Meeting of the Parliament 25 February 2026 [Draft]
Occasions such as this remind us of the common humanity that we all share and the fundamental values that drive us in public service. However, there have been too many such motions in the course of this session of Parliament—too many towering and substantial giants of our politics and our Parliament have been taken from us far too soon, and Jeane’s passing in particular is a terrible blow.
I did not find it hard to reach for the words of this tribute. They came freely, because the news of her passing left me and my party with a profound sense of sadness. Although she was certainly our opponent and adversary, she always conducted herself with grace and purpose. She was a class act. We knew to trust her at her word and to never doubt the depth of the intellect that underpinned all the decisions to which she was party. We crossed swords—of course we did—but, although she never shirked from joining battle, she never lost the state of grace or decency with which she always conducted herself.
I remember one time when, on social media, she refused to be drawn on to the field of battle after I had posted a viral photograph of a cremated omelette that had been served to a patient in an Edinburgh hospital, but she had the matter dealt with quietly and with purpose.
That was in a simpler time before any of us had heard of Wuhan in China or Covid-19. I cannot remember a time in my life when I was more frightened than I was in those early days of the pandemic. We knew that the virus and lockdown were coming, but we did not know what any of it would mean for our nation or our people. Jeane was the first to strip away the artifice of political division and invite me and other health spokespeople into the very heart of Government decision making and thinking behind the response to the coronavirus emergency.
The weight of the responsibility and the ferocious pace of decision making must have been immense for her, but she always found time to respond to every text message, question and suggestion that I sent her, sometimes daily. When my daughter fell sick in the first wave of the pandemic, she asked me for updates every day. That was a measure of her humanity and decency as a person. She worked tirelessly and with a singular sense of purpose throughout the darkest days of that national emergency. She carried us with her and never showed any sign of the terror that gripped so many of us in those early days.
On hearing the news of her passing, I reached for the last exchanges that we shared by text message. It speaks to the affection and respect that I had for her that one of the last messages that I sent her, which followed her decision to step down from the Parliament, reads as follows:
“Genuinely sorry to learn of your news re stepping down. You have always been one of the brightest, nicest and best.”
I will keep her reply personal to me, but it was steeped in the warmth and grace that defined her, and I will treasure it.
On behalf of the Scottish Liberal Democrats, I wish Susan, Jeane’s family and all her friends love, light, laughter and the promise of better days ahead.