Dame Lesley Ann Strathie, DCB (née Cooke; 24 September 1955 – 14 January 2012) was a British senior civil servant.
Lesley Strathie was educated at Stranraer Academy and began her civil service career at age 16 at Scotland's then-Department of Health and Social Security, before moving to London in 1984.
[2] Under instructions from ministers, she decreased HMRC staff by thousands and closed hundreds of tax offices leading to complaints that this resulted in worse service to taxpayers.
On 10 June 2010, Strathie appeared on the BBC One flagship consumer programme Watchdog as a result of complaints against HMRC, mainly about the high level of mistakes.
[citation needed] Strathie stood down as Chief Executive from HMRC on 9 November 2011 to concentrate on her battle against what proved to be terminal cancer.