Elizabeth Gardiner

Dame Elizabeth Anne Finlay Gardiner DCB KC (Hon) (born 19 March 1966) is a British solicitor and senior civil servant who served as the First Parliamentary Counsel from November 2015 until 2024.^[1][2]

Dame Elizabeth Gardiner DCB KC (Hon)
First Parliamentary Counsel
In office 24 November 2015 – April 2024
Prime Minister	David Cameron Theresa May Boris Johnson Elizabeth Truss Rishi Sunak
Preceded by	Richard Heaton
Personal details
Born	(1966-03-19) 19 March 1966 (age 59)
Nationality	British

After education at the University of Edinburgh^[1] and working as a solicitor in Scotland^[3] Gardiner has worked at the Office of the Parliamentary Counsel since 1991, and as a director-general-graded Parliamentary Counsel from 2003 until her promotion in 2015,^[1] where she succeeded Richard Heaton.^[2][4] As of September 2015, as a Director-General Gardiner was paid a salary of between £175,000 and £179,999, making her one of the 328 most highly paid people in the British public sector at that time.^[5]

Gardiner was appointed Companion of the Order of the Bath (CB) in the 2013 Birthday Honours^[6] and Dame Commander of the Order of the Bath (DCB) in the 2021 Birthday Honours for services to government and the legislative process.^[7]

In January 2019, Gardiner became the Civil Service Champion for the Civil Service Retirement Fellowship. In 2020 she was appointed as an honorary Queen's Counsel.^[8][9]