Elizabeth Gardiner
British Civil servant
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Dame Elizabeth Anne Finlay Gardiner DCB KC (Hon) (born 19 March 1966) is a British solicitor and senior civil servant who served as the First Parliamentary Counsel from November 2015 until 2024.[1][2]
Theresa May
Boris Johnson
Elizabeth Truss
Rishi Sunak
Dame Elizabeth Gardiner | |
|---|---|
| |
| First Parliamentary Counsel | |
| In office 24 November 2015 – April 2024 | |
| Prime Minister | David Cameron Theresa May Boris Johnson Elizabeth Truss Rishi Sunak |
| Preceded by | Richard Heaton |
| Personal details | |
| Born | 19 March 1966 |
After education at the University of Edinburgh[1] and working as a solicitor in Scotland[3] Gardiner has worked at the Office of the Parliamentary Counsel since 1991, and as a director-general-graded Parliamentary Counsel from 2003 until her promotion in 2015,[1] where she succeeded Richard Heaton.[2][4] As of September 2015, as a Director-General Gardiner was paid a salary of between £175,000 and £179,999, making her one of the 328 most highly paid people in the British public sector at that time.[5]
Gardiner was appointed Companion of the Order of the Bath (CB) in the 2013 Birthday Honours[6] and Dame Commander of the Order of the Bath (DCB) in the 2021 Birthday Honours for services to government and the legislative process.[7]
In January 2019, Gardiner became the Civil Service Champion for the Civil Service Retirement Fellowship. In 2020 she was appointed as an honorary Queen's Counsel.[8][9]