Liz is a well-known public figure as a result of her four successive terms as an elected Member of the Scottish Parliament for Mid Scotland and Fife between 2007 and 2026 and, having stood down from office at the 2026 Scottish Parliament election, she is working as an Education Consultant specialising in outdoor education.
Recently, she was also appointed to the Court at the University of St Andrews and a Trustee of Cricket Development Trust Scotland.
Throughout her long parliamentary career, she served in various Shadow Cabinet roles in the Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party including Education, Finance, Environment, and Social Security, and she was Chief Whip during the height of the Covid pandemic. Liz was also a highly regarded member of various parliamentary committees including Education and Skills and Finance and Public Administration. and she was chair of three cross-party groups; those on Colleges and Universities, Sport, and Outdoor Education.
Liz was perhaps best known in politics for successfully ensuring the Schools (Residential Outdoor Education) (Scotland) Bill became an Act of Parliament in February 2026 and for her work over 12 years to secure a Public Inquiry to investigate the clinical malpractice of Mr Sam Eljamel during his years as surgeon at NHS Tayside and the accompanying, alleged, criminal activities. For this work, representing his former patients, she was awarded The Herald Politician Campaigner of the Year 2023 and the Holyrood Magazine Political Hero of the Year 2024. Along with colleagues on the Finance and Public Administration Committee, she was also a recipient of the Powering Change Award 2023 and the Committee of the Year Award 2025. She was also the Holyrood Magazine winner of Speech of the Year Award in 2026.
As a result of Liz’s long-serving commitment to the world of sport, she was awarded a CBE for services to Sport in the King’s New Year’s Honours List in 2024.
Liz was educated at George Watson’s College and the University of Edinburgh where she obtained an Honours Degree in Economics and Politics after which she undertook her teacher training course and a Diploma in Education at Moray House College.
Prior to being elected to the Scottish Parliament, Liz was a teacher (Economics and Modern Studies) at George Watson’s College in Edinburgh between 1983 and 1998 during which time, in 1995, she was also the Fellow Commoner at Corpus Christi College, Cambridge in 1995.
Between her teaching and MSP careers, Liz worked in central office in the Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party with specific responsibility to Sir Malcolm Rifkind KCMG, KC as he led the Rifkind Policy Review between 1998 and 2001, and then as Head of the Chairman’s office 2001-2006.
Outside politics, Liz is a keen sportswoman with particular interest in cricket and hill-walking. She won seven caps with the Scottish Women’s Cricket XI, is a former President of the Scottish Women’s Cricket Association, and is an official Munroist on account of her completing all of the 282 peaks in Scotland over 3,000ft.
Liz’s other interests include travel, especially to Switzerland, photography, listening to classical music, and cooking.
