Join us for our first event in our new series, Forgotten Wisdom? which investigates potential lost learning that could be useful today.

Hear former Special Advisor and University of Edinburgh PhD Candidate, Stephen Noon discuss his research with key figures from the early days of devolution, and if there are key lessons to learn. We’ll also have reflections from Sir John Elvidge, former Permanent Secretary and Esther Roberton former Co-ordinator of the Scottish Constitutional Convention.   

This event is in-person and will be live streamed on YouTube, where a recording will be available afterwards. For in-person guests, registration and refreshments will commence at 5.30pm, for a prompt 6pm start. The conversation will finish at 7.30pm, followed by drinks.

This is a joint event brought to you by the David Hume Institute in partnership with Women in Public Affairs Scotland.  The event will be chaired by Eli Harji from Women in Public Affairs Scotland and is kindly hosted by Shepherd and Wedderburn.

About the speakers

Stephen Noon worked at a senior level in government, parliament and politics in Scotland, developing a wide expertise across the range of public policy and political strategy. He was then a Jesuit for seven years, which involved periods of work and studies. He is currently a PhD student at the University of Edinburgh looking at how we do politics in Scotland, with a focus on devolution's promise of a 'new politics'. In addition to the studies, he works part-time in two roles. First, as part of the Public Affairs team for Weber Shandwick in Scotland and, second, as a Research Associate at the new Centre for Public Policy at the University of Glasgow.

Sir John Elvidge was Permanent Secretary to the Scottish Government from 2003 to 2010. He had previously worked in the Cabinet Office and the Scottish Office and has worked in an advisory role with several governments in Europe, China and North America. He is an Adjunct Professor at Shanghai Jiao Tong University and works with the University of Oxford on programmes for leadership and public policy for overseas governments. His report Northern Exposure: Lessons from the first twelve years of devolved government in Scotland was published by the Institute for Government as part of its Inside Out series. Since leaving government, John has been Chair Carnegie UK Trust and the David Hume Institute.  He is currently Chair of Edinburgh Airport Ltd.

Esther Roberton was Co-ordinator of the Scottish Constitutional Convention, whose 1995 publication ‘Scotland’s Parliament, Scotland’s Right’ provided the blueprint for devolution. Esther is currently a non-executive director of Scotland’s Futures Forum. She has spent a lifetime in public service, most recently as Chair of NHS Lothian and Fife Cultural Trust. Before that she was Chair of NHS24 and a Non-Executive Director of the Scottish Government. In 2017 she was asked to chair the Independent Review of Legal Services Regulation for the Scottish Government and was a Press Complaints Commissioner from 2007 to 2014.