POWER burns bright across the length and breadth of Scotland: from the oil firms of Aberdeen to the committee rooms of Holyrood; from the industrial giants of Glasgow to the burgeoning financial-services sector in Edinburgh.
But who are the men and women who possess this power? Where did they get it from and how do they differ from their predecessors?
In a bid to determine who controls Scotland, The Scotsman has drawn up a list of the 50 most powerful Scots, which we
will be counting down over the next five issues. It brings together politicians wielding power at Holyrood and Westminster, tycoons oiling the wheels of business and those exercising influence in sport, the law, the arts and beyond.
Power, in itself, is easy to define – it is the ability to get things done, to persuade others to do one's bidding or to come round to one's way of thinking. With enough power, almost anything can be accomplished.
The problem comes in comparing levels of this intangible substance – how can you pit those in different fields against one another and come out with a definitive list of the 50 most powerful Scots?
The approach we have taken is to look back at similar investigations which have been done in the past – including the Sunday Times Rich List and the Power 100 lists compiled by Scotland on Sunday. We cross-referenced and updated these lists, took wide soundings from a range of professions and came up with a long list of Power Scots. We then distributed this list among experts in areas including arts, politics, business and the environment – and adjusted the results according to their judgments to come up with our final 50.
Ultimately, the list is bound to be subjective and open to debate, but what we are seeking to do here is come up with 50 of Scotland's most influential people and put them in some kind of order, based on the power and influence they wield over the governance and business of Scotland and over its inhabitants' lives.
We have excluded individuals who do not have a physical power-base in Scotland – either the headquarters of their company or, in the case of a certain Gordon Brown, who features higher up the list, a home and a political seat. For this reason, and this reason only, Sir Sean Connery and others are excluded.
We have also looked at where Scotland's most powerful individuals come from – are they coming through the old routes of the independent schools and ancient universities or are the 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?
Dr Philip Beresford, compiler of the Sunday Times Rich List, said the "triple centres of economic power in Scotland" are Edinburgh financial services, Aberdeen oil and Glasgow industry. All three feature heavily.
Previous lists have chosen to exclude politicians but we believe that since a nation's power is intrinsically linked with its political leadership, it is necessary to include them. The only area from which we have shied away is the news media. We decided to omit anyone in that line of business to avoid any suggestion of bias.
We will be counting down from No50 to No1 over the coming days and at the completion of our list on Thursday, a panel of specially assembled experts will tell us what they think it says about the powerful face of Scotland today. Let us know what you think via the link below.
50: CATHERINE LOCKERBIE DIRECTOR, EDINBURGH INTERNATIONAL BOOK FESTIVAL
Lockerbie has attracted huge names, and funding, to the ever-growing festival – now the biggest of its kind in the world. During the first four years of her tenure she doubled its audience.
Lockerbie grew up in Aberdeen and Stirling and attended Edinburgh University, where she gained a double first in philosophy and French. On graduation, she worked as a teacher of children with special needs. She taught English in Turkey and Sudan, then held senior posts at The Scotsman, including literary editor and arts editor.
Lockerbie secured a coup with Norman Mailer's last major interview before his death last year – a "virtual" interview at the festival from his US home.
49: TOM DALRYMPLE OWNER, GLOBESPAN
Tom Dalrymple set up a low-cost airline from scratch and immediately turned around a profit – a huge success in a competitive field. He brought cheap flights to Scotland when they were only available south of the Border. He owns the Globespan Group, which includes low-cost airline Flyglobespan and Globespan Tours.
Dalrymple started his career at 16 as an office junior in an Edinburgh travel firm owned by the Mackay family.
He secured control of a breakaway business travel agency in 1974 and renamed it the Globespan Group. In 2002, he set up his own airline and Flyglobespan was born. It is Scotland's largest airline and flies to 26 destinations. Recent estimates put Mr Dalrymple's wealth at £68 million.
48: KEITH SKEOCH CHIEF EXECUTIVE, STANDARD LIFE INVESTMENTS
Controls one of Scotland's most important investment firms and the £140 billion which comes with it. His name has been mooted as a possible successor to Trevor Matthews as chief of Standard Life's UK financial services. Bill Jamieson wrote this week: "My 'dark horse' internal candidate for the top job would be Keith Skeoch... hugely successful as chief executive of SLI – the real state-within-a-state." He was educated at Prior Pursglove College in Guisborough, Teesside, and graduated in economics from the University of Sussex.
He is an academic adviser to the CBI and to several parliamentary committees.
47: STEWART MILNE HOUSEBUILDER
Milne's reach is phenomenal, with housing developments across the country bearing his name. He was brought up with four brothers in the village of Tough, Aberdeenshire, and attended Alford Secondary, a solid state school. Milne left school early and trained as an electrician before starting his own business in 1975. The Stewart Milne Group now employs about 1,200 people.
