THE winner of the The Herald Scottish Politician of the Year Awards will be named tonight, as the event celebrates its 20th anniversary in style.
Hosted by the BBC radio and TV reporter Sarah Smith, the prestigious ceremony will take place at the five-star Prestonfield House in Edinburgh.
Organised by The Herald, the awards are sponsored by NVT Group, Royal Bank of Scotland, ScottishPower, Virgin Trains and Openreach, and supported by Scottish Water.
More than 500 guests will be in attendance this evening, which will be enjoyed by elected officials, key decision makers, commentators and opinion formers.
Guests will be entertained by musical comedy Playing Politics and Scottish poet Rab Wilson.
Created in the first year of devolution, the awards have always recognised the work carried out by Scotland’s politicians at Holyrood and Westminster, as well as in local government.
The best public campaign or campaigner of the year will also receive an award tonight.
Previous winners of the coveted Politician of the Year Award include Donald Dewar. Jim Wallace, Jack McConnell, John Swinney, Alex Salmond and Nicola Sturgeon.
The winner of the top award for the last two years, Scottish Conservative leader Ruth Davidson, is nominated again this year alongside SNP Health Secretary Jeane Freeman and Constitutional Relations Secretary Michael Russell.
Shortlisted for the Public Campaign or Campaigner of the Year Award are Fans Against Criminalisation, who drove the repeal of the Offensive Behaviour at Football Act.
Gillian Murray is nominated for her work on mental health treatment after she secured an independent review of services in NHS Tayside following the death of her uncle.
Scottish Women’s Aid are nominated in this category for their work on the Domestic Abuse (Scotland) Act, which criminalised coercive and controlling behaviour in a relationship as well as violence.
The judging panel, chaired by Donald Martin, Editor of The Herald and Herald on Sunday, also selected an impressive array of winners in the Best Scot at Westminster, Donald Dewar Debater of the Year, and One to Watch categories.
For a full list of this year’s nominees please visit http://newsquestscotlandevents.com/events/politicianawards.
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