Susan Catherine Deacon (born 2 February 1964) is a former Scottish Labour politician, and public figure who has held leadership roles across the private, public and third sectors, and in academia and national politics. She was the Member of the Scottish Parliament (MSP) for Edinburgh East & Musselburgh from 1999–2007 and served as Scotland’s first Cabinet Minister for Health and Community Care following the creation of the Scottish Parliament in 1999. She was Assistant Principal External Relations at the University of Edinburgh from 2012–2018 and has been a non-executive director of several companies. She was the first female Chair of the Institute of Directors from 2015–18 and was appointed Chair of the Scottish Police Authority on 4 December 2017. Education Born in Musselburgh, Deacon attended Musselburgh Grammar School where she was head girl and active in inter-schools debating. She studied at the University of Edinburgh, graduating with an MA (Hons) in Social Policy and Politics in 1987 and later an MBA in 1992. She was vice president of Edinburgh University Students' Association, and chair of Scottish Labour Students. Early career Deacon's early career was in local government where she worked for seven years in research and management roles. After a spell in management consultancy and training in the private sector, she became director of MBA programmes at the Edinburgh Business School, at Heriot-Watt University, which included managing Scotland's first Consortium MBA programme for companies. Deacon was involved in the creation of the Business School as a new graduate school within the university. Meanwhile, she rose through Labour ranks serving on the Scottish Labour Party's National Executive and was a founder member of the pro-devolution pressure group, Scottish Labour Action. Member of Scottish Parliament Deacon was elected to the Scottish Parliament as MSP for Edinburgh East and Musselburgh in May 1999 and, though widely tipped for ministerial office, her appointment by First Minister Donald Dewar as Scotland’s first cabinet Minister for Health and Community Care came as a surprise to many. She had been education spokesperson in Dewar's election campaign team and had been initially rejected as a candidate by Scottish Labour's controversial vetting process, eventually becoming the only person to appeal successfully. Despite this rocky start, Deacon gained respect in the new Parliament and was regarded as one of Labour's most effective performers – and was tipped as a possible future First Minister. In 1999, she won Frontbencher of the