Ian Duncan, Baron Duncan of Springbank

Ian James Duncan, Baron Duncan of Springbank (born 13 February 1973) is a Conservative politician, serving as a Deputy Speaker in the House of Lords. He was formerly Minister for Climate Change in the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy and minister in the Northern Ireland Office. He initially joined the UK Government as a Scotland Office minister following the 2017 UK general election. Duncan was MEP for Scotland from 2014–2017. He is the only minister to have served in each of the UK Government's territorial offices.

The Right Honourable The Lord Duncan of Springbank
Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Climate Change
In office 26 July 2019 – 13 February 2020
Prime Minister	Boris Johnson
Preceded by	The Lord Henley
Succeeded by	The Lord Callanan
Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Northern Ireland
In office 27 October 2017 – 13 February 2020
Prime Minister	Theresa May Boris Johnson
Preceded by	The Lord Bourne of Aberystwyth
Succeeded by	Position abolished
Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Scotland
In office 15 June 2017 – 26 July 2019
Prime Minister	Theresa May
Preceded by	The Lord Dunlop
Succeeded by	Robin Walker Colin Clark
Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Wales
In office 17 June 2017 – 27 October 2017
Prime Minister	Theresa May
Preceded by	The Lord Bourne of Aberystwyth
Succeeded by	The Lord Bourne of Aberystwyth
Member of the European Parliament for Scotland
In office 1 July 2014 – 22 June 2017
Preceded by	Struan Stevenson
Succeeded by	The Baroness Mobarik
Member of the House of Lords Lord Temporal
Incumbent
Assumed office 14 July 2017 Life Peerage
Personal details
Born	(1973-02-13) February 13, 1973[1] Scotland, United Kingdom
Nationality	British
Political party	Scottish Conservative
Residence	Edinburgh, Scotland
Alma mater	University of St Andrews University of Bristol
Profession	Policy developer

Early life

Duncan was born in 1973 and raised in Alyth, Perthshire, where he attended Alyth High School. He achieved a degree in geology from the University of St Andrews, before earning a PhD degree in paleontology from the University of Bristol.[2]

Career before politics

During the late 1990s, Duncan served as a policy analyst for BP's political affairs team where he worked on the company's strategy for emerging economic prospects in post-communist eastern Europe and the former Soviet Union.[3]

In 1999 Duncan became the Deputy Chief Executive, and Secretary for the Scottish Fishermen's Federation, where he developed policy and worked closely with the European Union, namely lobbying for the development of a regional management model which was later adopted by the European Commission.

From 2004-2005 he acted as the Head of Policy & Communication for the Scottish Refugee Council, a charity which offers advice to those taking asylum within Scotland.[4]

Duncan served as Head of the EU Office for the Scottish Parliament in Brussels from 2005 and 2011. Thereafter he was appointed Clerk to the Parliament's European Committee and EU Advisor to the Parliament. He resigned from his position in 2013 to pursue candidacy for the upcoming European elections with the Scottish Conservatives, following Struan Stevenson's announcement that he would not seek re-election.

Political career

Member of the European Parliament

As a candidate for the Scottish Conservatives at the 2014 European elections,[2] Duncan campaigned on a platform of delivering reform in the European Union as well as an in-out referendum within three years.[5]

Duncan sat on three committees of the European Parliament - the Committee on Industry, Research and Energy, the Committee on the Environment, Public Health and Food Safety and the Committee on Fisheries.[6] He was the European Parliament's Rapporteur on post 2020 reforms to the European Union Emissions Trading Scheme.

From 2014 Duncan served as the Chief Whip of the UK Conservative Delegation. He was also a Vice-Chair of the Wine, Spirits and Quality Foodstuffs intergroup in the European Parliament.[7]

In 2017, Duncan was ranked as the 10th most influential MEP on environmental policy in the European Parliament.[8] and the 6th most influential on energy policy.[9] EurActiv ranked Duncan as the 15th most influential politician on energy union in Europe in 2016.[10]

Duncan resigned from being an MEP in 2017.[11] He was replaced by The Baroness Mobarik.[12]

UK Parliament candidate

Duncan was selected by the Scottish Conservatives as their candidate for Perth and North Perthshire in the 2017 UK General Election. He lost to incumbent Pete Wishart (SNP) by 21 votes.[13]

UK Government Minister

The Prime Minister's Office announced in June 2017 that Duncan would be granted a life peerage and thus become a member of the House of Lords, in order to take up his appointment as Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Scotland and for Wales.[14] On 14 July, he was created Baron Duncan of Springbank, of Springbank in the County of Perth.[15]

Following a reshuffle Duncan was appointed a Minister in the Northern Ireland Office and demitted office in the Wales Office.[16] He retained his position in the Scotland Office until 2019.

