Susan Deacon | |
|---|---|
 Official portrait, 1999 | |
| Chair of theScottish Police Authority | |
| In office 4 December 2017 – 5 December 2019 | |
| Preceded by | Andrew Flanagan |
| Succeeded by | David Crichton (interim) |
| Minister for Health and Community Care | |
| In office 19 May 1999 – 28 November 2001 | |
| First Minister | Donald Dewar Henry McLeish |
| Preceded by | Office established |
| Succeeded by | Malcolm Chisholm |
| Member of the Scottish Parliament forEdinburgh East and Musselburgh | |
| In office 6 May 1999 – 2 April 2007 | |
| Preceded by | Office established |
| Succeeded by | Kenny MacAskill |
| Personal details | |
| Born | Susan Catherine Deacon[1] (1964-02-02)2 February 1964 (age 61) Musselburgh, Scotland |
| Political party | Labour |
| Domestic partner | John Boothman |
| Children | 2 |
| Residence | East Lothian |
| Alma mater | University of Edinburgh |
Susan Catherine DeaconCBE (born 2 February 1964) is a Scottish business executive, advisor and former politician who served asChair of the Scottish Police Authority from 2017 to 2019. A member of theScottish Labour Party, she served as the firstMinister for Health and Community Care in theScottish Executive under first ministersDonald Dewar andHenry McLeish from 1999 to 2001.
She was theMember of the Scottish Parliament (MSP) forEdinburgh East & Musselburgh from 1999 to 2007. She was Assistant Principal External Relations at theUniversity of Edinburgh from 2012 to 2018 and has been a non-executive director of several companies. She was the first female Chair of the Institute of Directors from 2015 to 18.
Susan Catherine Deacon was born inMusselburgh Maternity Hospital in East Lothian on 2 February 1964. The youngest child, her parents were natives ofLeith and moved to the village ofInveresk with Deacon's older brother in the early 1960s.[2] She attendedMusselburgh Grammar School where she was head girl and active in inter-schools debating. She studied at the University of Edinburgh, graduating with an MA (Hons) in Social Policy and Politics in 1987 and later an MBA in 1992. She was vice president ofEdinburgh University Students' Association, and chair ofScottish Labour Students.
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Deacon's early career was inlocal government where she worked for seven years in research and management roles. After a spell in management consultancy and training in the private sector, she became director ofMBA programmes at theEdinburgh Business School, atHeriot-Watt University, which included managing Scotland's first Consortium MBA programme for companies. Deacon was involved in the creation of the Business School as a new graduate school within the university.
Meanwhile, she rose through Labour ranks serving on theScottish Labour Party's National Executive and was a founder member of thepro-devolution pressure group,Scottish Labour Action.
Deacon was elected to theScottish Parliament as MSP forEdinburgh East and Musselburgh inMay 1999 and, though widely tipped for ministerial office, her appointment by First MinisterDonald Dewar as Scotland’s first cabinetMinister for Health and Community Care came as a surprise to many.[3] She had been education spokesperson in Dewar'selection campaign team and had been initially rejected as a candidate by Scottish Labour's controversialvetting process,[4] eventually becoming the only person to appeal successfully. Despite this rocky start, Deacon gained respect in the new Parliament and was regarded as one of Labour's most effective performers – and was tipped as a possible future First Minister.[5] In 1999, she won Frontbencher of the Year in the Herald's inaugural Scottish Politician of the Year Awards, and was nominated alongside Donald Dewar andAlex Salmond for that year's Scottish Politician of the Year accolade.
Henry McLeish reappointed Deacon as Health Minister when he took over as First Minister following the death of Donald Dewar in November 2000 and she continued until McLeish’s resignation in November 2001. Deacon was offered a further Cabinet position by incoming First MinisterJack McConnell in November 2001 but, by then pregnant with her second child, decided instead to leave Government[6] and go to thebackbenches.
