Mary Pitcaithly

OBE The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is a British order of chivalry, rewarding valuable service in a wide range of useful activities. It comprises five classes of awards across both civil and military divisions, the most senior two o ...

is a Scottish civil servant who served as Chief Executive of

Falkirk Council Falkirk ( ; ; ) is one of 32 unitary authority council areas of Scotland. It was formed on 1 April 1996 by way of the Local Government etc. (Scotland) Act 1994 from the exact boundaries of Falkirk District, one of three parts of the Central ...

and the Convener of the Electoral Management Board for Scotland. The Scottish Independence Referendum Bill identifies the Convener of the Electoral Management Board for Scotland as the Chief Counting Officer for a referendum and thus she was Chief Counting Officer for the

2014 Scottish Independence Referendum A independence referendum, referendum on Scottish independence from the United Kingdom was held in Scotland on 18 September 2014. The referendum question was "Should Scotland be an independent country?", which voters answered with "Yes" or ...

Biography

Pitcaithly was born in

Camelon Camelon (; , ) is a large settlement within the Falkirk council area, Scotland. The village is in the Forth Valley, west of Falkirk, south of Larbert and east of Bonnybridge. The main road through Camelon is the A803 road which links th ...

, Scotland and attended

Falkirk High School Falkirk High School is a high school located in Falkirk, Stirlingshire that was founded in 1886. It is a non-denominational six-year fully comprehensive school, situated approximately one mile from the centre of the town. It serves a widespre ...

before going to the

University of Edinburgh The University of Edinburgh (, ; abbreviated as ''Edin.'' in Post-nominal letters, post-nominals) is a Public university, public research university based in Edinburgh, Scotland. Founded by the City of Edinburgh Council, town council under th ...

where she studied law. She initially worked in private practice in Falkirk before joining the public sector in 1995, becoming assistant to Walter Weir, chief executive of the newly formed Falkirk Council. In 1998, she became the first woman to hold the post of chief executive in any of Scotland's 32 councils and, at 41, one of the youngest. She is a former Chair of the Scottish Branch of the

Society of Local Authority Chief Executives and Senior Managers The Society of Local Authority Chief Executives and Senior Managers (Solace) is a representative body for senior strategic managers working in the public sector in the United Kingdom. Legally ''The Society of Local Authority Chief Executives and S ...

and has represented local government on a number of national bodies, including the Resilience Advisory Board for Scotland. She is a former member of the Arbuthnott Commission set up to consider boundary differences and voting systems in Scotland. Pitcaithly has been a Returning Officer since 1998 and has been involved with Scottish, UK and European Parliaments and Falkirk Council elections. She was a Depute Returning Officer for the Referendum held in Scotland in 1997 and was the Regional Counting Officer for Scotland in the

2011 United Kingdom Alternative Vote referendum The United Kingdom Alternative Vote referendum, also known as the UK-wide referendum on the Parliamentary voting system was held on Thursday 5 May 2011 in the United Kingdom to choose the method of electing MPs at subsequent general elections. ...

. Mary Pitcaithly received an

for services to local government in 2005. She was married to the late Euan Pitcaithly, former chief photographer of The

Falkirk Herald ''The Falkirk Herald'' is a weekly newspaper and daily news website published by JPIMedia, National World. It provides reportage, opinion and analysis of news, current affairs and sport in the towns of Falkirk, Camelon, Grangemouth, Larbert, Ste ...

, and has a daughter.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Pitcaithly, Mary 21st-century Scottish civil servants 21st-century British women civil servants Scottish women civil servants Scottish women in politics People from Falkirk Politics of Falkirk (council area) Alumni of the University of Edinburgh Officers of the Order of the British Empire People educated at Falkirk High School Living people Year of birth missing (living people)