Susan is a writer, communications expert and researcher. She is a columnist for the Scotsman, Scotland’s national newspaper, where she write about women, politics, the world. Her first book The Spirit of Malawi was published in February 2021.

She was the Chief Press Officer for Lord McConnell during much of his period as First Minister of Scotland, and was deputy leader of Edinburgh City Council from 1997 to 1999. She spent seven years as a Labour councillor in Edinburgh from 1992 to 1999, when she left to become the chief writer for the Edinburgh Evening News.