The SNP has been in power at Holyrood for nearly 20 years and polls suggest it will win again in 2026.
But last year’s general election was a blip in the party’s dominance, as Labour won a landslide across the UK including 37 of Scotland’s 57 seats.
Longstanding MP Ian Murray was named the government’s Scottish secretary nine years after he had been Labour’s last man standing following its electoral wipeout north of the border.
So who has Murray brought into his team, who is trying to influence them, and what does the Scotland Office actually do?
As part of our series, Who Runs Scotland?, The Ferret takes a closer look.
Who’s in Murray’s team?
Kirsty McNeill, elected as MP for Midlothian last year, is under-secretary of state for Scotland and Murray’s deputy.
McNeill was an adviser to Gordon Brown while he was prime minister and on his charity projects after he left office. She has worked for various charities and, prior to her election in 2024, was chair of the board of Our Scottish Future, a think tank Brown set up in 2019 to make a “progressive case” for the Union.
Two veterans of the independence referendum are the special advisers at the Scotland Office, Kieron Higgins and Callum Munro.
Higgins joined Murray’s team as a political adviser in May 2024 after five years at Citizens Advice Scotland. Before that he was a spin doctor for Scottish Labour and national communications officer for Better Together in 2014.
Munro is a former head of news at the British Army and has been a member of the army reserve. He was ‘get out the vote’ coordinator for the ‘No’ campaign during the referendum.
Who’s had access to Murray & Co?
Records of Murray’s meetings are available for his first six months in the Scotland Office.
His first official meeting was with the Scotch Whisky Association (SWA) involving a photo opportunity and a discussion about protections for Scotch Whisky in Brazil.
Murray said the choice of the whisky industry for his first meeting proved “economic growth and job creation” were top of the agenda for the UK government. The ‘water of life’ could be the key to unlocking “markets for other Scottish products and services”, he wrote in The Herald.
The SWA is one of three organisations Murray saw at least three times in his first half-year in the role.
He met Petroineos in his first week in post and on three other occasions before the turn of the year. Each of these meetings were to discuss the company’s Grangemouth oil refinery – which is due to close this year with the loss of hundreds of jobs.
Murray held talks with Norwegian state oil giant Equinor three times between September and December. Equinor is behind the controversial bid to drill for oil at the Rosebank field off the coast of Shetland, a project which has faced a massive backlash from environmental campaigners.
Other energy industry players he scheduled time for included BP, Shell, Harbour Energy, oil and gas trade body, OEUK, and EDF.
Business interests accounted for 66 of the 121 meetings held by Murray in his first six months. These included engagements with defence giants BAE Systems, Thales and Kongsberg which each have a presence in Scotland and have faced protests over links to Israel since the start of the war in Gaza.
Murray attended the Farnborough International Airshow in Hampshire in July where he had a number of “planned brush by” discussions with companies including RTX (formerly Raytheon) and Leonardo to hear their “priorities”.
Individuals he has met include banker and executive chairman of the Buccleuch Group, Benny Higgins. The pair discussed business, the regeneration of the Granton area of Edinburgh and artwork. Higgins is also the chair of the board of the National Galleries of Scotland.
What about gifts and jollies?
The Labour government has faced criticism for accepting freebies since it was elected.
Murray and Scottish Labour leader Anas Sarwar faced scrutiny in September when it was revealed they were treated to free seats and hospitality at a Liverpool football match by fish farming trade body, Salmon Scotland.
Defending the decision to accept the tickets, Scottish Labour said Salmon Scotland – whose industry has come under fire for its impact on the environment and the welfare of fish – was an “important strategic partner in promoting Brand Scotland”.
Murray has been on a number of trips since he took office to promote Scottish trade. He visited Singapore and Malaysia in November 2024 to discuss issues like whisky, energy and defence with ministers from the south east Asian countries.
That trip – which cost the taxpayer around £5,000 – came the same month as a two-day journey to Norway “in support of UK trade and the defence sector”. Murray also used the trip to speak to the Norwegian energy industry, including Equinor, about “investment planned in Scotland”.
Last week he visited New York as part of its ‘Tartan Week’ celebrations alongside other Scottish Labour figures, as well as the Lord Mayor of London, Alasdair King, and the chief executive of Scottish Financial Enterprise (SFE), Sandy Begbie. SFE represents the companies that make up Scotland’s financial services sector.
According to the government website, the Tartan Week trip was aimed at “encouraging inward investment in Scotland” and inviting major global investors to attend a Scottish Investor Summit – organised by SFE and the City of London Corporation – in Edinburgh in October.
Meetings as part of the visit were held at the New York offices of BlackRock, the world’s largest asset management company which also has a presence in Scotland.
What does the Scotland Office do?
The Scotland Office is a department of the UK Government with bases at Whitehall in London and Queen Elizabeth House in Edinburgh’s city centre.
It was previously known as the Scottish Office prior to devolution in 1999, when most of its powers were passed to the Scottish Government.
Its role is now to represent Scottish interests on issues that are reserved to the UK Government. The Scotland Office also “advocates” for UK Government policies in Scotland and is responsible for the “smooth running” of the devolution settlement.
However the Scottish secretary does have the power to block bills passed by the Scottish Parliament if there are grounds to believe they could “have an adverse effect on the operation of the law as it applies to reserved matters”.
This power is set out in section 35 of the Scotland Act 1998 which established the Scottish Parliament.
It was only used for the first time in 2023, when Alister Jack issued a section 35 order to prevent the Gender Recognition Reform (Scotland) bill from proceeding.
Murray has been clear he does “not foresee” using a section 35 order, the Scotland Office told us.
It said it is “focussed on delivering the UK Government’s missions in Scotland” which had helped save Harland and Wolff’s Scottish yards, provided support for Grangemouth and invested in projects across Scotland.
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Cover image composite thanks to Paul Maguire and the UK Government
