April 1, 2001
Daily Record
The Sunday Mail List 2001 (go straight to Dougray's part)
additional reporting by Jane Findlay

THEY are the most powerful men in Scotland - and many are world players.

In the second part of our series on power, the Sunday Mail gives you our list of the figures who most influence our everyday lives.

From the famous to the not-so-famous, from the men who light up the big screen to those who dominate the boardrooms, we have produced the definitive list of Scots who have reached the very top of the tree.

Their power may come from political drive, like Gordon Brown, who tops our list, or from personality, like much-loved comedian Billy Connolly. Their strength may come from old-fashioned family connections or money.

Whatever the reasons, our panel of judges, themselves among the most powerful people in Scotland, have chosen these men as the most influential of our time.

As in our list last week of powerful women, we have ruled out anyone connected with the Sunday Mail or Daily Record.

Prime Minister Tony Blair, born in Scotland to English parents, is excluded on the grounds he supports England.

1 GORDON BROWN

50, Chancellor of the Exchequer

POWER SOURCE: Chancellor of the Exchequer, he holds the nation's purse strings.

Nicknamed the Iron Chancellor, or Irn Broon in his homeland, his reputation is that of a hard-working, earnest man with just a hint of Presbyterian gloom about him.

But being a son of the manse, he was instilled with a strong sense of social justice from an early age.

Born in Giffnock, Glasgow, he was raised in Fife, the middle of three sons to Reverend Dr John Ebenezer Brown, a Church of Scotland minister, and Jessie Elizabeth Brown, a former Whitehall secretary.

When he lost the sight in one eye after being kicked in the head playing rugby, the doctor could not say how long young Gordon might see with the other.

Yet the prospect of going blind only concentrated his formidable mind on future goals.

He first came to some national prominence when he defeated the establishment candidate to be elected student rector of Edinburgh University.

The granite-faced mafia who ran the university were so horrified at being chaired by a 21-year-old leftie that the matter ended up in the High Court. But still Gordon prevailed.

He remembers listening, aged eight, to the reports of Hugh Gaitskell's defeat in the 1959 election.

A fast-tracker at Kirkcaldy High School, he scored five straight A grades in his Highers just after his 15th birthday. He entered university at 16, gaining a first-class honours degree in history when he was 19, before going on to study for a PhD.

After spells as a college lecturer and current affairs editor with STV, he entered Parliament, aged 32, at the same time as Tony Blair.

His workaholic attitude worried Labour leader Neil Kinnock, who is said to have ordered colleagues: "Get Gordon Brown a hobby or a wife."

MP for Dunfermline East since 1983, he rose to Chancellor in the Shadow Cabinet, until the May 1997 election elevated him to 11 Downing Street.

Yet despite his high office, he has remained focused on his work and declined to join the champagne socialists who choose to chink glasses with members of Oasis or the latest cult celebrities among the Bafta and Brit winners.

He prefers an early start and a late finish in the office to life on the prawn cocktail circuit. Some say this makes him even more dour, but at a time when the public is increasingly offended by the high society antics of some ministers, Gordon Brown stands apart.

On those rare occasions when he's not working, he is a passionate supporter of Raith Rovers, a pastime he shares with his wife, PR boss Sarah Macaulay, who he wed last year.

HE SAYS: "I learnt a great deal from what my father managed to do for other people. He taught me to treat everyone equally - and it is something I have not forgotten."

2 SEAN CONNERY

70, Actor

POWER SOURCE: A legendary actor, who even at his advanced age is at the peak of his earning power. The world's favourite Bond is worth an estimated pounds 60million.

He is also consistently voted among the world's sexiest men by women around the world.

Yet to his friends back in Fountainbridge, Edinburgh, he will always be Big Tam, the kind-hearted lad who quit school at 13 to be a milkman, and has never forgotten his roots.

A long-standing supporter of the SNP, he uses his fame as a platform to speak out for an independent Scotland and last summer returned to his homeland to receive a knighthood.

Born in 1930 as Thomas Connery, he lived in a four-storey tenement opposite McEwan's brewery.

During the war, he worked as a milkman on a horse-drawn float.

He fell into acting quite by accident, after travelling to London as a young bodybuilder to take part in the Mr Universe contest.

He came third - but was talent-spotted by a theatre director who wanted hunky blokes to make up the chorus-line of a production of South Pacific.

The buzz of being on stage was all it took for Sean to realise that the glittering world of showbusiness was the life for him.

