Dee Ward Steps Down as Scottish Land & Estates Chairman After Three Year Tenure
Pictured Above: Dee being presented with a Caddon Design glass sculpture as a thank you from the SLE staff team
On 12 May 2026, Dee Ward stepped down after his three-year tenure as Chairman at Scottish Land & Estates.
Sarah-Jane Laing, Chief Executive of Scottish Land & Estates, said: “At our Annual General Meeting, I had the great privilege of expressing a huge thank you to Dee on behalf of the entire SLE staff team. Dee has played an important role within SLE for a number of years, beginning as Vice-Chairman (Policy) before taking on the role of Chairman. Dee has been not just a Chairman, but also an incredible friend and source of support to us all.”
At SLE’s 2026 AGM, Dee was formally approved to stay on the Board as director for another year. Dee delivered an excellent speech expressing his passion, work and mission he had as Chairman and the important role that SLE plays in making positive change for rural Scotland.
Dee Ward’s 2026 Annual General Meeting Speech
My Lords, ladies, gentlemen,
Friends,
It is my pleasure to welcome you to SLE’s Annual General Meeting for the last time in my role as Chairman.
When I first took on the role of Chairman of Scottish Land & Estates, I knew there would be challenges ahead. What I perhaps did not fully appreciate at the time was quite how many challenges would arrive all at once. The last year has certainly been no exception.
In recent years, rural Scotland has weathered storms that at times felt relentless. We have faced political, legislative and regulatory uncertainty, economic upheaval, a global pandemic, rising costs, workforce shortages, growing division in public debate, and an ever-increasing expectation that rural businesses should somehow do more, produce more, house more, restore more, and contribute more, sometimes while being told they themselves matter less.
And yet, through all of this, I think there is reason to be optimistic about the future of rural Scotland.
Because when the pressure comes, neither we nor our members shy away. We step forward.
When communities needed support during Covid, rural businesses delivered it.
When governments speak of restoring nature, it is our members who plant the trees, restore the peatlands and manage our iconic landscapes.
As Scotland’s housing crisis deepens, it is our members who continue trying to build homes for workers and families despite an increasingly difficult environment in which to do so.
And when Scotland needs economic growth, jobs and investment, rural businesses continue to provide them.
Quietly. Consistently. Often without recognition.
That is something I will always be enormously proud of.
Now, I suspect it will not surprise anyone in this room to hear me say that the relationship between rural Scotland and politics has not always been an easy one during my time as Chairman.
There have been moments where it has felt as though parts of the political debate viewed rural businesses less as partners in Scotland’s success and more as problems to be solved.
At times, it would have been easy for SLE to become defensive. To become angry. To simply shout louder.
But that is not what this organisation did.
Instead, SLE chose to lead.
We chose to engage seriously. To argue our case calmly. To produce evidence. To bring forward solutions. To challenge where necessary, but also to build relationships, find common ground and make the positive case for rural Scotland at every opportunity.
And I believe we are stronger for it.
One of the things I have admired most during my time as Chairman is the resilience of this organisation and its members.
Because resilience is not simply the ability to withstand pressure. It is the ability to keep moving forward despite it.
And forward we have moved.
We have seen SLE become an increasingly influential voice in national debates around the economy, housing, energy, natural capital and repopulation.
We have demonstrated that rural Scotland is not some nostalgic backdrop to the “real” economy. Rural Scotland is central to Scotland’s economic future.
After all, 98% of Scotland’s landmass is rural. The renewable energy transition depends upon it. Much of our food and drink success depends upon it. Tourism depends upon it. Nature restoration depends upon it.
And perhaps most importantly of all, people depend upon it.
That is why I believe so strongly that the debate about rural Scotland must now change.
For too long, conversations about the countryside have been framed around restriction, limitation and decline.
But I have seen enough over these past years to know there is another story to tell.
It is a story about opportunity.
Opportunity to restore and enhance nature.
Opportunity to create jobs for local people and attract talent to the countryside.
Opportunity to produce clean energy.
Opportunity to repopulate communities and build places where young people can once again see a future.
And I believe Scottish Land & Estates has played an important role in helping shape that conversation.
Of course, no Chairman achieves anything alone.
I want to pay tribute to our outstanding staff team, our Chief Executive Sarah-Jane Laing, my fellow office bearers, our regional committees and, above all, our members.
Organisations like ours are only ever as strong as the people behind them. And despite all the challenges we have faced, I have consistently been inspired by the innovation, determination and sheer hard work of the people who make up this organisation.
People who care deeply about the places they live and work.
People who continue investing in Scotland even when the easier option would sometimes have been not to.
People who understand what it means to be stewards of our environment.
And finally, as I prepare to step down as Chairman, let me say this.
I leave this role more convinced than ever that rural Scotland’s best days lie ahead.
Not because the challenges have disappeared. They most certainly have not.
Not because success is guaranteed. It never is.
But because I have seen first-hand the people who are prepared to fight for it.
And if Scotland is serious about economic growth, environmental progress, stronger communities and national success, then it must be serious about rural Scotland too.
To everyone who has supported me during my time as Chairman: thank you.
It has been an enormous privilege.
And while I may be stepping down from this role, I can assure you of one thing.
I will continue to champion rural Scotland and I sincerely look forward to supporting Patrick as he takes up the enormous privilege of becoming SLE’s next Chairman.
Thank you.
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