Lesley strathie biography of williams

Dame Lesley Ann Strathie, DCB (née Cooke; 24 September 1955 – 14 January 2012) was a British senior civil servant.

Lesley Ann Cooke was born in Stranraer, Scotland in 1955. She married David Strathie in 1974; the couple divorced in 1996). They had two children: a son (who predeceased his parents) and a daughter. Lesley Strathie was educated at Stranraer Academy and began her civil service career at age 16 at Scotland's then-Department of Health and Social Security, before moving to London in 1984.^[1]

She was named chief operating officer of Jobcentre Plus in 2003,^[2] and succeeded David Anderson as Acting Chief Executive on 16 May 2005 before being confirmed on 13 October; this appointment also made her the Second Permanent Secretary to the Department for Work and Pensions.^[3][4]

In November 2008 she was appointed Chief Executive and Permanent Secretary of HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC), succeeding Dave Hartnett who h