Ian Murray will become the first cabinet minister to take full paternity leave in the coming weeks.
Labour’s Scottish Secretary is expecting his second child with his wife at the end of January and will take two weeks of paternity leave.
The Edinburgh South MP said his leave had been personally signed off by Keir Starmer because he is “enthusiastic” about balancing work as a government minister and family life.
Murray told the Record: “I think I am the first Cabinet minister to take formal paternity leave for the whole two weeks.
“The Prime Minister has personally signed this off because he is enthusiastic about making sure that the balance between the heavy duties of government, being an MP, travelling and all of those issues. The burden of that falls heavily on family.
“He’s always talked about him trying to make sure that he cuts out a bit of his week on a Friday to be with family.
“The department has been hugely supportive. I’m looking forward to it. Because responsibility lies mostly on family when you do these jobs, it’s quite good to spend some time away from the place really.”
Junior Scotland Office minister Kirsty McNeill will step up to take over departmental issues. She will be assisted by parliamentary private secretary Mel Ward and Scottish whip Martin McClusky.
Murray said that the only reason he would cut the leave short “is if there was some sort of national security issue to be dealt with.”
The right to two weeks paid paternity leave was introduced by the last Labour Government in 2003. Before that new fathers in the UK were not entitled to paid leave.
The current government is introducing the right to paternity leave from the first day of employment as part of its Make Work Pay agenda. Roughly one in five dads and partners that are eligible for paternity leave take no leave at all.
Murray said he hoped he could encourage other new dads to follow his lead: “The key thing about paternity leave was always about changing the culture, because fathers didn’t really take it. Not because they didn’t know about it, it was just because it wasn’t culturally the thing to do in the workplace.
“So Keir [Starmer] is very keen to change that cultural thing as well as the legislation.”
George Gabriel, co-founder of paternity leave campaign group The Dad Shift, said: “A huge congratulations to Ian and his family on their upcoming new arrival. We know 82 per cent of Scots agree that all dads, including public servants and politicians, should be able to take a decent amount of paid leave and so it’s fantastic that Ian is becoming the first ever serving Secretary of State for Scotland to take paternity leave.
“As a country our statutory paternity leave offer lags way behind other countries and at the Dad Shift we believe examples like this are a crucial step towards making sure every family is set up for success when a new baby arrives – particularly with Labour committed to a review of parental leave policies in their first year.”
To sign up to the Daily Record Politics newsletter, clickhere