Patricia Scotland

The Right Honourable
The Baroness Scotland of Asthal
PC KC
The Right Honourable The Baroness Scotland of Asthal PC KC
	Scotland in 2022
6th Secretary-General of the Commonwealth of Nations
	In office; 1 April 2016 – 31 March 2025
Head	Elizabeth II; Charles III;
Chair	Joseph Muscat (Malta); Theresa May (UK); Boris Johnson (UK); Paul Kagame (Rwanda); Fiamē Naomi Mataʻafa (Samoa);
Preceded by	Kamalesh Sharma
Succeeded by	Shirley Ayorkor Botchwey
Attorney General for England and Wales
	In office; 28 June 2007 – 11 May 2010
Prime Minister	Gordon Brown
Preceded by	The Lord Goldsmith
Succeeded by	Dominic Grieve
Prime Minister
Junior ministerial offices
Advocate General for Northern Ireland
	In office; 12 April 2010 – 11 May 2010
Prime Minister	Gordon Brown
Preceded by	Office created
Succeeded by	Dominic Grieve
Attorney General for Northern Ireland
	In office; 28 June 2007 – 12 April 2010
Prime Minister	Gordon Brown
Preceded by	The Lord Goldsmith
Succeeded by	John Larkin
Minister of State for Criminal Justice and Offender Management
	In office; 12 June 2003 – 28 June 2007
Prime Minister	Tony Blair
Preceded by	The Lord Falconer of Thoroton
Succeeded by	The Baroness Browning (2011)
Parliamentary Secretary for Lord Chancellor's Department
	In office; 12 June 2001 – 13 June 2003
Prime Minister	Tony Blair
Preceded by	The Lord Bach
Succeeded by	The Lord Filkin
Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs
	In office; 28 July 1999 – 12 June 2001
Prime Minister	Tony Blair
Preceded by	The Baroness Symons of Vernham Dean
Succeeded by	Ben Bradshaw; The Baroness Amos;
Leader
Further offices held
Shadow Attorney General for England and Wales
	In office; 11 May 2010 – 7 October 2011
Leader	Harriet Harman (acting); Ed Miliband;
Preceded by	Edward Garnier
Succeeded by	Emily Thornberry
Member of the House of Lords
	Lord Temporal
	Life peerage ; 30 October 1997
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Personal details
Born	Patricia Janet Scotland; 19 August 1955; Dominica, British Windward Islands
Party	Labour
Alma mater	University College London; Middle Temple;
Profession	Barrister

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Patricia Janet Scotland, Baroness Scotland of Asthal, PC, KC (born 19 August 1955), is a Dominican-British barrister and politician who served as the sixth secretary-general of the Commonwealth of Nations from 2016 to 2025. She was the first woman to hold that post.

After working as a barrister in London, she was appointed as a life peer in 1997 and, as a British Labour Party politician, served in ministerial positions within the UK Government, most notably as Attorney General for England and Wales and as Advocate General for Northern Ireland. She is a dual citizen of the United Kingdom and Dominica, where she was born.