Lord Duncan currently serves as Deputy Speaker of the House of Lords, having been Minister for Climate Change in the Department of Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy from July 2019 to February 2020. He was also Parliamentary Under Secretary of State for Northern Ireland during this time.
Prior to that, he served as Parliamentary Under Secretary of State in the Scotland Office from June 2017 to July 2019 and Parliamentary Under Secretary of State for Wales between June and October 2017.
Before joining the House of Lords, Ian was a member of the European Parliament. There, he served on the Environment & Public Health (ENVI) Committee, the Industry, Research & Energy (ITRE) Committee, and the Fisheries (PECH) Committee, and as a member of the Special Committees investigating the ‘Diesel-gate’ scandal and the implications of the ‘Panama Papers’ leak. From 2014 – 2017 he was Vice President of the Parliament’s Delegation for Relations with South Asia and member of the Delegation for Relations with Switzerland and Norway and to the EU-Iceland Joint Parliamentary Committee and the European Economic Area (EEA) Joint Parliamentary Committee.
Ian served as Vice President of the European Parliament’s LGBTI Intergroup, the Wine & Spirits Intergroup and the European Parliament Association.
Within the Conservative Group Ian was spokesman on Energy & Climate Change, and Fisheries. He was also the Chief Whip of the Conservatives in the European Parliament.
Prior to joining the Scottish Parliament, Ian held a number of high profile public affairs positions in Scotland, including Secretary of the Scottish Fishermen’s Federation and Head of Policy & Communications with the Scottish Refugee Council. Ian began his career as a researcher with BP focusing upon Eastern Europe and the former Soviet Republics.