13 Facts About Leslie Evans

Leslie Evans was born on 11 December 1958 and was the Permanent Secretary to the Scottish Government.

Leslie Evans was the senior civil servant in Scotland and led more than 5,000 civil servants working for the Scottish Government, supporting development, implementation and communication of government policies, in accordance with the Civil Service Code.

Leslie Evans was succeeded as Permanent Secretary by John-Paul Marks in January 2022.

Leslie Evans was educated at High Storrs School in Sheffield and studied Music at the University of Liverpool.

Leslie Evans has lived in Scotland since 1985 and is a feminist.

Leslie Evans joined the Scottish Government in September 2000, having spent 20 years working for local authorities in Scotland and England.

In May 2015, it was announced that Leslie Evans would be the first woman to become the Permanent Secretary to the Scottish Government, taking up the position on 1 July 2015.

The Scottish Government's website describes Ms Leslie Evans as being the principal accountable officer for the Scottish Government, with personal responsibility for the propriety and regularity of government finance and for economic, efficient and effective use of all related resources.

Leslie Evans should stand down; she cost the Scottish taxpayer a large amount of money, and should have gone in 2019.

In January 2020, it was announced that Leslie Evans will remain in post until spring 2022.

Leslie Evans had previously said it would be "unusual in employment policies to have any independent element until after the procedure has been exhausted".

An inquiry by the Committee on the Scottish Government Handling of Harassment Complaints concluded that an "individual failing" by Leslie Evans was instrumental in the collapse of the defence to the judicial review action by Salmond.

Leslie Evans is married to Derek McVay, a former member of 1970s Edinburgh punk group The Visitors who became a production manager for the jazz-funk band Jamiroquai.