Our fascinating countdown of Power Scots reaches Nos 20 to 11, writes LINDSAY McINTOSH.
WE ARE approaching the final countdown of our Power Scots, with No 20 to No 11 featuring today. Again, there is an eclectic mix, with business tycoons mixing with politicians, football managers, law officers and more.
To draw up our top 50, we hav
e examined similar investigations carried out in the past – including the Sunday Times Rich List and the Power 100 lists compiled by Scotland on Sunday – and cross-referenced and updated them, and then taken soundings from a range of professions to create our long list of Power Scots.
We distributed the long list among experts in areas including the arts, politics, business and the environment, and adjusted the results according to their judgments, to come up with a final 50.
We have excluded individuals who do not have a physical power base in Scotland, and also those in the news media. As in similar surveys, it is not thought appropriate to include anyone connected to the newspaper compiling the list, and we decided to omit anyone in the news media to avoid suggestions of bias.
We have also looked at where the most powerful individuals come from – is it the old routes of independent schools and ancient universities, or are state schools turning out the power-brokers of the 21st century? If this is the case, does it suggest that Scotland is becoming more of a meritocracy?
We began our countdown on Saturday and will reveal the top ten tomorrow and analyse what the list says about the powerful face of Scotland today. The list is open to debate, and we welcome your thoughts. Let us know what you think – who should be in and who shouldn't – via the web link on the opposite page.
11 RICHARD SCOTT
TENTH DUKE OF BUCCLEUCHThe former Eton and Oxbridge scholar is the godson of Princess Margaret and was page of honour to the Queen Mother. Last year, he inherited the title Duke of Buccleuch from his father, along with the huge swathes of land (270,000 acres, from southern Scotland to Northamptonshire) and a valuable art collection that go with it.
He will, in due course, inherit the majority of his father's shareholdings – reportedly worth £1.6 million. He will also take control of the Buccleuch Heritage Trust on his mother's death. The trust includes Leonardo da Vinci's Madonna and the Yarnwinder, which was recently recovered after being stolen from Drumlanrig Castle.
12 GEORGE BURLEY
SCOTLAND FOOTBALL MANAGERBurley inherits a team buoyed by predecessor Alex McLeish's recent results – and fans who expect success. His power is in selecting, preparing and motivating a team that can shape the national mood, whether with good or bad results.
Born in Cumnock, Ayrshire, he went to Cumnock High School. He began his playing career as a 15-year-old apprentice at Ipswich, where he was mentored by manager Bobby Robson and given the task of playing against George Best at Old Trafford in his first-team debut at 17. He was capped 11 times. As a manager, he has been in charge of clubs including Ipswich, Derby, Hearts and Southampton.
13 SIR IAN WOOD
OIL TYCOONNo-one's name is more synonymous with the oil boom, at least in Scotland, than that of Sir Ian Wood. Back in the 1970s, he was instrumental in turning his family's company from a small fishing operation to major oil-industry player. Recent estimates suggest the Wood family is worth close to £650 million.
Born in Aberdeen, he was educated at Robert Gordon's College, then at Aberdeen University. As well as being a powerful player in the oil and gas sector, he uses his influence in the charity sector, giving away £50 million to good causes last year through a trust run by him, his son, his wife and a charitable executive. He is also chancellor of Robert Gordon University.
14 ELISH ANGIOLINI
LORD ADVOCATEThe most powerful woman in Scottish legal history grew up in the Govan area of Glasgow, one of four children born to a coal merchant father and a shopworker mother. She attended Notre Dame High School – one of Glasgow's best-performing state schools – and went on to study law at Strathclyde University. After graduation, she joined the Crown Office and procurator-fiscal service and, following her traineeship, spent eight years as a depute procurator-fiscal in Airdrie.
Angiolini worked for the Crown Office in the run-up to devolution and was instrumental in establishing the Scotland Act. She then went north to become regional procurator-fiscal for Grampian Highlands and Islands and was the first woman to hold such an esteemed post. Six years later, when Colin Boyd, QC, retired from the position as Lord Advocate, she took over the job.
Her role was reassessed last year, when Alex Salmond ruled she should lose her seat in the Scottish Cabinet in a move to ensure impartiality. She was forced to defend the prosecution service after the controversial collapse of the World's End trial, when she made a contentious statement which seemed to question the trial judge's decision not to proceed. But her position seems secure, as she has an uncanny power to charm people with her good humour and wit.
