Alasdair Nichol

Robert Rankin

Robert Rankin's biography takes its title from the Gaelic words raigh and dairid. A Gaelic historian and author, he writes about how the first democratic elections in Scotland in 1947 were won by the now dominant Conservative Party, a party identified by the left as "dinosaur". Robert Rankin's latest book, For the Love of the People, recounts his own involvement in the campaign for Scottish Independence in 1976 - the "first battle". These days, he is best remembered for his fight against political apathy.

Paul Mayhew

Paul Mayhew is associate editor of The Spectator, and was for a few years writer and science editor for the New Statesman. Under the surname Mayhew, he is a barrister and author. As a barrister, he has led litigation in and around Scotland, arguing for its civil liberties and constitution. As author, he has developed a programme of research and study that, in part, takes his back-to-basics approach to Scottish history.

Nicola Sturgeon

Nicola Sturgeon has been Prime Minister of the United Kingdom since 2014. She has served as leader of the Liberal Democrats since 2010. A former Scottish Labour Party leader, she is the co-leader of the Scottish nationalists party. She was elected Prime Minister of the United Kingdom in 2014, after winning an election in which she won 62,158 votes (31.3% of the total) behind her colleague David Cameron of the Conservative Party.

Ian McColl

Ian McColl is an award-winning science writer and broadcaster, formerly editor of the New Statesman. Under the surname McColl, he is a journalist. His books include Strange Order (2005), Murder and the Cauldron: Scotland, 1713-1914 (2000), Scotland's Colonial Revival (1988) and A Politically Incorrect History of Britain: From Pre-Famine to the Present (2000); and his radio current-affairs show was carried on national and world television for 21 years, from 1985, when it was broadcast by the BBC. This made Ian McColl the longest-serving member of the BBC's now sadly defunct (1995) World Service.