Dame Elizabeth Anne Finlay Gardiner DCB KC (Hon) (born 19 March 1966) is a British

solicitor A solicitor is a legal practitioner who traditionally deals with most of the legal matters in some jurisdictions. A person must have legally-defined qualifications, which vary from one jurisdiction to another, to be described as a solicitor and ...

and senior

civil servant The civil service is a collective term for a sector of government composed mainly of career civil servants hired on professional merit rather than appointed or elected, whose institutional tenure typically survives transitions of political leaders ...

who has served as the First Parliamentary Counsel since November 2015. After education at the

University of Edinburgh The University of Edinburgh ( sco, University o Edinburgh, gd, Oilthigh Dhùn Èideann; abbreviated as ''Edin.'' in post-nominals) is a public research university based in Edinburgh, Scotland. Granted a royal charter by King James VI in 15 ...

and working as a solicitor in Scotland 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, where she succeeded

Richard Heaton Sir Richard Nicholas Heaton, KCB (born 5 October 1965) is a barrister and former senior British civil servant who was the Permanent Secretary to the Ministry of Justice and Clerk of the Crown in Chancery from September 2015 until resigning in ...

. 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. Gardiner was appointed

Companion of the Order of the Bath Companion may refer to: Relationships Currently * Any of several interpersonal relationships such as friend or acquaintance * A domestic partner, akin to a spouse * Sober companion, an addiction treatment coach * Companion (caregiving), a caregive ...

(CB) in the

2013 Birthday Honours The 2013 Birthday Honours were appointments by some of the 16 Commonwealth realms of Queen Elizabeth II to various orders and honours to reward and highlight good works by citizens of those countries. The Birthday Honours are awarded as part of ...

and Dame Commander of the Order of the Bath (DCB) in the

2021 Birthday Honours The Queen's Birthday Honours for 2021 are appointments by some of the 16 Commonwealth realms of Queen Elizabeth II to various orders and honours to reward and highlight good works by citizens of those countries. The Birthday Honours are awarded ...

for services to government and the legislative process. 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 In the United Kingdom and in some Commonwealth of Nations, Commonwealth countries, a King's Counsel (Post-nominal letters, post-nominal initials KC) during the reign of a king, or Queen's Counsel (post-nominal initials QC) during the reign of ...

References

External links

Website of the Office of the Parliamentary Counsel
{{DEFAULTSORT:Gardiner, Elizabeth Anne Finlay 1966 births First Parliamentary Counsel Living people Place of birth missing (living people) British solicitors British women lawyers Dames Commander of the Order of the Bath