Liz Cameron (Councillor)
A Member of Glasgow City Council since 1992 and Councillor for Garscadden/Scotstounhill, Bailie Elizabeth 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).[2] She has been a vocal campaigner on behalf of Glasgow's museums, advocating their national status,[3] 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.[4]
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.' [5]
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,[6] 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.'[7]
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[8] and for developing Glasgow's tourism strategy.[9]
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.[10]
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.'[11]
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. [12]
Notes
- ↑ Hamilton and Ellis, 'Joy as Liz is crowned Queen of Scotland', Evening Times. 1 February, 4.
- ↑ Who's Who 2008. A&C Black, London, p. 365.
- ↑ Liz Cameron, 'Glasgow's strategy for galleries' The Herald 27 April 2001, 23.
- ↑ Mark Aitken, 'How Bridget McConnell opened a new chapter in free trips contro-versy', The Mail on Sunday 20 February 2005, 12.
- ↑ Fiona McCade Restless Native: If they’re game arrest themFiona McCade The Sunday Times 22 January 2006 (accessed 6/2/08)
- ↑ Paul Drury ‘First-class travel and 5-star hotels ...the true cost of winning Games’ Mail on Sunday (London) 16 March, 2008
- ↑ Paul Drury, '£ 1.7m bill for fun 'n games', The Sun, 17 March 2008.
- ↑ Glasgow: Scotland with Style Brand Guide Media:Glasgow_Scotland_with_style_-_The_City_Brand_SEPTE.pdf
- ↑ Glasgow's Tourism Strategy to 2016Co-published by Glasgow City Marketing Bureau, Glasgow City Council, Scottish Enterprise and VisitScotland, 2007 (accessed 4 April 2008)
- ↑ Jonathan Paisley, 'Go-ahead for six-star hotel: Councillors back plans to build £125 iconic development, Evening Times, 14 November 2007, 11.
- ↑ Register of Councillors' Interests (accessed 2 March 2008)
- ↑ Alan MacDermid, 'France bestows top honour on Cameron', The Herald, 19 April 2007, 8.