15 HARRY BURNS
CHIEF MEDICAL OFFICERAs chief medical officer, Burns has the power to help determine the state of the nation's health. He has direct access to ministers, heads the Scottish Medical Civil Service and has lead responsibility for issues such as clinical effectiveness, quality assurance, accreditation and research.
He was born in Barrhead, Renfrewshire, and attended St Aloysius College, a private school in Glasgow, then studied medicine at Glasgow University. Burns was instrumental in pushing through the ban on smoking in public places and wields considerable power with messages on healthy eating and the dangers of binge-drinking.
16 CARDINAL KEITH O'BRIEN
LEADER OF SCOTLAND'S ROMAN CATHOLICSBorn in County Antrim, Northern Ireland, but educated in Scotland, he attended St Patrick's High, Dumbarton, and Holy Cross Academy in Edinburgh, before going to Edinburgh University and St Andrew's College, Roxburghshire.
O'Brien was ordained as a priest in 1965 and became Archbishop of St Andrews and Edinburgh 20 years later. Pope John Paul II created the archbishop cardinal priest in 2003.
Though less outspoken than the late Cardinal Thomas Winning, O'Brien has used his considerable muscle to make forays into debates on issues such as sex education, abortion and sexuality.
17 JOHN SWINNEY
FINANCE SECRETARYAs Cabinet Secretary for Finance and Sustainable Growth – more commonly known as "Minister for Everything" – Swinney is the man who now holds Scotland's purse strings in the first Nationalist government. His seat is North Tayside, a constituency he previously represented in the House of Commons.
Swinney went to Forrester High in Edinburgh and joined the SNP at the age of 15, after becoming incensed at the way in which his country was portrayed by Commonwealth Games commentators. After studying politics at Edinburgh University, he was a research officer for the Scottish Coal Project and a strategic planning principal with Scottish Amicable. He became a full-time politician and eventually led the SNP for four years, the period when Alex Salmond was away from the helm. Along with Nicola Sturgeon, he is now seen as Alex Salmond's key lieutenant and is lauded for his incredible memory and attention to detail.
18 SIR DAVID MURRAY
BUSINESSMANBusinessman, philanthropist, owner of Rangers FC – there are many strings to David Murray's bow.
Born in Ayr, he was independently educated at Fettes College in Edinburgh and at the state school Broughton High (next door to Fettes).
He started work in an Edinburgh metal alloy company, earning £7 a week. His steel business, Murray International, was originally based on metals trading. He now has a portfolio of mining, property and venture-capital businesses. His Premier Property Group is investing in London and Europe to the tune of £200 million.
Murray lost both legs in a car accident in 1976 and subsequently set up the Murray Foundation to support amputees and their families.
Murray International is worth £350 million, and his property portfolio another £350 million. He is estimated to be worth around £750 million in total.
19 ANDY MURRAY
TENNIS PLAYERA genuine, mainstream sporting star from Scotland, Murray is credited with helping to get lazy youngsters off the sofa, away from their computer screens and on to the tennis courts.
Born in Glasgow but brought up in Dunblane, Perthshire, he started his tennis career with swingball and hitting balls against his house. He attended Dunblane Primary and Dunblane High before moving to Barcelona, where he went to the Schiller International School and trained on the clay courts of the Sanchez-Casal Academy.
He won the boys' singles title at the US Open and the BBC Young Sports Personality of the Year in 2004. Now British No1 and in and out of the world's top ten, he has just been named as one of the Olympics' Athletes of the Year.
Murray's views are hugely in demand – he has spoken out over alleged match-fixing – and he exerts huge influence over young people.
20 SIR GEORGE MATHEWSON
BUSINESS GURUAlthough Mathewson has stepped down from the Royal Bank of Scotland, he still has a number of influential roles – he is on Alex Salmond's Council of Economic Advisers and has been advising Sir Richard Branson on his Northern Rock bid.
He was born in Dunfermline and educated at Perth Academy and St Andrews University, from which he graduated in mathematics and applied physics – he stayed there to lecture and complete a PhD. He then went to the United States as an engineer with Bell Aerospace, but returned to Scotland for the oil boom, joining the venture capital group 3i, then called Industrial and Commercial Finance Corporation.
During the Thatcher years, he was chief executive of the Scottish Development Agency, where his work included the creation of Silicon Glen. He is best known for transforming RBS from a struggling regional bank into a major international player. He made way for Fred Goodwin in 2001 and stepped down as chairman in 2006.
