John Edward (civil servant)

John Edward (born 22 September 1968) is Head of Operations of the Scottish Council on Global Affairs Scotland's first international relations institute, previously a charity CEO, an EU and Scottish civil servant and campaigner.

For the American psychic and medium, see John Edward.

John Edward
Head of Operations of the Scottish Council on Global Affairs since 2023.
Personal details
Born (1968-09-22) 22 September 1968
Edinburgh, Scotland
SpouseAlexandra Angulo
RelationsElizabeth and David Edward.
ChildrenOne son
One daughter
ResidenceScotland
Alma materUniversity of St Andrews
University of Glasgow
Università per Stranieri di Siena
Professionpublic policy, public servant, international affairs

Education

John Edward was educated at the University of St Andrews (Scottish History), the University of Glasgow and the Università per Stranieri di Siena.

Career

After working as a stagiaire (intern) in ECHO (European Commission) in Brussels, John Edward worked for the European Policy Centre as personal assistant to Max Kohnstamm.
He was employed for 5 years as the EU Policy Manager by Scotland Europa.[1][2]

John Edward was then Parliamentary Manager for Scottish Enterprise then served as Head of the Office in Scotland of the European Parliament from 2003 to 2009.[3][4]

From 2010 to 2023, John Edward was Director of the Scottish Council of Independent Schools.[5]

European campaigning

John Edward was Chief Campaign Spokesman[6] for Scotland Stronger in Europe, the discrete Scottish campaign to Remain in the European Union during the 2016 United Kingdom European Union membership referendum.[7][8][9][10]

From 2016 to 2018, John Edward represented Scotland for Open Britain.[11][12][13] In 2018-19 he chaired media events for the Scotland element of the People's Vote campaign.[14][15]

He contributed a chapter on "Soft power in hard times" to the 2017 IPPR publication, "Scotland, the UK and Brexit: A guide to the future".

He was a Liberal Democrat candidate in the 2019 European Parliament election in the United Kingdom, for the Scotland region.[16][17]

Other activities

John Edward served on the Presiding Officer of the Scottish Parliament's Commission on Parliamentary Reform which produced a Report on how the Scottish Parliament can engage better with the people of Scotland and how its work can be improved to deliver better scrutiny in 2017.

He was a member of the Steel Commission on “Moving Towards Federalism” from 2003 to 2006, and a member of the Campbell Commission on “Home and Community Rule” from 2011 to 2012.

John Edward is a trustee of the Scottish European Educational Trust, a non-political charity which promotes unbiased education about Europe and the wider world and encourages language learning amongst young people throughout Scotland.

References
  1. "John Edward: Door that swings open to real opportunities". www.scotsman.com.
  2. "ERA – Academy of European Law > ERA-Forum 2001 - Number 4". www.era.int.
  3. "Scotland are 'not pro-EU, just less anti'". www.scotsman.com.
  4. julegoikoetxea (7 January 2014). "The Scottish Referendum and the European dimension".
  5. "John Edward: Languages skills essential for global citizens". www.scotsman.com.
  6. "Why Scotland should Remain in the #EU". Britain Stronger In Europe.
  7. Peter Curran. "John Edward - IN campaign: Sunday Politics Scotland - kills LEAVE nonsense about 'undemocratic' EU" – via YouTube.
  8. Campbell, Glenn (1 February 2016). "Brexit campaign 'embryonic' in Scotland". BBC News.
  9. "Scottish EU remain campaign launches". BBC News. 10 May 2016.
  10. "Scotland backs Remain as UK votes Leave". BBC News. 24 June 2016.
  11. "Edinburgh march for vote on Brexit deal". BBC News. 14 April 2018.
  12. "64% of Scots think 'People's Vote' would overturn 2016 EU vote result – poll". Press Association. 1 November 2018.
  13. "John Edward: Anti-EU rhetoric makes Scotland look small". www.scotsman.com.
  14. "Scottish campaign calling for People's Vote on Brexit to launch". ITV News.
  15. Zawadzki, Adam (18 February 2019). "Scotland for a People's Vote cross-party campaign 'confident' of success". The Edinburgh Reporter.
  16. "John Edward". Scottish Liberal Democrats.
  17. "Debate Night - Series 1: 05/05/2019" – via www.bbc.co.uk.
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