TRAPPED: Nobody Asks Scotland · The chapters

Chapter 9: The Board

"astonished"

Ruth Davidson, Baroness Davidson of Lundin Links, on Boris Johnson's approval of her peerage, July 2021.

Scotland's seats in the upper house are appointed from London, and the appointees are the people who defended the Union, sometimes the day after voters turned them down.

The receipts

The source list for this chapter, as the publisher maintains it. Archive links are given wherever a cited page could move or die.

• Ruth Davidson, Baroness Davidson of Lundin Links: stood down as Scottish Conservative leader 29 August 2019; left the Scottish Parliament May 2021; gazetted to the House of Lords 16 July 2021 on Boris Johnson's nomination; introduced 20 July 2021 (The Gazette). "Astonished" quote: her own description of the appointment. Attendance 66 of 376 sitting days (17 per cent) and about £12,000 claimed: The Ferret's analysis of official data, July 2024.
• Dame Jackie Baillie: joined the Better Together board 27 August 2012 (Companies House, SC425421); damehood in the King's Birthday Honours, announced June 2023, "for political and public service"; first sitting MSP in the Scottish Parliament's history to receive a damehood or knighthood.
• Lord Duncan of Springbank (Ian Duncan): sitting Scottish Conservative MEP; lost Perth and North Perthshire to the SNP's Pete Wishart by 21 votes after a recount, 8 June 2017; Letters Patent 14 July 2017, 36 days after the election; Scotland Office minister (The Gazette / Letters Patent).
• Lord Offord of Garvel (Malcolm Offord): £122,500 donated to the Conservative Party across six donations, 2007 to 2019 (Electoral Commission register, refs C0014405, C0016162, C0017335, C0020740, C0025311, C0479344, searched 10 October 2026); unelected on the Lothian regional list, May 2021; appointed Scotland Office minister 4 October 2021; life peerage 13 October 2021, nine days later (The Gazette / Letters Patent).
• Baroness Mobarik (Nosheena Mobarik): added to the Better Together board November 2013; peerage announced 8 August 2014, forty-one days before the referendum; created 19 September 2014, the day after it (The Gazette).
• Lord Darling of Roulanish (Alistair Darling): chairman of Better Together; life peerage in the 2015 Dissolution Honours; created 1 December 2015; introduced 10 December 2015 (The Gazette).
• Lord McInnes of Kilwinning (Mark McInnes): Scottish Conservative Party director; Better Together board from 11 November 2013 (Companies House SC425421); C.B.E. gazetted 31 December 2015, New Year Honours 2016, citation "Director, Scottish Conservatives. For political service." (London Gazette issue 61450, notice 2454036); life peerage in David Cameron's 2016 Resignation Honours, created 1 September 2016 (London Gazette issue 61698, notice 2607263).
• Lord Jack of Courance (Alister Jack): Secretary of State for Scotland 2019 to 2024; only ever use of section 35 of the Scotland Act 1998, against the Gender Recognition Reform Bill, 2023; KBE in the 2024 Dissolution Honours; life peerage, Letters Patent 9 May 2025, about ten months after leaving office (The Gazette / Letters Patent).
• House of Lords: roughly 800 members, none elected; tax-free daily attendance allowance of £371.
• Scotland's peers: The Ferret, published 28 July 2024, covering January 2019 to December 2023; close to £10 million cost over five years; 72 Scottish peers analysed: 25 Conservative, 22 Labour, 8 Liberal Democrat, 14 unaffiliated, 0 SNP, 0 Scottish Green; SNP and Scottish Greens refuse on principle to nominate to an unelected chamber.
• Better Together board: several board members received no honour at all (fairness note carried in text).
• Controlled comparison, retrieved 2 September 2026; full absence re-sweep of The Gazette run 12 October 2026 (sixteen names, window 2 September to 12 October): no peerage and no honour found for any. Population of 118: the directors of Better Together 2012 Limited (Companies House SC425421); the 53 non-SNP Scottish MPs from the Crown Office's list of members returned at the 2010 general election (Edinburgh Gazette notice E-26790-1, corrected), with the Inverclyde by-election member added; the 58 Labour, Conservative and Liberal Democrat MSPs sitting on 18 September 2014 (Scottish Parliament open data, data.parliament.scot); every Secretary of State for Scotland since 2010 (gov.uk). Every name swept against The Gazette, 1 January 2014 to 2 September 2026, using a master index of all 525 life peerage notices published in the period (the London and Edinburgh editions carry the same creations, so notices roughly double creations) and per-name searches of the state and honours notice codes, each candidate notice read in full. Result: 24 honoured, 94 not, overlaps counted once, one director who died before the referendum excluded.
