Liz Cameron (Councillor)

Bailie Liz Cameron: Voted 2008 Scotswoman of the year by the Evening Times

A Member of Glasgow City Council since 1992 and Councillor for Garscadden/Scotstounhill, Bailie Liz Cameron is a member of the Scottish Labour Party.

Cultural Interests

As Deputy Convener of Arts and Culture (1995-98) and Convener of Culture and Leisure Services (1998-2003), Cameron has been in a position to infleunce a wide range of cultural organisations including the Scottish Arts Council (of which she has been a member since 2002), National Galleries of Scotland (Trustee 2002-6) and Glasgow Film Theatre (President). She has been a vocal campaigner on behalf of Glasgow's museums, advocating their national status, and involving herself in the Kelvingrove Refurbishment Appeal Trust.

In March 2007, Cameron was appointed as Chair of the Board of Culture and Sport Glasgow. As such, her thinking largely coincides with that of its Executive Director, Bridget McConnell and the pair often travel together.

Bonne Vivante

Liz Cameron travels the world at Glasgow's expense. From 2003 to 2007, she was Lord Provost and Lord-Lieutenant of Glasgow, during which time she racked up 'travel expenses of £60,000, 11 times the amount spent by her counterpart in Edinburgh, Lesley Hinds. ... The lord provost’s travels included an indispensable trip to New York for its Tartan Day celebrations, at a cost of £17,000. A visit to Sri Lanka after the tsunami racked up another £12,000, though ironically its purpose was to see how relief money raised in Glasgow was being spent.'

It would seem that Cameron's luxury travel habits have persisted as part of the Glasgow Commonwealth Games 2014 team. As part of a lavish delegation to Melbourne led by Derek Casey, Liz cost the taxpayer £1,877, prompting Matthew Elliott, of the TaxPayers' Alliance, to remark 'There's a big difference between promotional travel and living it up at the taxpayers' expense.'

Glasgow the Brand

Capitalising on her civic pride, Cameron is remunerated for her work as Vice Chair of Glasgow City Marketing Bureau - the agency responsible for coining the term Glasgow: Scotland with Style and for developing Glasgow's tourism strategy. Liz is also paid for her work as Vice Chair of Glasgow Cultural Enterprises.

Power and Influence

Liz Cameron sits on many influential committees in the city, not least the planning applications committee, so not only does she decide that the city needs a luxury hotel but she also decides which developers secure permission to build it.

Highly networked, Liz Cameron declares the following non-financial interests:

Board member Hutcheson Grammar School

Board member RSNO Chorus Trust

Chair: Culture and Sport Glasgow

Chair: Scottish Baroque Ensemble

Concert Hall Vice Chair GCE

Doctor of Glasgow's three universities, Glasgow, Strathclyde and Caledonian

Hon Fellow of the Royal College of Physicians and Surgeons

Member of Jazz Festival Board

Member of National Youth Choir Board

Member of the Board of Westbourne Music

Member the Museums Association United Kingdom

Member: Arches Theatre Co.

Member: City of Unesco Steering Group

Member: Glasgow Film Theatre

Member: Les Rencontres European Cultural Network

Member: North Glasgow College Board

Member: Scottish International Piano Competition

Member: Si Tous Les Ports du Monde

Patron of the Glasgow Celtic Society (for the promotion of Gaelic language and Culture)

On the Register of Councillors' Interests, she declares 'my husband, Duncan F. Cameron, is a Partner of a firm of Educational Consultants, C.M. Associates. It is not without the bounds of possibility that he will, through his company, tender for work that may be local government related.'

Fluent in three languages, Liz Cameron was made an officer of the Orde des Arts et des Lettres, one of France's leading cultural decorations, in 2006.