What was your highlight of 2024?
In a professional capacity, I was incredibly proud that the Scotland Office played a key role in bringing 19 female Afghan medical students to Scotland. They had been forced to abandon their studies after the fall of Kabul, with no hope of ever returning to university in Afghanistan. The Scotland Office led negotiations between the Linda Norgrove Foundation, Scottish Government, Home Office and FCDO to find a way to bring them to Scotland to continue their studies. They landed in Edinburgh in August and are now studying at various Scottish medical schools. We have made a huge difference to the lives of these young women, giving them back the professional futures they thought they had lost, and I am incredibly proud of our role in this.
On a personal level, I had a real “proud dad” moment when my youngest daughter, my middle child, started primary school. Now we have two of them in the traditional first day of term front door school-uniform photo. In three years, their younger sister will join them – which, frankly, seems like a long time away now!
What was the hardest part of being a leader in 2024?
Like most of us in the civil service, the general election was a huge challenge. Saying goodbye to long-serving Conservative ministers and special advisers, spending the pre-election period prepping for various outcomes, and then hitting the ground running with a new government.
I worked closely with my team throughout this period, acknowledging the uncertainty and unknown of a new administration, while focusing us on our new ministerial priorities. Our secretary of state has been very clear on his four priorities (green, growth, Brand Scotland and poverty, since you ask) and I have channelled all our efforts and resources into delivering on those.
What are the main challenges facing your organisation in the coming year?
My biggest challenge is to help ministers deliver their priorities in Scotland, in the context of a challenging fiscal environment. And it will also be a challenging political environment, with ministers increasingly focused on the Scottish Parliament election in 2026.
Vital to that work will be to continue and to build on the reset of the UK government’s relationship with the Scottish Government – that relationship feels very different this side of the election.
"It is vital that we made sure the government’s missions are being delivered right across the UK"
A key role of the Scotland Office team is to help other UK government departments deliver, and communicate that delivery, in Scotland. It is vital that we made sure the government’s missions are being delivered right across the UK. We are here to help departments navigate the different political and policy landscape in Scotland – please reach out to us.
Best and worst Christmas present?
The best: I’m a keen home cook, and a few years ago my brother bought a beautiful, handmade, steel Japanese knife. It’s my favourite piece of kitchen kit, and I use it every day.
The worst: I feel like I might be hanging onto this one for too long, but when I was nine my parents bought me a modem for Christmas, when all my friends got Sega Mega Drives. Perhaps that just dates me!