Politician of the Year

I was at the Politician of the Year awards last night and congratulations to all the winners.

In particular to Hugh Henry MSP. His Audit Committee has demonstrated the strengths of the Scottish Parliament's committee system with their detailed scrutiny of government and civil servants. Not always comfortable for those giving evidence, but essential none the less. He went on to become the first backbencher to be named Scottish Politician of the Year. Not many in the room backed that result, but it was well deserved.

Hugh was of course a minister in the last administration and what impressed me was the way he quickly adapted to opposition. When some of his colleagues were still thinking like ministers, Hugh was thinking up campaigns and making contact with civic Scotland to address issues of concern.

A good example of that is his Protection of Workers Bill. I suspect some members of the committee may not grasp the issues as he has, but we will see.