STRONG leadership in hard times, challenging the status quo and being a voice for the unheard are key themes of the Scottish Politician of the Year Awards as they celebrate their 24th anniversary.
First Minister Nicola Sturgeon is nominated for the prestigious main title after reinvigorating her independence plans, maximising her influence at the Cop26 summit, and maintaining the SNP’s electoral dominance, with gains in May’s council poll after 15 years in power.
Scottish Labour leader Anas Sarwar is nominated for helping to turn around his party’s fortunes after a long spell in the doldrums, impressive campaigning in the local elections, sharp performances at FMQs, and the dogged pursuit of healthcare scandals.
The first Green ministers in the UK, Scottish Green co-leaders Patrick Harvie and Lorna Slater are jointly nominated after entering the Scottish Government alongside the SNP. Mr Harvie has already steered ground-breaking rent freeze legislation through Holyrood.
After a tumultuous 12 months in politics, The judges, chaired by Catherine Salmond, Editor of the Herald, went through intense deliberations before coming to their conclusions.
The 2022 Awards, the first held in person since the pandemic, will take place at Prestonfield House in Edinburgh on November 24, and are sponsored by Aiir Networks, Openreach Scotland and ScottishPower. Award-winning comedian and political satirist Matt Forde will be part of the entertainment.
Joanna Cherry KC, convener of the human rights committee that draws its members from both the Commons and the Lords, is nominated for Best Scotland at Westminster. The SNP MP has continued to raise concerns about gender reform despite hostility in her party and online, while her legal tactics on Indyref2 were adopted by the First Minister.
Liberal Democrat chief whip Wendy Chamberlain is nominated for taking a lead on a series of sexual harassment scandals, including former SNP MP Patrick Grady and Tory Chris Pincher, with the latter a final straw for Boris Johnson’s premiership.
The SNP’s Stewart McDonald is nominated for his efforts in trying to update the SNP’s defence and foreign policy strategy, for his outspoken support for Ukraine, and campaigning against disinformation in public life.
Anas Sarwar earns a second nomination in the Donald Dewar Debater of the Year category alongside fellow FMQs veterans Douglas Ross and Willie Rennie. Also nominated is Labour’s Richard Leonard for a powerful speech addressing still-painful injustices from the miners’ strike.
The judges were impressed by the calibre of MSPs suggested for the One to Watch category. All those making the short-list entered Holyrood last year: SNP Europe minister Neil Gray, Scottish Labour’s social justice spokesperson Pam Duncan-Glancy, Scottish Tory chair Craig Hoy and Green Gillian Mackay.
Mr Leonard is nominated again in the Committee MSP of the Year Award for his steering of the Public Audit Committee and its forensic investigation of the CalMac ferries scandal. Also shortlisted are Tory Russell Findlay for his work on the Criminal Justice Committee and Labour’s Monica Lennon for her torpedoing of the boss of P&O at the Transport Committee.
In the Community MSP of the Year category, Mr Ross is nominated for his focus on local maternity services in the Highlands, the former SNP minister Fergus Ewing for challenging his colleagues over road safety on the A9 and jobs in the oil and gas industry, and Labour’s Paul Sweeney for his work to tackle drug overdoses, including a new Bill.
In the Politics in Business category, SNP finance secretary Kate Forbes was short-listed alongside her Tory opposite number Murdo Fraser, SNP trade minister Ivan McKee and the Scottish Secretary Alister Jack.
Mr Leonard picks up a third nomination in the E-Politician of the Year category for his regular videos on social media, Tory Edward Mountain for speaking about his experience of bowel cancer, and Tory newcomer Dr Sandesh Gulhane for an innovative series of podcasts.
The hardest category to decide, because of the extremely strong and deserving suggestions, was Campaign or Campaigner of the Year. The judges shortlisted the Poverty Alliance for its work on Scottish Child Payments, Care Home Relatives Scotland for securing access to loved ones in care, and Back Off Scotland and Green MSP Gillian Mackay for their work on legislating to create protest-free buffer zones around abortion clinics.
