EDITORIAL COVERAGE

Broadcaster with political pedigree to present Holyrood annual awards
By Douglas Fraser

Publication Date: 30.10.06

SARAH Smith, presenter of More Four News, is to present next month's prestigious Scottish Politician of the Year Awards.

The daughter of John Smith, the Labour leader who famously declared devolution as "the settled will of the Scottish people", is to join Michael Crow of Scottish Television for the high point of the Holyrood year, at a dinner at Prestonfield in Edinburgh on 16 November.

The event is organised by The Herald together with the support of Diageo, the drinks company.

Lobbying is under way for the top awards, which are highly valued as pointers to the people best placed for next year 's election.

The panel of judges meet soon to make their choice also for the best debater, the best Scot at Westminster, the free spirit of the year, the MSPs making the most progress, and those who have been most effective in the committee rooms at Holyrood.

For the third year, one of the most carefully-watched awards is not for full-time politicians but for the parttimers and amateurs who get together to make the biggest impact on the political system.

The award for Public Campaign or Campaigner of the Year will be in recognition of the winner 's use of media and other organisations to drive change through the political system.

It takes guts and determination to do so, and even those who are not successful can still be eligible for showing determination, imagination and skill at using the levers of power to their advantage.

Last year, the winners were three schoolgirls from Drumchapel in Glasgow, who took up the cause of their classmates who were being deported after their parents' asylum bids had failed.

The girls brought flair and passion to their cause, and ensured that, while their friends were forced to leave Britain, the First Minister had to respond to their demands that dawn raids and deportation were carried out more sensitively.

In the inaugural year of the Public Campaign award, the winners were David and Ozlem Grimason, parents of Alistair, the toddler who was killed in the crossfire of a gunfight in the Turkish coffee shop during a holiday to visit relatives.

The young couple took up the cause of gun control in Turkey and, from their Scottish base, forced that country's political elite to think again about an issue that had been largely ignored until then.

This year, readers of The Herald have had the opportunity to put forward nominations for the Public Campaign award, using the Politician of the Year website, on www.theherald.co.uk/politician. Among those to come forward have been those who have campaigned, as a result of personal tragedy, for a new law on corporate liability for causing deaths.

Shetlanders have returned to the issue of deportations of foreign nationals, to draw attention to their successful bid to block a long-time island resident from being forced to leave.

Others have proposed the movement for a referendum on independence, and there have been nominations for those campaigning on new developments in Edinburgh, against hospital closures, and for transport improvements.

It is very nearly too late to add to that list but, today, readers may still put forward their ideas at the Politician website, or by contacting The Herald by sending e-mails to Alison.Martin@glasgow.newsquest.co.uk

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