politician and diplomat who was one of the chief promoters of the Reformation in Scotland.

Converted to Protestantism while on the European continent, Balnaves favoured an Anglo-Scottish alliance, ecclesiastical reform, and a vernacular Bible. After returning to Scotland, he held various offices, and in 1543, during the Protestant period of the Earl of Arran's regency, he rose to secretary of state and became one of the commissioners appointed to arrange a marriage treaty between Mary Stuart and Prince Edward (later Edward VI of England). He was instrumental in persuading Parliament to permit the reading of Scripture in the vernacular.

Imprisoned in Blackness Castle (November 1543) after Arran's reconciliation with Roman Catholicism, Balnaves was released by English forces. Thereafter he acted as a paid agent for the English in Scotland until he was taken captive when a French expedition captured St. Andrews Castle (July 1547). While imprisoned by the French at Rouen, he wrote The Confession of Faith, reflecting Lutheran influence and published posthumously in 1584 with a preface by John Knox. Returning to Scotland in 1557, Balnaves was restored to his lands, took an active part in the religious rising of 1559, and was appointed an ordinary lord of session in 1564. On the fall of Mary Stuart he sided with the Protestant lords and by 1568 was a privy councillor.