Sir John William Elvidge KCB, FRSE (born 9 February 1951) is the former Permanent Secretary to the Scottish Government. He was appointed in July 2003, replacing Sir

Muir Russell Sir Alastair Muir Russell (born 9 January 1949) is a Scottish retired civil servant and former Principal and Vice-Chancellor of the University of Glasgow, and Chairman of the Judicial Appointments Board for Scotland. Early life Russell was b ...

. He retired from the post in June 2010.

Early life

He was born on 9 February 1951, son of Herbert William Elvidge and Irene Teresa Reynolds, and educated at Sir George Monoux School in Walthamstow, North- East

London London is the capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary dow ...

. He studied

English language English is a West Germanic language of the Indo-European language family, with its earliest forms spoken by the inhabitants of early medieval England. It is named after the Angles, one of the ancient Germanic peoples that migrated to the ...

and

literature Literature is any collection of written work, but it is also used more narrowly for writings specifically considered to be an art form, especially prose fiction, drama, and poetry. In recent centuries, the definition has expanded to include ...

St Catherine's College, Oxford St Catherine's College (colloquially called St Catz or Catz) is one of the constituent colleges of the University of Oxford and is the newest college admitting both undergraduate and graduate students. Tracing its roots back to 1868 (although t ...

, graduating with a

Bachelor of Arts Bachelor of arts (BA or AB; from the Latin ', ', or ') is a bachelor's degree awarded for an undergraduate program in the arts, or, in some cases, other disciplines. A Bachelor of Arts degree course is generally completed in three or four year ...

degree. In 1973, he joined the Civil Service, working in the

Scottish Office The Scottish Office was a department of the Government of the United Kingdom from 1885 until 1999, exercising a wide range of government functions in relation to Scotland under the control of the Secretary of State for Scotland. Following the es ...

Civil service

While at the

, Elvidge worked particularly in the fields of

economic development In the economics study of the public sector, economic and social development is the process by which the economic well-being and quality of life of a nation, region, local community, or an individual are improved according to targeted goals and ...

, physical infrastructure and

European Union The European Union (EU) is a supranational political and economic union of member states that are located primarily in Europe. The union has a total area of and an estimated total population of about 447million. The EU has often been de ...

relations. He was seconded to Scottish Homes, from 1988 to 1989, and to the Cabinet Office, from 1998 to 1999, where he was involved in co-ordination of the

Government A government is the system or group of people governing an organized community, generally a state. In the case of its broad associative definition, government normally consists of legislature, executive, and judiciary. Government is ...

's legislative programme and

social policies Social policy is a plan or action of government or institutional agencies which aim to improve or reform society. Some professionals and universities consider social policy a subset of public policy, while other practitioners characterize soci ...

. In May 1999, he was appointed Head of the Scottish Government Education Department, and in March 2002 became Head of the

Finance and Central Services Department From 1999 until 2007, the Finance and Central Services Department (SEFCSD) was a civil service department of the Scottish Executive. SEFCSD was responsible for the financial administration of the Executive, including the annual budget and the is ...

. In 2003, he became Permanent Secretary to the Scottish Government, succeeding Sir

, who became

Principal of the University of Glasgow The Principal of the University of Glasgow is the working head of the University, acting as its chief executive. He is responsible for the day-to-day management of the University as well as its strategic planning and administration. The Principa ...

. He announced his retirement on 21 May 2010, to take effect in June, to enable his successor to prepare for the Scottish Parliament elections in May 2011.

Appointment as chairman of Edinburgh Airport

In May 2012 it was announced that Elvidge had been appointed by

Global Infrastructure Partners Global Infrastructure Partners (GIP) is an infrastructure investment fund making equity and selected debt investments. GIP's main headquarters are located in New York City and its equity investments are based on infrastructure assets in the energ ...

as chairman of

Edinburgh Airport Edinburgh Airport is an airport located in the Ingliston area of Edinburgh, Scotland. It was the busiest airport in Scotland in 2019, handling over 14.7 million passengers. It was also the sixth-busiest airport in the United Kingdom by ...

. The appointment was effective from 1 June 2012, following completion of Global Infrastructure Partners' £807.2 million acquisition of the airport from BAA.

Honours and awards

Elvidge was created a

Knight Commander of the Bath The Most Honourable Order of the Bath is a British order of chivalry founded by George I on 18 May 1725. The name derives from the elaborate medieval ceremony for appointing a knight, which involved bathing (as a symbol of purification) as on ...

(KCB) in the

2006 Birthday Honours The Birthday Honours 2006 for the Commonwealth realms were announced on 17 June 2006, to celebrate the Queen's Birthday of 2006.Antigua & Barbuda list: The recipients of honours are displayed here as they were styled before their new honour, an ...

. He was elected a Fellow of the Royal Society of Edinburgh in 2009.

Personal life

He is married to Maureen McGinn (Lady Elvidge) who is a member of the Scotland Committee of the Big Lottery, chair of the Board of ASH Scotland, and was chief executive of the Laidlaw Youth Trust which funded effective interventions supporting children and vulnerable young people in Scotland. She was awarded a CBE in the 2021 New Year Honours. His interests include painting, film, theatre, music, modern novels, sport, the arts and food and wine.

References

External links

Scottish Government Strategic Board and biography
{{DEFAULTSORT:Elvidge, John 1951 births Living people Permanent Secretaries of the Scottish Executive Civil servants in the Scottish Office Civil servants in the Cabinet Office Alumni of St Catherine's College, Oxford Knights Commander of the Order of the Bath