Milne, the company's chairman and chief executive, is Scotland's highest-paid executive, making more than £7.5 million a year in salary, benefits and dividends. He is believed to be worth £300 million.
He is also a majority shareholder in Aberdeen FC and was a founding father of the Scottish Premier League.
46: DUNCAN MacLAREN CHIEF EXECUTIVE, FRIENDS OF THE EARTH SCOTLAND
In our increasingly green age, MacLaren – Scotland's most vociferous, influential environmental campaigner – has an increasingly powerful voice. Born in the Midlands, he was educated at a private school in Coventry, then Pembroke College, Cambridge and London University's Wye College.
MacLaren began his career as an economic/ environmental consultant before joining FoE England and Wales. He was research co-ordinator and policy and campaigns director, and has been chief executive of FoE Scotland since 2003. He is a member of the UK Research Councils' energy programme scientific advisory committee, the UK Green Fiscal Commission and, the board of Changeworks. He has written widely on environmental policy.
45: PETER CUMMINGS CHIEF EXECUTIVE, BANK OF SCOTLAND CORPORATE
IF THERE is a high-profile deal going on, then Peter Cummings is likely to be part of it.
Dumbarton-born Cummings joined the organisation at 18 and worked in branches across Scotland before becoming PA to the boss of the Glasgow head office. He was seconded full-time to Strathclyde University where he picked up an MBA before resuming his rise through the ranks.
Now a high-flying broker, he has organised deals for some of the UK's top entrepreneurs, including Sir Tom Hunter, Brian Souter and Philip Green. Cummings is also credited with making HBOS's corporate arm a serious player in the investment banking sector.
Away from work, he is also a keen Celtic fan.
44: FORD KIERNAN & GREG HEMPHILL COMEDIANS-PRODUCERS
The ubiquitous comedy Scots duo behind Chewin' the Fat and Still Game are on the list not just for fame and pulling power (making very Scottish comedy a network hit) but for their production power. Their firm, Effingee (F 'n' G), split from the BBC Comedy Unit last year and has its own studio. Their shows have been exported widely and they hit the big screen this year in an adaptation of Ecstasy by Irvine Welsh.
Kiernan (the fat one) was born in Dennistoun, Glasgow, and educated at Whitehill, a tough state secondary. He trained as a tailor and worked as a barman at Glasgow Uni. Hemphill (the tall one) was Glasgow-born but spent much of his childhood in Canada. The son of an accountant and a teacher, he returned to study at Glasgow Uni, where he picked up a degree in theatre, film and television. He has since served as rector.
43: PAT WATTERS PRESIDENT, COSLA
The veteran Labour councillor negotiated the deal between the SNP at Holyrood and Scottish councils. Born in the Gorbals, he entered local government in 1982 as a member of Strathclyde Regional Council. He was elected president of Cosla for a historic third term last June and was local government's lead negotiator at national and local level, helping to negotiate the Single Status Agreement, which dictates equal pay for equal work. He also helped negotiate the McCrone agreement on teachers' pay and conditions. But his role in forging the concordat with the SNP government – including a commitment to freeze council tax in Scotland – makes him arguably one of Labour's most powerful figures in Scotland. He is a CBE.
43: JOHN LEIGHTON DIRECTOR, NATIONAL GALLERIES OF SCOTLAND
One well-connected powerbroker once said: "All Scotland's key decisions are made at midweek soirées at the National Galleries."
The Galleries have a strong international record and Leighton's appointment less than two years ago was welcomed by commentators who spoke of his excellent reputation in the field.
Born in Belfast, Leighton studied fine art at the University of Edinburgh and Edinburgh College of Art, and history of art at the Courtauld Institute of Art. He was director of the Van Gogh Museum in Amsterdam, where he almost doubled vistitor numbers in eight years, until his move to Edinburgh.
41: GEOFF ELLIS CHIEF EXECUTIVE DF CONCERTS
Ellis is the man behind Scotland's biggest annual rock event, T in the Park, which provides the economy with an estimated annual £15 million boost. Born in Manchester, Ellis was a regular at the famed Hacienda nightclub and moved to London aged 18 to attend Middlesex Polytechnic.
After promoting various club nights, he moved to Glasgow in 1992 to run the acclaimed music venue, King Tut's, which he still does today.
He is now best-known as head of T in the Park promoter, DF Concerts. Ellis has built the festival from scratch over 15 years, and last year unleashed the Connect festival – a more "mature" event – at Inveraray Castle. His music world contacts are second-to-none in Scotland and he has constantly attracted big names to T in the Park.