For Local Politician of the Year, the nominees are Dundee leader John Alexander, Edinburgh leader Cammy Day and Inverclyde leader Stephen McCabe.
Group Managing Director, Aiir Networks, Hamish Fraser, said: “The build up to this year’s Scottish Politician of the Year Awards has been very exciting. Considering the standing of this year’s nominees across all categories and their combined contribution to Scottish politics, we know that this year’s awards are set to be the most momentous yet. May we pass on our congratulations to everyone who has been shortlisted and we look forward to celebrating with the nominees and the winners on November 24th!”
Robert Thorburn, partnership director for Openreach Scotland, said: “Excitement is building for the big night in November and we congratulate everyone who’s been shortlisted. We’re once again supporting the coveted Local Politician of the Year Award, which recognises those hard-working public servants who’ve shown outstanding commitment to their communities. It’s going to be a tough call as they’re all winners in our eyes.”
The shortlist in full:
Best Scot at Westminster
- Joanna Cherry MP
- Stewart McDonald MP
- Wendy Chamberlain MP
Donald Dewar Debater of the Year
Supported by Aiir Networks
- Anas Sarwar MSP
- Douglas Ross MSP
- Richard Leonard MSP
- Willie Rennie MSP
One to Watch
Supported by Scottish Power
- Craig Hoy MSP
- Gillian Mackay MSP
- Neil Gray MSP
- Pam Duncan-Glancy MSP
Committee MSP of the Year
- Monica Lennon MSP
- Richard Leonard MSP
- Russell Findlay MS
Community MSP of the Year:
- Douglas Ross MSP
- Fergus Ewing MSP
- Paul Sweeney MSP
Politics in Business
- Kate Forbes MSP
- Murdo Fraser MSP
- Rt Hon Alister Jack MP
- Ivan McKee MSP
E-Politician of the Year
- Dr Sandesh Gulhane MSP
- Edward Mountain MSP
- Richard Leonard MSP
Public Campaign or Campaigner of the Year:
- Back Off Scotland / Gillian Mackay
- Care Home Relatives Scotland
- Poverty Alliance
Scottish Local Politician of the Year
Supported by Openreach Councillor
- Cammy Day Councillor
- John Alexander Councillor
- Stephen McCabe
Lifetime achievement
- To be announced on the night
Scottish Politician of the Year
Presented by The Herald
- Anas Sarwar MSP
- Nicola Sturgeon MSP
- Patrick Harvie & Lorna Slater MSP
- For more information please contact Nina Holmes, Events Manager, on 0141 302 6138 or email nina.holmes@newsquest.co.uk or visit our website.
Why are you making commenting on The Herald only available to subscribers?
It should have been a safe space for informed debate, somewhere for readers to discuss issues around the biggest stories of the day, but all too often the below the line comments on most websites have become bogged down by off-topic discussions and abuse.
heraldscotland.com is tackling this problem by allowing only subscribers to comment.
We are doing this to improve the experience for our loyal readers and we believe it will reduce the ability of trolls and troublemakers, who occasionally find their way onto our site, to abuse our journalists and readers. We also hope it will help the comments section fulfil its promise as a part of Scotland's conversation with itself.
We are lucky at The Herald. We are read by an informed, educated readership who can add their knowledge and insights to our stories.
That is invaluable.
We are making the subscriber-only change to support our valued readers, who tell us they don't want the site cluttered up with irrelevant comments, untruths and abuse.
In the past, the journalist’s job was to collect and distribute information to the audience. Technology means that readers can shape a discussion. We look forward to hearing from you on heraldscotland.com
Comments & Moderation
Readers’ comments: You are personally liable for the content of any comments you upload to this website, so please act responsibly. We do not pre-moderate or monitor readers’ comments appearing on our websites, but we do post-moderate in response to complaints we receive or otherwise when a potential problem comes to our attention. You can make a complaint by using the ‘report this post’ link . We may then apply our discretion under the user terms to amend or delete comments.
Post moderation is undertaken full-time 9am-6pm on weekdays, and on a part-time basis outwith those hours.
Read the rules hereLast Updated:
Report this comment Cancel