Mandy Rhodes wins Columnist of the Year

Holyrood was also shortlisted for two other awards

Mandy Rhodes, editor of Holyrood, has been named Columnist of the Year at this year’s Scottish Press Awards.

The judges commended her on the quality of her writing, her inside knowledge of the political landscape and her ability to 'prick the Holyrood bubble'.

Rhodes was amongst six journalists in the running for the prize at the 45th year of the event.

Holyrood journalists Margaret Taylor and Ruaraidh Gilmour were also shortlisted for two other awards.

Taylor was nominated for the Nicola Barry Award, and Gilmour was up for Young Journalist of the Year. 

BBC journalist Jackie Bird hosted the ceremony, which took place at the DoubleTree by Hilton hotel in Glasgow.

Richard Neville, former head of news brands at DC Thomson, and current director of Neville Robertson Communications led this year's judging panel.

This award follows Rhodes’ success at the PPA Scotland Awards in November, where she picked up the Editor of the Year gong.

Rhodes said: “I am absolutely stunned and delighted by winning columnist of the year particularly given that Holyrood magazine was competing in this category against all the newspaper titles in Scotland and that the other shortlisted columnists are all such strong and well-known writers.

 “I was particularly touched by some of the comments made by the judges to me personally about my writing and I honestly can’t express just how much this means to me.

“I am also pleased that two other journalists in the Holyrood team, Margaret Taylor and Ruaraidh Gilmour, were shortlisted in other categories and while they didn’t win this time around, I hope this encourages journalists working on smaller titles to enter the press awards in the future knowing that it isn’t just the big mainstream titles that walk away with the prizes.”

Other winners included the Scottish Daily Mail, The Press and Journal and The Times.