2007 in Scotland

List of events

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2007
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Centuries:

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Decades:

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Incumbents

First Minister and Keeper of the Great Seal – Jack McConnell until 16 May; Alex Salmond (from 17 May)
Secretary of State for Scotland – Douglas Alexander until 28 June; Des Browne

Law officers

Lord Advocate – Elish Angiolini
Solicitor General for Scotland – John Beckett until 24 May; Frank Mulholland
Advocate General for Scotland – Lord Davidson of Glen Clova

Judiciary

Events

17 January – Queen Margaret University College at Musselburgh is granted full University status as Queen Margaret University, becoming Edinburgh's fourth university.^[1]
February – Scottish Voice (provisionally named Scottish Democrats) is launched as a centre-right political party by Archie Stirling.^[2]
23 February – Grayrigg derailment: a high speed Pendolino train on the West Coast Main Line from London to Glasgow derails on faulty pointwork in the Lake District of England, killing one person.^[3]
28 February – the Cathedral Church of Saint Margaret in Ayr replaces the Good Shepherd Cathedral as the Mother Church for the Roman Catholic Diocese of Galloway and seat of the Catholic Bishop of Galloway (formal dedication 14 September).^[4]
7–9 March – Network Rail signalworkers strike, causing rail services in Scotland to be severely curtailed.^[5]
3 May
- Scottish Parliament election. The SNP win a plurality of seats and go on to form the Scottish Executive.^[6]
- Scottish local council elections.^[7]
16 May – the UEFA Cup Final is held at Hampden Park, Glasgow. Sevilla FC defeat RCD Espanyol on penalty kicks.^[8]
- Alex Salmond is elected First Minister of Scotland, becoming the first nationalist to hold the role.^[9]
17 May – Alex Salmond is officially sworn-in as First Minister of Scotland at the Court of Session, Edinburgh in front of 15 of Scotland's most senior judges.^[10]
27 June – Giffnock-born Gordon Brown succeeds Edinburgh-born Tony Blair as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom.^[11]
30 June – attempted terrorist attack on Glasgow Airport.^[12]
1 August – the University of Paisley and Bell College merge to create the University of the West of Scotland.^[13]
20 August – Loch Lomond Seaplanes begin a scheduled service from Glasgow Seaplane Terminal to Oban.^[14]
15 September – rally driver Colin McRae and three other people are killed when their helicopter crashes near Lanark.^[15]
1 October – sitcom Fags, Mags and Bags, written by and starring Sanjeev Kohli and Donald McLeary, is first broadcast on BBC Radio 4.^[16]
15 November – Scotland's First Minister Alex Salmond wins The Herald's Scottish Politician of the Year award^[17] and is also named Parliamentarian of the Year in The Spectator magazine awards.^[18]
30 November – St. Andrew's Day is for the first time a designated bank holiday in Scotland, under the St Andrew's Day Bank Holiday (Scotland) Act 2007 (Royal Assent: 15 January).^[19]
29 December – Phil O'Donnell, the 35-year-old Motherwell footballer, dies from a heart attack in a Scottish Premier League fixture. O'Donnell was capped for Scotland once in 1993, and had been part of the Celtic side that won the Scottish league title in 1997–98 season.^[20]
Poet Alastair Reid reads his poem "Scotland" publicly for the last time at a literary festival in St Andrews, then burns the manuscript.^[21]
Neil Forsyth introduces his fictional comic Broughty Ferry cheeseburger tycoon Bob Servant in his book Delete This At your Peril.
BrewDog is founded as a brewery in Fraserburgh by James Watt and Martin Dickie.

