In their 26th year, the Scottish Politician of the Year Awards 2024 in association with ScottishPower, continue to celebrate the politicians and campaigners who have fought to make a difference and changed lives over the previous 12 months.
First Minister John Swinney has been nominated for the prestigious main title for taking over the SNP’s leadership after his predecessor’s time in office came to an abrupt and unexpected end.
The veteran MSP — who won the award in 2009 — left his semi-retirement on the backbenches to lead a Holyrood group reeling from Humza Yousaf’s exit, the end of the Bute House Agreement and the ongoing police investigation into the party’s finances.
And although he steadied the ship, that was not enough to prevent a disastrous general election, with the SNP returning just nine MPs, down from the 48 won in 2021.
That contrasted starkly with Scottish Labour, who won 37 seats, up from the one won at the last election. Anas Sarwar has been recognised for that stunning victory and the reshaping of the political landscape.
The party leader convinced Scots it was time for a change. Will he manage to do the same in 2026?
The other nominee for Politician Of The Year is Kate Forbes. The Highlander made a remarkable return to frontline politics after accepting John Swinney’s offer to be his deputy. Her decision helped the party avoid what could have been another brutal civil war.
She has also been recognised in the Politics in Business award, sponsored by Big Partnership, with judges praising her for the reset of the Scottish Government’s relationship with the sector.
In that category, she will face stiff competition from her close ally Ivan McKee and Labour’s Daniel Johnson. Both men have won plaudits from industry leaders.
Started in 1999, the Awards are the highlight of the Scottish political calendar and are headlined by ScottishPower and sponsored by Aiir Networks, and Big Partnership.
They are hosted this year by the legendary former political editor of STV, Bernard Ponsonby and will take place at Prestonfield House in Edinburgh on November 21.
The judges, chaired by Catherine Salmond, Editor of The Herald, went through long and detailed deliberations before coming to their conclusions.
One of the toughest awards to debate was the Public Campaign or Campaigner of the Year.
Shortlisted are the Fornethy Survivors, a group of women who were victims of physical, mental and sexual abuse while attending Fornethy Residential School in Glasgow.
More than 200 women were beaten, force-fed and sexually assaulted daily by the people who were supposed to protect and ensure the highest level of care for them.
They have been fighting for redress ever since and this year have won the backing of Holyrood’s influential petition committee.
Also nominated are the campaigners who saw Emma Caldwell’s killer brought to justice.
The 27-year-old's death in April 2005 had been one of Scotland's most high-profile unsolved murders, but earlier this year Iain Packer was jailed for at least 36 years for the murder.
To find justice, Emma's family had to battle a "toxic culture of misogyny and corruption" in the police.
Linda and Stuart Allan and their son Scott, have been shortlisted for their campaign on Polmont Young Offenders Institute.
Their daughter Katie died by suicide in 2018.
The 20-year-old from East Renfrewshire was sentenced to 16 months in March 2018 for a drink-driving offence in which a teenage boy had been injured. She died by suicide four months later.
Her family, in collaboration with researchers from Glasgow University, compiled a database of deaths in the institution and exposed the fact that the Scottish Prison Service is immune from prosecution for breaches of the Health and Safety at Work Act.
Their campaign ultimately saw the Scottish Government end the practice and this year, the last child was moved out of Polmont to a secure children's care unit.
Scottish Secretary Ian Murray is nominated for Best Scot at Westminster, finally moving into Dover House after years on the opposition benches.
He is up against the SNP’s Stephen Flynn who — before the election — used his regular slot at Prime Minister’s Questions to ask award questions of both the government and the opposition.
Liberal Democrat chief whip Wendy Chamberlain is nominated after winning approval for plans to ban MPs arrested on suspicion of a serious from parliament.
The MP saw off a last minute attempt by the Tory government to water down the measures.
The SNP’s Kenny Gibson is nominated in the Committee MSP of the Year category for his work leading Holyrood’s finance committee, while Tory MSP Jackson Carlaw is nominated for convening the Citizen Participation and Public Petitions Committee, particularly their inquiry into the A9 dualling fiasco.
