Early life and career
Thomson is the elder daughter of Labour peer George Thomson, Baron Thomson of Monifieth. [5] She was educated at Mary Datchelor Girls' School in Camberwell, a grammar school, [6] and graduated from York University, where she studied history and economics. [7]
She first joined the BBC as a journalist trainee in 1975, ultimately becoming a producer on Analysis (Radio 4) and later Panorama (BBC1) before becoming personal assistant to SDP leader Roy Jenkins in 1982. She spent over a decade at Channel 4 from 1984, initially as a commissioning editor, later as Head of Corporate Affairs from 1990, before rejoining the BBC in 1996 as Deputy Director of the World Service. [8] She became the Corporation's Director of Policy and Legal Affairs in July 2000, a job description later expanded to include Strategy, before being promoted to chief operating officer in 2006. In 2011 she was paid £385,000 by the organisation [9] before being made redundant. The Commons Public Accounts Committee suggested that her £670,000 redundancy pay-off was effectively paid to "compensate" her for missing out on the job of director-general. [10]
In October 2013 she became Executive Director of the English National Ballet. [11] [12]
Since November 2012, she has been Chair of Digital UK. [13] She is also chair of Tomorrow's People Trust's Ambassadors group and Trustee to a number of charities including the National Gallery. [14]
On 3 April 2025, Thomson was appointed to the BBC's board of directors as its senior independent director. undertaking a four-year term until 2029. [15]
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