On 29 July 2020, he became the first member of the House of Lords to ask a virtual question on a moving train.[17]

Personal life

Outside politics Duncan maintains a keen interest in public speaking. He is the Honorary President of English Speaking Union Scotland, previously serving as Chairman (2014–2017) and Speech & Debates Officer.[18]. Duncan is a former ESU US Debating Scholar (1995). He retains links to academia, acting as an advisor to St Andrews University's Institute of Legal and Constitutional Research. Duncan is a Fellow of the Geological Society.[19]

In 2014 Duncan was appointed to the board of advisers of the Schwarzenegger Institute at the University of Southern California, established by former California governor Arnold Schwarzenegger.[20]

He is a patron of LGBT+ Conservatives[21] and is openly gay.

References

1. "Duncan of Springbank, Baron, (Ian James Duncan) (born 13 Feb. 1973) | WHO'S WHO & WHO WAS WHO". www.ukwhoswho.com. doi:10.1093/ww/9780199540884.001.0001/ww-9780199540884-e-281985.
2. "Scottish Conservative Euro candidate elected to Brussels". Scottish Conservatives. 26 May 2014. Retrieved 26 May 2014.
3. "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 27 February 2015. Retrieved 24 November 2016.CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
4. icebomb.co.uk, Marc -. "MEP - Scottish Conservatives".
5. "European election: Final push for Scottish votes". BBC News. 21 May 2014. Retrieved 26 May 2014.
6. "Ian DUNCAN - Parliamentary activities - MEPs - European Parliament". www.europarl.europa.eu.
7. http://www.europarl.europa.eu/pdf/intergroupes/VIII_LEG_27_Wine_spirits.pdf
8. "Tints of Green: Who Influences Environmental Policy in the European Parliament and How? - VoteWatch". VoteWatch.
9. "Who are the most influential MEPs on energy policy?". VoteWatch. 7 December 2016. Retrieved 7 January 2018.
10. https://gallery.mailchimp.com/ad5b8042d1cf03cc05b3bfcb0/files/EA_EURACTORY_11022016_V04_WEB.pdf
11. Scottish MEP made a Lord to take Scotland Office job. BBC NEWS. Published 20 June 2017. Retrieved 1 May 2018.
12. Baroness to become new Scottish Conservative MEP. BBC NEWS. Published 6 September 2017. Retrieved 1 May 2018.
13. "Pete Wishart retains seat by narrow margin after fighting off Tory onslaught - The Courier".
14. "Full list of new ministerial and government appointments: June 2017 - GOV.UK". www.gov.uk.
15. "No. 61998". The London Gazette. 19 July 2017. p. 13722.
16. www.gov.uk/government/ministers. Missing or empty |title= (help); Missing or empty |url= (help)
17. https://order-order.com/2020/07/29/house-of-lords-goes-mobile/
18. "Home - ESU Scotland". Home - ESU Scotland.
19. "The Geological Society of London - Fellowship Directory results". www.geolsoc.org.uk.
20. "Scottish Tory MEP joins Schwarzenegger think tank". 22 September 2016 – via www.bbc.com.
21. "People - LGBT+ Conservatives". www.lgbtconservatives.org.uk.

European Parliament
Preceded by Struan Stevenson	Member of the European Parliament for Scotland 2014–2017	Succeeded by The Baroness Mobarik
Political offices
Preceded by The Lord Bourne of Aberystwyth	Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Wales 2017	Succeeded by The Lord Bourne of Aberystwyth
Preceded by The Lord Dunlop	Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Scotland 2017–2019	Succeeded by Robin Walker Colin Clark
Preceded by The Lord Bourne of Aberystwyth	Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Northern Ireland 2017–2020	Position abolished
Preceded by The Lord Henley	Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Climate Change 2019–2020	Succeeded by The Lord Callanan
Orders of precedence in the United Kingdom
Preceded by The Lord Llewellyn of Steep	Gentlemen Baron Duncan of Springbank	Followed by The Lord Agnew of Oulton