Patricia Janet Scotland, Baroness Scotland of Asthal, PC, KC (born 19 August 1955), is a British diplomat, barrister and politician, serving as the sixth secretary-general of the Commonwealth of Nations. She was elected at the 2015 Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting and took office on 1 April 2016. She is the first woman to hold the post.[2] She was elevated to the House of Lords in 1997 and, as a British Labour Party politician, served in ministerial positions within the UK Government, most notably as the Attorney General for England and Wales and Advocate General for Northern Ireland. She is a dual citizen of the United Kingdom and Dominica, where she was born.[3]
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- ^ "Patricia Scotland". University of London. Retrieved 29 June 2023.
- ^ "Commonwealth elects first woman secretary general". Times of Malta. 27 November 2015. Archived from the original on 24 February 2021. Retrieved 27 November 2015.
- ^ "CHOGM: Patricia Scotland is first female Commonwealth secretary-general". The Australian. 28 November 2015. Retrieved 28 November 2015.