Former police officer Audrey Nicoll is shortlisted for her role leading the Criminal Justice Committee, with their work scrutinising planned legal reforms noted by judges.
The shortlist for the Donald Dewar Debater of the Year Award Supported by Aiir Networks includes Ross Greer from the Scottish Greens, former first minister Humza Yousaf, Labour’s Michael Marra and ex-Lib Dem leader Willie Rennie.
A tweak to the rules means the one to watch category, sponsored by Scottish Power, now includes MPs, rather than being restricted solely to MSPs.
Here the judges were impressed by Kirsty McNeil, Michael Shanks and Dr Zubir Ahmed from Labour’s ranks, and Harriet Cross, the new MP Tory for Gordon and Buchan.
Now in its second year, the ScottishPower Green Champion Award recognises an MSP for their work on environmental, sustainability and climate change issues.
Scottish Green co-convenor Lorna Slater, Scottish Tory Maurice Golden and Labour’s Monica Lennon have all made the shortlist.
Keith Anderson, CEO of ScottishPower, said: “Once again we have a strong set of nominees across all the categories for the Scottish Politician of the Year Awards. Each year we get an opportunity to shine a light on the hard work being undertaken by so many and spotlight those who are going above and beyond for their communities – something we strive to do here at ScottishPower. We’re really looking forward to the night and celebrating everyone’s achievements.”
Hamish Fraser, Director, Aiir Networks said: “Again, this year’s nominees highlight the incredible depth of political talent in Scotland, and we extend our heartfelt thanks to those shortlisted for their dedication and contributions to Scottish politics over the past year.
“At Aiir Networks, we are excited to see who will join the ranks of previous outstanding winners and claim the Donald Dewar Debater of the Year Award in 2024.
“Congratulations to all the nominees, and we look forward to celebrating with the winners across every category on the big night.”
Fraser Paterson, Head of Public Affairs, BIG Partnership said: "BIG Partnership is proud to support the Politics in Business Award because we believe that fostering a business-friendly environment is crucial to driving economic growth and innovation. This award highlights the importance of meaningful engagement between politicians and the business community, recognising those who actively work to create opportunities and remove barriers for businesses to thrive.
For more information please contact Nina Holmes, Events Director, at nina.holmes@newsquest.co.uk
Ian Murray MP
Stephen Flynn MP
Wendy Chamberlain MP
Committee MSP of the Year
Audrey Nicoll MSP and Criminal Justice Committee
Jackson Carlaw MSP and Citizen Participation and Public Petitions Committee
Kenny Gibson MSP and Finance Committee
Donald Dewar Debater of the Year – Supported by Aiir Networks
Humza Yousaf MSP
Ross Greer MSP
Michael Marra MSP
Willie Rennie MSP
One to Watch – Supported by ScottishPower
Kirsty McNeill MP
Harriet Cross MP
Michael Shanks MP
Dr Zubir Ahmed MP
Politics in Business – Supported by Big Partnership
Daniel Johnson MSP
Ivan McKee MSP
Kate Forbes MSP
Community MSP of the Year
Bob Dorris MSP
Jackie Baillie MSP
Jamie Greene MSP
Ross Greer MSP
The ScottishPower Green Champion – Supported by ScottishPower
Lorna Slater MSP
Maurice Golden MSP
Monica Lennon MSP
Public Campaign or Campaigner of the Year
Fornethy Survivors
Inquiry into Emma Caldwell Case
Linda, Stuart and Scott Allan
Scottish Local Politician of the Year
Councillor Allan Casey
Councillor David Alexander, Councillor Colin Davidson, Councillor Alistair Suttie and Councillor Eugene Clarke
Councillor Fiona Hennebry
Councillor Stephen McCabe
Lifetime Achievement
To be announced on the night
Scottish Politician of the Year – Presented by The Herald
Kate Forbes MSP
Anas Sarwar MSP
John Swinney MSP
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