Dame Shan Elizabeth Morgan (born 12 March 1955) is a former British civil servant. Formerly the Deputy Permanent Representative, UK Representation to the European Union, she was the

Permanent Secretary A permanent secretary (also known as a principal secretary) is the most senior Civil Service (United Kingdom), civil servant of a department or Ministry (government department), ministry charged with running the department or ministry's day-to-day ...

to the

Welsh Government , image = , caption = , date_established = , country = Wales , address = , leader_title = First Minister () , appointed = First Minister approved by the Senedd, ceremonially appointed ...

until October 2021.

Early life

Dame Shan Morgan was born in London, the daughter of Air Commodore Alun Morgan CBE and Yvonne Davies. She attended South Park Girls' High School (a girls'

grammar school A grammar school is one of several different types of school in the history of education in the United Kingdom and other English-speaking countries, originally a school teaching Latin, but more recently an academically oriented secondary sch ...

) in Lincoln, Wycombe High School (a girls' grammar school), and then the

Royal Latin School The Royal Latin School (RLS) is a co-educational grammar school in Buckingham, England. It has continually existed for almost six hundred years; receiving a Royal Charter in this time and moving premises three times. In September 2011 the scho ...

, a coeducational grammar school in Buckingham. Morgan studied French Literature and Language at the

University of Kent , motto_lang = , mottoeng = Literal translation: 'Whom to serve is to reign'(Book of Common Prayer translation: 'whose service is perfect freedom')Graham Martin, ''From Vision to Reality: the Making of the University of Kent at Canterbury'' ...

, gaining a BA in 1977.

Career

Morgan joined the

Manpower Services Commission The Manpower Services Commission (MSC) was a non-departmental public body of the Department of Employment Group in the United Kingdom created by Edward Heath's Conservative Government in 1973. The MSC had a remit to co-ordinate employment and ...

in 1977. In 1984 she worked at the European Commission in Brussels. In 1987 she returned to the UK, and became the Private Secretary to the Permanent Secretary at the Department of Employment. In 1991 she became a policy analyst in the National Training Task Force. In 1992 Morgan became the Head of the Employment and Training Strategy Unit at the Government Office for London. In 1994 at the

Department for Education and Employment The Department for Education and Skills (DfES) was a United Kingdom government department between 2001 and 2007, responsible for the education system (including higher education and adult learning) as well as children's services in England. ...

, she was the UK's delegate to the

International Labour Organization The International Labour Organization (ILO) is a United Nations agency whose mandate is to advance social and economic justice by setting international labour standards. Founded in October 1919 under the League of Nations, it is the first and o ...

's governing body.

FCO

In 1997 Morgan became an attaché at the British Embassy in Paris. In 2001 she returned to Brussels, becoming Director for the European Union at the FCO in 2006.

Ambassador

It was announced that Morgan would become the Ambassador to Argentina on 5 September 2008, and she took up the post in October 2008. On 22 July 2009 she kissed hands with the Queen at Buckingham Palace, to officially become the Ambassador to the Argentine Republic and to the Republic of Paraguay (a combined post, based in

Buenos Aires Buenos Aires ( or ; ), officially the Autonomous City of Buenos Aires ( es, link=no, Ciudad Autónoma de Buenos Aires), is the capital and primate city of Argentina. The city is located on the western shore of the Río de la Plata, on South Am ...

). Her time in office coincided with '' sabre-rattling'' by President

Cristina Fernández de Kirchner Cristina Elisabet Fernández de Kirchner (; born 19 February 1953), often referred to by her initials CFK, is an Argentine lawyer and politician who has served as the Vice President of Argentina since 2019. She also served as the President ...

, who described the British as "an occupying colonial force in the

Falkland Islands The Falkland Islands (; es, Islas Malvinas, link=no ) is an archipelago in the South Atlantic Ocean on the Patagonian Shelf. The principal islands are about east of South America's southern Patagonian coast and about from Cape Dubou ...

" in October 2010, when she complained to the UN about "militarisation of the South Atlantic". Britain has over 1,000 troops on the Falkland Islands, and four

Eurofighter Typhoon The Eurofighter Typhoon is a European multinational twin-engine, canard delta wing, multirole fighter. The Typhoon was designed originally as an air-superiority fighter and is manufactured by a consortium of Airbus, BAE Systems and Leonardo ...

s (

No. 1435 Flight RAF No. 1435 Flight is a Typhoon FGR. 4 unit of the Royal Air Force, based at RAF Mount Pleasant, providing air defence for the Falkland Islands, South Georgia and the South Sandwich Islands. Permanently based in the islands, the aircrew and groundc ...

) at

RAF Mount Pleasant RAF Mount Pleasant (also known as Mount Pleasant Airport, Mount Pleasant Complex or MPA) is a Royal Air Force station in the British Overseas Territory of the Falkland Islands. The airfield goes by the motto of "Defend the right" (while the m ...

. She left Argentina in May 2012. From 2012 to 2016, Morgan was UK representative to the EU Council's Committee of the Deputy Representatives of the Member States (Coreper) in Brussels.

Permanent Secretary

On 9 November 2016 it was announced that Morgan had been appointed as the new Permanent Secretary for the Welsh Government. She assumed her post in February 2017. She retired from the role in October 2021.

Honours

Morgan was appointed

Companion of the Order of St Michael and St George The Most Distinguished Order of Saint Michael and Saint George is a British order of chivalry founded on 28 April 1818 by George IV, Prince of Wales, while he was acting as prince regent for his father, King George III. It is named in hono ...

(CMG) in the 2012 New Year Honours and Dame Commander of the Order of St Michael and St George (DCMG) in the 2017 Birthday Honours.

References

External links

FCO

BBC Wales

Flickr
{{DEFAULTSORT:Morgan, Shan Elizabeth 1955 births Living people People educated at Wycombe High School People educated at the Royal Latin School Alumni of the University of Kent Ambassadors of the United Kingdom to Argentina Ambassadors of the United Kingdom to Paraguay Dames Commander of the Order of St Michael and St George British women ambassadors