• Anas Sarwar, institutional statement: The Guardian, Heather Stewart, political editor, "Labour would scrap House of Lords, says Scottish party leader", 4 July 2022; speech in Westminster; abolition of the Lords and an elected senate of the nations and regions as party policy. Wayback: https://web.archive.org/web/20260819081004/https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2022/jul/04/labour-would-scrap-house-of-lords-says-scottish-party-leader-anas-sarwar (.
• Anas Sarwar, personal statement: The Herald, Hannah Brown, "Anas Sarwar rules out House of Lords spot if election lost", published 5 May 2026; speaking to journalists at a dental practice in Glasgow with less than 48 hours until polls opened. Wayback: https://web.archive.org/web/20260819081141/https://www.heraldscotland.com/news/26078895.anas-sarwar-rules-house-lords-spot-election-lost/ (.
• Scottish Parliament election, 7 May 2026: SNP 58 seats, Scottish Labour 17.
• Baron Sarwar: Letters Patent dated 24 August 2026; London Gazette issue 65163, page 16830, notice 5200533.
• Gordon Brown: no peerage recorded in The Gazette as of 12 October 2026; appointed a Member of the Order of the Companions of Honour, gazetted 14 June 2024, Birthday Honours 2024 (London Gazette issue 64423, notice 4644674, citation "For Public and Charitable Services in the UK and Abroad").
• Baroness Curran (Margaret Curran): MP for Glasgow East, Labour; Shadow Secretary of State for Scotland at the referendum; lost the seat to the SNP's Natalie McGarry at the general election of 7 May 2015; life peerage, Letters Patent 15 January 2025 (London Gazette issue 64636, page 914, notice 4794926).
• Sir David Hamilton: MP for Midlothian, Labour; Knight Bachelor, gazetted 11 June 2016, Birthday Honours 2016, "For political and parliamentary service" (London Gazette issue 61608, notice 2551505; identity corroborated by the Cabinet Office Birthday Honours 2016 transparency data, "Midlothian").
• Jo Swinson: MP for East Dunbartonshire, Liberal Democrat; C.B.E., gazetted 29 December 2017, New Year Honours 2018, "For political and public service" (London Gazette issue 62150, notice 2937970).
• Sir Brian Donohoe: MP for Central Ayrshire, Labour; Knight Bachelor, gazetted 7 June 2019, Birthday Honours 2019, "For parliamentary and political service" (London Gazette issue 62666, notice 3293860).
• Sir Thomas Clarke: MP for Coatbridge, Chryston and Bellshill, Labour; Knight Bachelor, gazetted 30 December 2020, New Year Honours 2021, "For public and political service" (London Gazette issue 63218, notice 3703127).
• Frank Roy: MP for Motherwell and Wishaw, Labour; C.B.E., gazetted 30 December 2022, New Year Honours 2023, "For Political and Public Service" (London Gazette notice 4246441; identity confirmed against the Cabinet Office New Year Honours 2023 Prime Minister's list transparency data, "Motherwell, Lanarkshire").
• Sir Alex Fergusson: MSP for Galloway and West Dumfries, Conservative; Knight Bachelor, gazetted 11 June 2016, Birthday Honours 2016, "For services to Politics, the Scottish Parliamentary Process and Public Life in Scotland" (London Gazette issue 61608, notice 2551504; Cabinet Office Birthday Honours 2016 transparency data, "Dumfries").
• Mary Scanlon: MSP, Highlands and Islands list, Conservative; C.B.E., gazetted 16 June 2017, Birthday Honours 2017, "For political and public service" (London Gazette issue 61961, page 11917, notice 2804192).
• Dr Richard Simpson: MSP, Mid Scotland and Fife list, Labour; O.B.E., gazetted 17 June 2017, Birthday Honours 2017, "For services to Scottish Politics and Public Life" (London Gazette issue 61961, page 11886, notice 2804437).
• John Scott: MSP for Ayr, Conservative; O.B.E., gazetted 31 December 2021, New Year Honours 2022, "For Political and Public Service" (London Gazette issue 63571, notice 3956532).
• Liz Smith: MSP, Mid Scotland and Fife list, Conservative, sitting when honoured; C.B.E., gazetted 29 December 2023, New Year Honours 2024, "For services to Sport" (London Gazette issue 64269, notice 4520110).
