Susan Deacon

Susan Deacon
Member of the Scottish Parliament for Edinburgh East and Musselburgh
In office 6 May 1999 – 3 May 2007
Preceded by	New Parliament
Succeeded by	Kenny MacAskill
Personal details
Born	2 February 1964 (1964-02-02) Musselburgh
Political party	Scottish Labour Party
Alma mater	University of Edinburgh

Susan Deacon (born 2 February 1964, Musselburgh) is a Scottish politician, academic, commentator and a former Scottish Cabinet Minister.

She was Labour MSP for Edinburgh East & Musselburgh from 1999–2007 and served as Scotland’s first Cabinet Minister for Health and Community Care following the creation of the Scottish Parliament in 1999. Since standing down from Parliament in 2007, she has combined a number of roles in academic and charitable life with work in the private and public sector.

In 2010, she became an Honorary Professor, School of Social and Political Science, University of Edinburgh; she is chairman of Scottish Power Renewables, the UK's largest wind farm provider; and was appointed as Early Years Champion for the Scottish Government.

Early life

Educated at Musselburgh Grammar School, she completed an MA (Hons) in Social Policy and Politics at Edinburgh University and later an MBA. She joined the Labour Party at 17 while still at school and, as a student, was a campaigner against apartheid, nuclear disarmament and a supporter of the miners’ strike. She was vice president of Edinburgh University Students' Representative Council, chair of Scottish Labour Students and rose rapidly through Labour ranks serving on the Scottish Labour Party's National Executive and playing a leading role in Edinburgh City politics during the 1980s. She was a founder member of the pro-devolution Labour pressure group, Scottish Labour Action, which campaigned for non-payment against the poll tax and pressed the Labour Party into join the Scottish Constitutional Convention.

She began her career in local government in 1987 where she worked as in both research and management roles within West Lothian and then East Lothian district councils. In 1994 Deacon joined Eglinton Management Centre in Edinburgh, as a senior training consultant, and then became director of MBA programmes at Edinburgh Business School, at Heriot Watt University. Following the birth of her first child, she worked as a business consultant and organised several major national policy conferences in the run-up to Scottish devolution.

Scottish Parliament

Ministerial role

Deacon was elected to the Scottish Parliament as MSP for Edinburgh East and Musselburgh in May 1999 and, though tipped for ministerial office, her appointment by First Minister Donald Dewar as Scotland’s first Minister for Health and Community Care came as a surprise to many. Viewed as coming from the left of the Party and with no background in health – she had been education spokesperson in Dewar's election campaign team – Deacon had been initially rejected as a candidate by Scottish Labour's controversial vetting process, eventually becoming the only person to appeal successfully. Despite this rocky start, Deacon quickly gained respect in the new Parliament and was widely regarded as one of Labour's most effective performers - and was even tipped as a possible future First Minister.

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 Cabinet position by incoming First Minister Jack McConnell in November 2001 but, by then pregnant with her second child, decided instead to leave Government and return to the backbenches.

During her time as Health Minister, Deacon led major changes in the governance and leadership of the National Health Service in Scotland and championed reforms in child health, mental health and older people's care. She was responsible for the first Scottish Health Plan, which laid many foundations upon which subsequent health policy in Scotland has been built, though she is known to have been angered by what she dubbed as Jack McConnell's "Day Zero" approach on taking office which she claimed meant a loss of momentum in delivering improvements in the NHS in Scotland.

A critic of the flagship policy of free personal care, she argued against its introduction saying future costs were unknown and may not be sustainable – a view rejected by the Scottish Parliament. She won plaudits for her strong stance against militant anti-abortion campaigners, though was criticised by the Roman Catholic Church for her position on issues such as teenage pregnancy and contraception.

Backbench MSP

As a backbench MSP, Deacon became regarded an independent voice, serving on several Parliamentary Committees, including Enterprise and Audit. She 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 the influential RSA UK Commission on Illegal Drugs, Communities and Public Policy, Deacon was a critic of Government drugs policy. Her opposition to the Iraq War won her support among Labour Party members and the Scottish public, but left relationships strained with parliamentary colleagues.

Deacon was re-elected as an MSP in 2003, securing the largest Labour majority in Edinburgh, and had been selected to fight her Edinburgh East and Musselburgh seat again in the 2007 election.

After the Scottish Parliament

In the summer of 2006, she announced her decision to stand down from the Scottish Parliament. Deacon said she had had enough of the ‘raw tribalism of party politics’ and that there was a need to rekindle the enthusiasm and hope that was there in the beginning. Her decision was met with surprise with one commentator describing her as ‘one of the bright lights of devolution’s early days’.

Since leaving Parliament, Deacon has stepped back from party politics while continuing to be an active player in wider public policy debate and an occasional political commentator. She was appointed Professor of Social Change at Queen Margaret University, which includes work on social entrepreneurship and health inequalities and has engaged with the Nationalist Scottish Government in the development of policy and practice on issues such as drugs and early years. In June 2010, she left Queen Margaret to take up a new position as Honorary Professor, School of Social and Political Science, at the University of Edinburgh.

She has spoken widely on leadership and change, arguing for greater cooperation across political and sectoral boundaries and less reliance on top-down policy and "the near paralysis of process and analysis".

In June 2010, Deacon was appointed by the Scottish Government's Secretary for Education and Lifelong Learning to ‘champion’ the importance of children’s early years and “to lead a wide-ranging, national dialogue on how best to take action to improve children’s early years of life.”

Other appointments

Deacon has served on various boards, including the Traverse Theatre, Pfizer UK Foundation, Dewar Arts Awards Trust and is Chair of the Hibernian Community Foundation – the charity set up by Hibernian Football Club.

On 19 July 2010 Deacon was appointed Chairman of ScottishPower Renewables Ltd, part of the Iberdrola Group which is headquartered in Spain. She is also a trustee of the Iberdrola Foundation. An adviser to various local and national organisations, she is also a member of the steering group of the National Trust for Scotland Strategic Review.

Personal life

Deacon lives in East Lothian with her long-term partner John Boothman, a senior News Editor with BBC Scotland, and their two children.

External links

• Members Page at the Scottish Parliament Site
• Susan Deacon MSP Biography at Labour party website

Scottish Parliament
Preceded by Constituency Created	Member of the Scottish Parliament for Edinburgh East and Musselburgh 1999–2007	Succeeded by Kenny MacAskill
Preceded by position created	Minister for Health and Community Care 1999–2001	Succeeded by Malcolm Chisholm