Ian Murray (Scottish politician)

Ian Murray (born 10 August 1976) is a Scottish Labour Party politician who has been the Member of Parliament (MP) for Edinburgh South since 2010. He has served as Secretary of State for Scotland since July 2024. He previously served as Shadow Secretary of State for Scotland from 2015 to 2016 and again from 2020 to 2024.

Murray previously served as a City of Edinburgh Councillor for the wards of Liberton and Liberton/Gilmerton from 2003 to 2010. Murray is one of thirty-seven Labour Party MPs representing Scottish constituencies and had previously been the only one from 2015 to 2017 and from 2019 to 2023.

Early life and career
Ian Murray was born on 10 August 1976 in Edinburgh, to a cooper father and shop assistant mother. He was brought up in the Wester Hailes area of Edinburgh, where he attended Dumbryden Primary School, then Wester Hailes Education Centre. Murray read Social Policy and Law at the University of Edinburgh graduating with an honours degree (M.A. Hons.) While studying at university, he had a part-time job in a local fish & chip shop before setting up and running a pizza delivery service.

After graduation, Murray worked for Royal Blind in pensions management, before being head-hunted by an Edinburgh-based internet television station (Worldart.com) during the dot-com boom where he helped to build a new online TV station. Despite his efforts, the company ran out of funding and he was made redundant; he then founded his own event management business (100 mph Events Ltd). Murray also organised a student exchange programme in Nepal to fund school buildings and staff.

In 2003, Murray stood in the local elections for Liberton winning the seat for Labour at the age of 27; he later represented the larger Liberton/Gilmerton ward from 2007 to 2010.

Parliamentary career
At the 2010 general election, Murray was elected as MP for Edinburgh South, winning the seat with 34.7% of the vote and a majority of 316. He served on the Business, Innovation and Skills Select Committee and the Environmental Audit Select Committee. In 2011, he was appointed to the Official Opposition frontbench as Shadow Minister for Trade and Investment.

At the 2015 general election, Murray was re-elected as MP for Edinburgh South with an increased vote share of 39.1% and an increased majority of 2,637. He was the only Scottish Labour MP returned. He was appointed Shadow Secretary of State for Scotland on 11 May 2015 by acting Labour Party leader Harriet Harman. He was re-appointed to the same role by new leader Jeremy Corbyn in September 2015.

At the snap 2017 general election, Murray was again re-elected with an increased vote share of 54.9% and an increased majority of 15,514.

Prior to the 2019 general election, Murray faced the threat of deselection when Unite the Union announced it would vote to trigger an open selection. Local members refused to back such a contest so it could not proceed. At the election Murray was again re-elected, with a decreased vote share of 47.7% and a decreased majority of 11,095. Following the election, he again became Labour's only MP in Scotland.

Murray was again re-elected at the 2024 general election, with an increased vote share of 53.3% and an increased majority of 17,251.

Scottish independence
At the 2014 Scottish independence referendum, Murray campaigned against independence. He claimed to have encountered hostility from independence activists and reported that his office premises had been plastered with pro-independence "Yes" stickers, which were immediately removed.

Shadow Cabinet
In January 2016, Corbyn made his first frontbench reshuffle. Three shadow ministers resigned in protest and were criticised by Corbyn ally John McDonnell as being part of a "narrow right wing clique" aligned with the Blairite Progress group. Murray, a Progress member, was interviewed on the Sunday Politics Scotland programme on 10 January and criticised McDonnell, saying he should "ramp down the rhetoric".

On 26 June 2016, two days after the EU referendum, Murray resigned with other members of the Shadow Cabinet, citing a lack of confidence in Corbyn's leadership ability to win a general election. He then nominated Owen Smith in his failed leadership challenge against Corbyn. After Corbyn's re-election as Labour leader with an increased majority, Murray said he would only return to the frontbench if Corbyn reinstated Shadow Cabinet elections and stopped using the threat of deselection to enforce loyalty. He later accused Corbyn of being "all over the place" on potential Labour cooperation with the SNP. His replacement as Shadow Scottish Secretary, Dave Anderson refused to rule out a deal with the SNP at Westminster.

Deputy Leader of Labour election
On 7 January 2020, Murray announced that he would stand for election to be Deputy Leader of the Labour Party in the deputy leadership election. During the contest, he received the backing of former Prime Ministers Gordon Brown and Tony Blair. Murray finished in fourth place and was appointed as Shadow Secretary of State for Scotland by new party leader Keir Starmer.

Murray nominated Anas Sarwar in the 2021 Scottish Labour leadership election.

Secretary of State for Scotland (2024–present)
Following Labour's victory in the 2024 United Kingdom general election, Murray was appointed Secretary of State for Scotland by Prime Minister of the United Kingdom Keir Starmer. This mirrors his former position in the shadow cabinet.

Personal life
Murray supports Edinburgh-based football team Hearts and was previously Chair of the 'Foundation of Hearts', a bid by a fans' group to buy-out the club from administration. He stepped down in May 2015 in order to focus on his parliamentary duties, and was duly replaced by the current chair, Brian Cormack. On 20 August 2020, Murray's partner Mariam gave birth to a daughter, Zola.

Murray was sworn of the Privy Council on 10 July 2024, entitling him to be styled "The Right Honourable" for life.