During her time as Health Minister, Deacon led major changes in the governance and leadership of theNational Health Service in Scotland and championed reforms inchild health,mental health andolder people's care. She was responsible for the first Scottish Health Plan.[7]
A critic of the flagship policy offree personal care, she argued against its introduction saying future costs were unknown and may not be sustainable – a view rejected by theScottish Parliament. She won plaudits for her strong stance against militantanti-abortion campaigners,[8] though was criticised by theRoman Catholic Church for her position on issues such asteenage pregnancy andcontraception.[9]
As a backbench MSP Deacon served on severalParliamentary Committees, including Enterprise and Audit. She co-founded and chaired the Cross Party Group on Sexual Health and was involved in work on reproductive health and HIV/Aids both in the UK and abroad. The only Scottish member of theRSA UK Commission on Illegal Drugs, Communities and Public Policy,[10] Deacon was a critic of Governmentdrugs policy and opposed theIraq War.[11][12] Deacon was re-elected as an MSP in 2003 securing the largest Labour majority in Edinburgh. Although she had been selected in 2006 to fight her seat again in the2007 election, she later announced her decision to not seek re-election to the Scottish Parliament.[13] Deacon said she had had enough of the ‘raw tribalism of party politics’ and that she wanted to 'move on to seek new challenges and to channel my energies in other ways.'[14]
After leaving politics, Deacon has held a portfolio of roles in higher education, business, the public and third sectors and has contributed to a range of governance and policy reviews in various areas of public life. She was Professor of Social Change atQueen Margaret University, Edinburgh[15] from 2007–2010 and, in 2010, became an Honorary Professor in the School of Social and Political Science, at theUniversity of Edinburgh. She was Assistant Principal External Relations at the University of Edinburgh from 2012–2018 which involved developing the university's relationships with external stakeholders and encouraging greater collaboration between academia, policymakers and business.[16]
In 2010, Deacon was appointed byMichael Russell, MSP,Cabinet Secretary for Education and Lifelong Learning as the Scottish Government's "Early Years Champion".[17] Her report, Joining the Dots,[18] received widespread interest[19] and is credited with influencing policy and investment in children's early years development and education.
Deacon became involved with the global energy group,Iberdrola, following its acquisition ofScottishPower Ltd in 2007, serving first on the company's UK Advisory Board and then as a non-executive director and Chairman ofScottishPower Renewables Ltd. She was a non-executive director of ScottishPower Ltd from 2012–2017[20] and from 2009 until 2014 was a trustee of Fundación Iberdrola,[21] the Spanish group's global educational and charitable arm.
Deacon has served on a number of other boards and advisory groups, including theTraverse Theatre,Pfizer UK Foundation, the Institute of Occupational Medicine, Dewar Arts Awards Trust, and the strategic review of theNational Trust for Scotland. From 2008–2012, she was founding Chairperson of the Hibernian Community Foundation – the charity set up byHibernian Football Club and, from 2015–2018, was Chair of the Institute of Directors Scotland, the first woman to hold the position.[22] She is a non-Executive director ofLothian Buses Ltd, Chair of the Edinburgh Festivals Forum and a Professional Fellow and Advisor with the University of Edinburgh, and serves, in a personal capacity, as a Member of the Secretary of State for Scotland's Scottish Business Task Force. She is a fellow of the RSA and in 2017 was made a Companion of the chartered Management Institute.
In 2017, the Scottish Government announced Deacon's appointment as Chair of the Scottish Police Authority,[23] the national body charged with oversight of Police Scotland, the UK's second largest police service. The third person to hold the position since the creation of a unified police service for Scotland in 2012. Deacon's appointment was widely welcomed, coming as it did on the back of significant criticism of the body and its previous Chair. Deacon signalled a series of early changes in the Authority including a more transparent and outward facing approach[24] and the appointment of a number of new Board members.[25]
Since becoming Chair, Deacon has presided over a number of changes in the leadership of Police Scotland. The previous Chief Constable Phil Gormley resigned in February 2017 and a number of new senior officers have since been appointed to the leadership team.[26] It is anticipated that a new Chief Constable will be announced in August 2018.
In 2019, Deacon resigned from her position as Chair of the Scottish Police Authority. She noted that "the governance and accountability arrangements for policing in Scotland are fundamentally flawed, in structure, culture and practice". She suggested that in order to resolve these problems the Scottish government needs to consider how policing is scrutinised in Scotland and if, perhaps, there needs to be a better separation of politics and policing. First Minister Nicola Sturgeon rejected Deacon's claims and said that the SPA would continue to make improvements.[27]
Deacon was appointedCommander of the Order of the British Empire (CBE) in the2017 New Year Honours for services to business, education, and public service.[28]
Deacon lives inPrestonpans,East Lothian with her husband John Boothman and their two children.[29]
| Scottish Parliament | ||
|---|---|---|
| New parliament | Member of the Scottish Parliament forEdinburgh East and Musselburgh 1999–2007 | Succeeded by |
| New office | Minister for Health and Community Care 1999–2001 | Succeeded by |