Councillor Dr. Jenny Dawe
Leader City of Edinburgh Council

Speaker Bio:

Education: Trinity Academy, Edinburgh; Aberdeen University; Edinburgh University M.A.; PhD (Thesis: A History of Cotton-growing in East and Central Africa)

Career: Librarian, Tanzania and Malawi 1966-80; Tutor, American & Commonwealth History department, Edinburgh University 1985-87; Information Officer, Lothian Community Relations Council, 1988-90; Senior Welfare Rights Officer 1996 – 2007.

Liberal Democrat record: Joined party in 1961 while still at school; held various offices within Local Parties, including Treasurer, Membership Secretary, Convener; past member of Scottish Policy Committee and Scottish Conference Committee.

Council: elected to Edinburgh City Council, October 1997; Leader of the Liberal Democrat Group since 1999. Cllr Dawe was appointed Leader of City of Edinburgh Council on 24 May 2007.

Jenny Dawe is the most senior member on the City of Edinburgh Council which has an annual budget of over £1 billion; she leads the Liberal Democrat and Scottish National Party Coalition Administration. Cllr Dawe chairs the Policy and Strategy Committee of the Council, and is the Chairperson of the City’s Community Planning Partnership which develops and influences the services provided by the main public, private and voluntary agencies in the city.

Special interests: human rights, social justice and equality issues; electoral reform; fair and sustainable development.