• Secretaries of State for Scotland: Alistair Carmichael 2013 to 8 May 2015; David Mundell 2015 to 2019; Alister Jack 2019 to 5 July 2024; Ian Murray 5 July 2024 to 5 September 2025; Douglas Alexander from 5 September 2025 (gov.uk ministers page, retrieved 2 September 2026; Wayback: http://web.archive.org/web/20260902045703/https://www.gov.uk/government/ministers/secretary-of-state-for-scotland). No honour or peerage found in The Gazette to 2 September 2026 for Carmichael, Mundell, Ian Murray or Douglas Alexander; none for Michael Moore, Secretary of State 2010 to 2013.
• Douglas Alexander: Shadow Foreign Secretary; chair of Labour's general election strategy through 2014; lost Paisley and Renfrewshire South to the SNP's Mhairi Black, 7 May 2015; MP for Lothian East from July 2024; Secretary of State for Scotland from 5 September 2025; no honour or peerage recorded in The Gazette to 2 September 2026.
• Party leaders unhonoured: Johann Lamont, Kezia Dugdale, Willie Rennie, and Jim Murphy (Scottish Labour leader from December 2014): nothing found in The Gazette, 2014 to 12 October 2026.
• Better Together directors, the five-of-nine figure: ten directors on the register (Companies House SC425421; Wayback: http://web.archive.org/web/20260902045420/https://find-and-update.company-information.service.gov.uk/company/SC425421/officers); one died before the referendum; of the nine remaining, four honoured, five with nothing found in The Gazette to 2 September 2026.
• Baroness Clark of Kilwinning (Katy Clark): MP for North Ayrshire and Arran, Labour; life peerage, Letters Patent 3 September 2020 (London Gazette issue 63104, page 15194, notice 3627558); her own words in advance of taking the seat: LabourList, 3 August 2020, her own byline, "Should the House of Lords be abolished? My role as a new Labour peer" (Wayback: http://web.archive.org/web/20260902051950/https://labourlist.org/2020/08/should-the-house-of-lords-be-abolished-my-role-as-a-new-labour-peer/); elected MSP for West Scotland May 2021; Lords membership ended 19 May 2026, "Retirement. Retired under the House of Lords Reform Act 2014" (UK Parliament Members API, member id 1590; per, section 5.3).
• His words on accepting. The Scotsman, Rachel Amery, "Anas Sarwar 'delighted' to take up UK government job, as move to House of Lords confirmed", 23 July 2026, statement quoted verbatim; archived https://web.archive.org/web/20260902051814/https://www.scotsman.com/news/politics/anas-sarwar-delighted-to-take-up-uk-government-job-as-move-to-house-of-lords-confirmed-8816965).
• Williamson. Dismissal: Theresa May's letter and his reply, 1 May 2019, both published in full by BBC News, "Exchange of letters between Theresa May and Gavin Williamson", archived https://web.archive.org/web/20261009105754/https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-48126671 (the letter: "the investigation into the unauthorised disclosure of information from the National Security Council meeting on 23 April"; his reply: "I strenuously deny that I was in any way involved in this leak"); BBC News, "Defence Secretary Gavin Williamson sacked over Huawei leak", 1 May 2019, archived https://web.archive.org/web/20261009105728/https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-politics-48126974. Offices and dates: GOV.UK ministerial page (Defence 2 November 2017 to 1 May 2019; Education 24 July 2019 to 15 September 2021). Knighthood: London Gazette, Issue 63658, 1 April 2022, p. 6306, notice 4033764, Knight Bachelor, "To be dated 3 March 2022". Gate closed 9 October 2026 (stage8/legal-gates.md).
• Ruth Davidson's "astonished": The Scotsman, Dale Miller, 18 July 2021, reporting her Scottish Mail on Sunday interview, archived web.archive.org/web/20250723031052/https://www.scotsman.com/news/politics/ruth-davidson-astonished-boris-johnson-signed-off-on-her-peerage-3312534; The Ferret, "Scots peers cost taxpayer £10m over five years", 28 July 2024, theferret.scot/scots-peers-cost-taxpayer-house-of-lords/, Wayback 20260819104934.
• Katy Clark's vote against a second chamber: HC Deb 7 March 2007, Division No. 65 (c1601), "That this House supports the principle of a bicameral parliament", Ayes 416, Noes 163, Clark among the Noes; the same evening she voted for a wholly elected second chamber (Division No. 70, c1623).

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