Draft:Ken Thomson (Scottish official)

Ken Thomson is a former Scottish government and association official known for his role in helping other officials avoid scrutiny.

Thomson served as the Director General for Strategy and External Affairs at the Scottish Government for 12 years. During this time, he was responsible for overseeing Operation Unicorn, which involved coordinating the Scottish ceremonies held in the aftermath of the death of Queen Elizabeth II.

Thomson was Donald Dewar's principal private secretary between 1997 and 1999. From 2005 onwards he was a senior advisor to Scottish ministers on constitutional policy, including working on the 2014 independence referendum..

In evidence revealed by the UK Covid Inquiry, Thomson advised his Scottish Government colleagues to delete messages and reportedly told colleagues that "plausible deniability are my middle names". Thomson denied that this advice was an attempt to hide from scrutiny.

In a message to deputy chief medical officer Lesley Steedman, Thomson said: “Just to remind you (seriously), this is discoverable under FoI [freedom of information]. Know where the “clear chat” button is…”.

In 2024, after testimony to the Covid inquiry, Thomson quit as chairman of the Institute of Chartered Accountants of Scotland (ICAS).