Chair: Hamish Macdonell

Scottish Political Editor of The Scotsman

Hamish Macdonell has been the Scottish Political Editor of The Scotsman since 2001 and has been nominated three times as the Scottish Political Journalist of the Year. Hamish worked in the House of Commons for the Press Association before becoming the Scottish Political Editor of the Daily Mail in 1998. Hamish trained as a journalist in Yorkshire and now lives in Edinburgh with his young family.

Chair: Eleanor Laing MP

Shadow Minister for Justice

Born in Paisley, Eleanor graduated BA LLB from Edinburgh University in 1982. She was the first woman to be elected President of Edinburgh University Union. She practised law in Edinburgh, in the City of London and in industry between 1983 and 1989.

Eleanor was elected as Conservative MP for Epping Forest in May 1997 and re-elected with an increased majority in June 2001.

In the 1987 election, Eleanor was the Conservative candidate in the safe Labour seat of Paisley North. She became Special Adviser to the Rt Hon John MacGregor MP in 1989 when he was Secretary of State for Education and remained his Special Adviser when he was Leader of the House of Commons (1990-92) and Secretary of State for Transport (1992-94).

Her particular political interests are education, transport, the economy and the constitution. She served as a member of the Environment, Transport and the Regions Select Committee and the Education and Employment Select Committee.

In February 1999, she was promoted to the post of Opposition Whip and in July 2000 she became a Frontbench Spokesman for Constitutional Affairs.

After the 2001 General Election, she was appointed as Frontbench Spokesman for Education and Skills and in 2003 was made Shadow Minister for Children.  In March 2004, she became Shadow Minister for Women. After successfully increasing her majority at the 2005 General Election, she was promoted to be Shadow Secretary of State for Scotland and also remained Shadow Minister for Women and Equalities.  In 2007 she became Shadow Minister for Justice.

John Swinney MSP

Cabinet Secretary for Finance and Sustainable Growth

John joined the Scottish National Party in 1979 and went on to graduate from Edinburgh University with an MA (Hons) in Politics. He has worked for the Scottish Coal Project, Development Options and Scottish Amicable.

Prior to his election as Westminster MP for North Tayside in 1997, he held a number of posts in the SNP at local and national level. In 1999, he became the MSP for Tayside North, while remaining as the constituency's MP until standing down from Westminster at the 2001 General Election. Having served as the SNP's Deputy Leader since 1998, he became Leader in 2000. After relinquishing his post in 2004, John became Convener of the Scottish Parliament's European and External Relations Committee.

He was re-elected as an MSP at the 2007 Scottish Parliament election before his appointment as Cabinet Secretary.  

Maureen Watt MSP

Minister for Schools and Skills

Maureen was born in Aberdeen and is from a farming background. She studied both at the University of Strathclyde (Honours degree in Politics) and at the University of Birmingham (PGCE Post Graduate Certificate in Education degree).

She was a secondary school teacher in Social Studies in England and moved back to Scotland to work in the oil sector.

She entered the Scottish Parliament in April 2006 and was the first MSP to take the oath in Doric as well as English.

Ms Watt is the MSP for North East Scotland. She is married, with two children and lives with her family near Banchory.

David Lonsdale

Deputy Director, CBI Scotland

David Lonsdale is Assistant Director of CBI Scotland, having joined the CBI at the start of 2006. Prior to this he worked at the Scottish Chambers of Commerce, rising to become Head of Policy and Public Affairs.  He previously worked as a public policy researcher, and before that for a leading UK firm of commercial insurance brokers and risk consultants based in Aberdeen.

As the country’s leading business group, CBI Scotland represents and promotes the interests of 26,000 Scottish companies to government, policy makers and opinion formers. Ahead of the recent Holyrood Parliament elections, CBI Scotland published its 28-page manifesto setting out its members’ aspirations and policy recommendations for the new Scottish Government and MSPs.

Robert Black

Auditor General, Audit Scotland

Robert Black is the first Auditor General for Scotland, appointed under the Scotland Act which brought into being the Scottish Parliament.

His previous post was Controller of Audit for Scotland, and his earlier career was mainly in local government. He was Chief Executive of Tayside Regional Council between 1990 and 1995, until just before its abolition. Before that, he was Chief Executive of Stirling District Council, and his earlier career was in policy planning and research with Strathclyde Regional Council and Nottinghamshire County Council.

