Curriculum Vitae

• She is an independent director and a member of the Nomination Committee, the Remuneration Committee and the Sustainability and Technology Committee of the Board of Directors of The Weir Group plc, which has appointed her as Senior Independent Director with effect from 25 April 2024.
• She is also a visiting professor at University College London, a member of the international think tank Trilateral Commission and a trustee of the charity organization Middle Temple Charity.

Was educated at the Belfast Royal Academy and read English at the University of Leeds, graduating with a BA in 1980, then taking a Doctorate in linguistics in 1988. Granted an Honorary Doctorate of Laws from the University of Leeds in 2009.

She held the position of independent director of Scottish Power Ltd., the country subholding company of the energy businesses in the United Kingdom. She was also non-executive director of Aggreko plc.

• She was a diplomat with overseas postings in South Africa, India, France and Mexico at the Foreign and Commonwealth Office of the British government (“FCO”). She succeeded Mr Paul Boateng as British High Commissioner to South Africa, Swaziland and Lesotho.
• She was appointed by open competition as the first Chief Executive of the newly established Equality and Human Rights Commission, the successor body to the Commission for Racial Equality, the Disability Rights Commission and the Equal Opportunities Commission.
• She was Director-General for Europe at the FCO, leading the FCO’s contribution to the UK’s 2005 Presidency of the European Union, advising the Foreign Secretary and the Minister on the European Union and other European policy issues.
• Also, she has been the Founding Director of the Diplomatic Academy of the FCO, she served as the FCO’s Director for Global Issues, and then as Director-General for Regional Programmes at the Department for International Development (DfID), the DfID board member supervising the UK’s overseas bilateral aid programmes.
• Apart from his diplomatic career, she has been vice-provost (international) at University College London, trustee of the charity organisation Sentebale and director of the non-profit organisation London First.