Salmond scoops Scot of the Year award

Published on Saturday 29 December 2007 19:06

FIRST Minister Alex Salmond has been named as Scotland on Sunday's Scot of the Year.

The SNP politician, who celebrates his 54th birthday on Hogmanay, was a unanimous choice by our panel of judges who decided that, in a year in which he overturned Labour's huge political lead in Scotland to give the Nationalists their first-ever election victory, there could be no other choice. Salmond was presented with a caricature of himself, drawn by Scotland on Sunday cartoonist Neil Kempsell.

The Scot of the Year title follows a string of other political awards he has attracted since his party's remarkable victory in May's elections.

In a New Year message, broadcast on the internet today, the First Minister says he intends to capitalise on "a new mood of optimism" in Scotland.

"The Scottish Government's policies will reflect the new mood in the nation by realising that the days of waiting for Westminster to do things for Scotland – these days are over," he says. "We need to make our own initiatives now, solve our own problems, take our own opportunities.

"There is a growing realisation that this country has the talent and ability to stand on its own two feet – and we have got to find the democratic structure that will allow us to do that. That is what 2008 is going to be all about."

Second in the Scot of the Year awards is Louise Martin, the driving force behind Glasgow's successful Commonwealth Games bid and widely credited as the person who delivered the games to Scotland.

Actor James McAvoy was third in a year in which his starring roles in The Last King Of Scotland and Atonement have propelled him onto the Hollywood 'A' list.

• Read the full list of Top Scots online in this week's Spectrum