Deaths

7 January – Magnus Magnusson, television presenter and writer (born 1929 in Iceland)^[22]
c. 10 January – Harry Horse, cartoonist and vocalist in Swamptrash (born 1960 in England)^[23]
9 February – Ian Richardson, actor (born 1934)^[24]
26 August – Hamish Barber, medical academic (born 1933)^[25]
11 September – Ian Porterfield, footballer (born 1946)^[26]
15 September – Colin McRae, rally driver (born 1968)^[27]
16 October – Deborah Kerr, actress (born 1921)^[28]
8 November – Duncan Williamson, storyteller and singer (born 1928)^[29]
29 December – Phil O'Donnell, footballer (born 1972)^[30]
Steven Campbell, figurative painter (born 1953)^[31]

References

^ "Queen Margaret wins university status". The Guardian. 17 January 2007. Retrieved 22 October 2011.
^ Nicoll, Ruaridh (18 February 2007). "Ruaridh Nicoll: Small parties are great – if you enjoy political chaos". The Guardian. Retrieved 11 January 2018.
^ "'Hero' driver saddened at death". BBC News. 27 February 2007. Retrieved 19 December 2011.
^ "New Cathedral Church for Galloway". Galloway Diocese News (Advent 2007): 1, 3. Retrieved 23 April 2014.^{[permanent dead link]}
^ "Rail union announces new strikes". BBC News. 9 March 2007. Retrieved 11 January 2018.
^ Wintour, Patrick (4 May 2007). "SNP wins historic victory". The Guardian. Retrieved 11 January 2018.
^ "Results: Scotland councils". news.bbc.co.uk. Retrieved 11 January 2018.
^ "UEFA Europa League 2006/07 – History – Espanyol-Sevilla". Uefa.com. 16 May 2007. Retrieved 11 January 2018.
^ "Salmond elected as first minister". 16 May 2007. Retrieved 29 July 2020.
^ "Salmond sworn in as first minister". 17 May 2007. Retrieved 11 November 2020.
^ "Brown is UK's new prime minister". BBC News. 27 June 2007. Retrieved 9 March 2016.
^ O'Hare, Paul (27 June 2017). "The day terror came to Scotland – the Glasgow Airport attack 10 years on". dailyrecord. Retrieved 11 January 2018.
^ About Archived 18 October 2011 at the Wayback Machine uws.ac.uk, accessed 2011-10-30.
^ Carrell, Severin (17 August 2007). "The seaplane returns, with views over glen and loch". The Guardian. Retrieved 11 January 2018.
^ "Family tribute to McRae and son". BBC News. 16 September 2007. Retrieved 29 March 2010.
^ "Fags, Mags And Bags Series 1 episode guide". British Comedy Guide. Retrieved 11 January 2018.
^ "Top award caps historic year for SNP". The Herald. Glasgow. 16 November 2007. Retrieved 13 November 2011.
^ "Salmond 'is top parliamentarian'". BBC News. 15 November 2007.
^ "St Andrew's Day Bank Holiday (Scotland) Act 2007". www.legislation.gov.uk. Retrieved 11 January 2018.
^ Lindsay, Clive (30 December 2007). "Phil O'Donnell: 1972–2007". BBC. Retrieved 23 April 2014.
^ Baker, Kenneth (2016). On the Burning of Books. London: Unicorn. pp. 206–7. ISBN 978-1-910787-11-3.
^ Barker, Dennis (9 January 2007). "Obituary: Magnus Magnusson". The Guardian. Retrieved 11 January 2018.
^ Gillman, Peter and Leni (13 July 2008). "Harry Horse: The man who loved his wife to death". The Sunday Times. Retrieved 11 January 2018.
^ Billington, Michael (10 February 2007). "Obituary: Ian Richardson". The Guardian. Retrieved 12 January 2018.
^ Watt, Graham; Howie, John (8 September 2007). "Dr Hamish Barber". The Herald. Retrieved 11 September 2019.
^ Brian Glanville (13 September 2007). "Ian Porterfield". The Guardian. Retrieved 20 January 2022.
^ "Colin McRae". The Independent. 17 September 2007. Archived from the original on 1 May 2022. Retrieved 12 January 2018.
^ Baxter, Brian (18 October 2007). "Obituary: Deborah Kerr". The Guardian. Retrieved 12 January 2018.
^ Schofield, Derek (22 November 2007). "Obituary: Duncan Williamson". The Guardian. Retrieved 6 December 2017.
^ Murray, Ewan (1 January 2008). "Obituary: Phil O'Donnell". The Guardian. Retrieved 12 January 2018.
^ Obituary to Steven Campbell, The Times (London) 21 August 2007.