Robert Black has an honorary Doctorate of Law from the University of Aberdeen, an honorary Doctorate of Business Administration from Queen Margaret University College, an Honours Degree in Economics, a Masters Degree in Planning and a Masters Degree in Public Policy. He is a Fellow of the Royal Society of Edinburgh, a Fellow of the Royal Statistical Society and an Honorary Member of the Chartered Institute of Public Finance and Accountancy.

Rory Mair

Chief Executive, COSLA

Rory Mair was appointed as Chief Executive of COSLA in April 2002. This was an important appointment for COSLA following the fundamental review of its purpose and structures. Prior to this appointment, Rory had spent five years as Director of Aviemore Projects for Highlands & Islands Enterprise. This post was designed to create the circumstances to re-establish Aviemore as a tourism destination of international quality prior to the establishment of the forthcoming Cairngorm National Park.

Previous to this, but following local government re-organisation in 1996, Rory spent a short time as Strategic Director for Social Strategy with Fife Council. This post sought to pull together as one cohesive unit the major Council services such as Housing, Social Work, Education and Leisure.

Before local government re-organisation, Rory was appointed Chief Executive of Ross & Cromarty District Council and was, at the time, the youngest ever Chief Executive in British local government.

Prior to this, Rory spent 10 years in a variety of less senior local government posts.

Colin Mair

Chief Executive, Improvement Service

Colin Mair has worked with national and local government for 25 years on issues of policy, management and practice. As Director of International Programmes at Strathclyde University, he worked on local government and public sector development in India, sub-Saharan Africa and Eastern Europe. Later, as Director of the Scottish Local Authorities Management Centre, he worked with a wide range of Scottish Councils on a training, development and consultancy basis.

In Autumn 2004 he become the first Chief Executive of 'The Improvement Service for Scottish Local Government'. This is a partnership between national and local government in Scotland created to 'support improvement in the efficiency, effectiveness and accountability of local public services across Scotland'.

The focal objectives of the service in its first business plan are developing more effective joint venture and partnering arrangements, supporting efficiency improvement, enhancing performance management and governance capacity, and working with Councils to develop their Best Value approach. All of this is underpinned by a knowledge management approach that links web based resources to supported communities of practice.

Jim McFarlane

MD Regional Operations, Scottish Enterprise

Jim McFarlane returned to Scottish Enterprise Edinburgh & Lothian as Chief Executive in May 2003.  During a previous nine year spell he was a member of the Senior Management Team and covered a range of responsibilities including strategy, support for inward investment and tourism.  He also led project teams responsible for a number of land-mark projects; these included the Edinburgh International Conference Centre and Financial District, Our Dynamic Earth visitor attraction and the Edinburgh Festival Theatre.

Previous assignments include a spell as Chief Executive, Scottish Enterprise Borders, during which time he Chaired SE’s Rural Group and led efforts to support businesses across South of Scotland in the aftermath of the 2001 Foot and Mouth outbreak.  He also served on the Scottish Executive’s Ministerial Advisory Committee on the future of agriculture. Previous to Scottish Enterprise he was with the Scottish Development Agency and led the Leith Project which began the regeneration of Edinburgh’s historic port area.  On secondment, he was also Director of Operations at the highly successful 1988 Glasgow Garden Festival.

In December 2007 as part of Chief Executive Jack Perry’s restructuring of Scottish Enterprise, Jim was appointed Managing Director Regional Operations.  In this new role he has line management responsibilities for SE’s twelve Local Enterprise Companies involving some 725 staff and an operating budget of £312m.

Elma Murray

Head of Change Management, Glasgow City Council

Elma Murray has worked in local government for 25 years, 21 of which have been with Glasgow.

Her current remit includes: responsibility for organistional and people development; eGovernment strategy and management including risk management; leading the Council's business change and efficiency programme; and development and operation of the Council's customer service centre.

Elma was a member of the Glasgow 2014 Commonwealth Games Bid Team and led the development of the technology theme.

Previous roles have included Deputy Director of Financial Services, Computer Services Manager at Strathclyde Police and Head of IT Services at North Ayrshire Council.