know about the new Scottish Secretary?". BBC News. 24 July 2019. Retrieved 6 April 2021.
  4. [4]
    "No. 27885". The Edinburgh Gazette. 19 June 2017. p. 1076.
  5. [5]
    "Mr Alister Jack MP". UK Parliament. Retrieved 2 August 2017.
  6. [6]
    "BLOG: The voters of Scotland have spoken | Border - ITV News". Itv.com. 9 June 2017. Retrieved 9 June 2017.
  7. [7]
    "'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. [8]
    "Profiles of the new Scottish MPs". Holyrood Magazine. 21 June 2017.
  9. [9]
    "Conservatives select local farmer to fight Galloway seat". The Galloway Gazette. Retrieved 2 August 2017.
  10. [10]
    "Fisheries Management Scotland". Retrieved 23 April 2019.
  11. [11]
    "Who are Scotland's new MPs?". BBC News. 9 June 2017.
  12. [12]
    "Election Data 1997". Electoral Calculus. Archived from the original on 15 October 2011. Retrieved 28 June 2017.
  13. [13]
    "Dumfries and Galloway - 2017 Election Results - General Elections Online". electionresults.parliament.uk. Archived from the original on 11 February 2018. Retrieved 13 December 2019.
  14. [14]
    "Conservatives select local farmer to fight Galloway seat". www.gallowaygazette.co.uk.
  15. [15]
    Asthana, Anushka (20 February 2018). "Tory MPs' hard Brexit letter to May described as ransom note". The Guardian.
  16. [16]
    "New role for local MP". Retrieved 15 September 2018.
  17. [17]
    "Alister Jack MP". GOV.UK. Retrieved 22 February 2019.
  18. [18]
    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)
  19. [19]
    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.
  20. [20]
    "Dumfries & Galloway parliamentary constituency - Election 2019". Retrieved 13 December 2019.
  21. [21]
    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.
  22. [22]
    "UK Parliamentary General Election - December 2019" (PDF). Dumfries and Galloway Council. Retrieved 14 November 2019.
  23. [23]
    "Dumfries & Galloway parliamentary constituency - Election 2019". Retrieved 13 December 2019.
  24. [24]
    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.
  25. [25]
    "Attendees at the Accession Council" (PDF). Privy Council. Retrieved 17 May 2023.
  26. [26]
    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.
  27. [27]
    "Devolution settlement: Scotland". GOV.UK. Retrieved 7 February 2023.
  28. [28]
    "Gender Recognition Reform (Scotland) Bill: statement from Alister Jack". GOV.UK. Retrieved 7 February 2023.
  29. [29]
    "Gender Recognition Reform (Scotland) Bill". www.parliament.scot. Retrieved 7 February 2023.
  30. [30]
    "Scottish Secretary Alister Jack to stand down at the next election". BBC News. 17 May 2023. Retrieved 17 May 2023.
  31. [31]
    "Transcript of Module 2A Public Hearing on 01 February 2024 UK Covid-19 Inquiry Archives". UK Covid-19 Inquiry. Retrieved 4 February 2024.
  32. [32]
    "Sturgeon could 'cry from one eye if she wanted'". BBC News. Retrieved 4 February 2024.
  33. [33]
    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.
  34. [34]
    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.
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