By then a promising young footballer, he turned down an offer from Matt Busby to play for Manchester United, to follow his dream of becoming a serious actor.

He struggled for many years, but his big break came in 1962 when he was chosen to become the world's most famous secret agent, James Bond.

He starred in seven Bond films, including the classics From Russia With Love and Goldfinger. He later won an Oscar for his performance as an Irish policeman in Prohibition drama The Untouchables.

But the man who is still regarded as the ultimate James Bond hates the character which set him on the road to fame.

He once said: "I have always hated that damn James Bond. I'd like to kill him."

Notoriously careful with his money -- he is said to bank a pounds 750-a-month pension from the Screen Actors Guild - he lives with his second wife Micheline. The couple divide their time between luxurious homes in the Bahamas and Los Angeles.

Although he has not lived in Scotland for many years, he continues to use his wealth and influence to help its people, through various charities.

HE SAYS: "Acting gives me the opportunity to be somebody better and more interesting than I am."

3 SIR ALEX FERGUSON

59, Football manager

POWER SOURCE: As the most successful manager in Manchester United's history, Sir Alex has tranformed the English champions into arguably the biggest club in the world. But it has been a long road from Govan to greatness for him.

The son of a shipbuilder and a factory worker, he became an apprentice toolmaker at 16. And during the Glasgow shipyard apprentices' strike of 1959, Alex was at the heart of it alongside two other young workers, Gus Macdonald and Billy Connolly.

But football was his one true love and once his apprenticeship was completed he joined Dunfermline as a full-time professional. A tall, gangling, aggressive centre forward, Alex was just as much of a fighter on the field as he was in the shipyards.

He was snapped up by Rangers, but was made the scapegoat for their 4-0 defeat by Celtic in the 1969 Scottish Cup final. It was his last game for the Ibrox club and he ended his playing days at Falkirk and Ayr United.

When Alex became a club manager in the mid Seventies, he was a success, first with East Stirling then St Mirren.

In 1978 he arrived at Aberdeen and transformed the Pittodrie side into Scotland's best, crowning his reign there with a 2-1 victory over Real Madrid to lift the European Cup Winners' Cup in 1983.

Alex seriously considered an offer to go to Rangers, but in 1986 landed the biggest fish of all in United, who have millions of fans at home and throughout the world making him ruler of a vast kingdom

HE SAYS: "I think the players are a little bit afraid of me. I will never get close to them, I always keep my distance.

4 HENRY McLEISH

53, First Minister

POWER SOURCE: First Minister, Labour MP and MSP for Fife Central.

The political captain of the national side, he has the ball at his feet, and the expectations of an entire nation.

The former footballer, the only MSP to have worn a dark blue jersey playing for his country, has held a wider selection of UK front bench portfolios than most of his contemporaries, including transport, health and social security, since arriving in the Commons in 1987.

Henry Baird McLeish was born in Methil, Fife, the son of a miner.

When his footballing career faltered, he became a town planner and then Labour's local authority leader in Fife.

His early reputation in Opposition was as a hard grafter, digging for details to embarrass the Tory government. He worked with Tony Blair as deputy employment spokesman from 1989-92, pressing through the reforms of trade union laws.

In the mid-1990s, he suffered a personal tragedy. The death of his first wife Margaret from stomach cancer, left him to raise their two children Niall and Claire. He remarried in 1998, to Julie, by which time there was no doubt about his ambition.

When he was appointed to the Scotland office, he threw himself into the technicalities of the Scotland Bill, earning the nickname "Mr Devolution" for delivering the nation's first Parliament in 300 years.

HE SAYS: "If you are the First Minister, it's what's in the best interests of Scotland that matters. If that means skirmishes with Westminster, differences with Westminster, so be it."

5 LORD ROBERTSON

55, NATO Secretary GeneralPOWER SOURCE: As NATO Secretary General, he is quite literally one of the most powerful military figures in the world.

But then, George Islay MacNeil Robertson, the son of an Islay policeman, has been single-mindedly intent on a glorious political career since the age of 15, when he joined a CND demonstration against the deployment of American Polaris ballistic missile submarines at Holy Loch.

At Dundee University he was a student politician more than an economics student

" and after two years as a research assistant, he became an organiser for the GMB trade union.

His popularity rests on his being funny, charming and essentially decent. He possesses that most potent weapon, a self-deprecating sense of humour.

Robertson's marriage to his Student Union secretary Sandra is a model of fidelity and warmth. He has two grown- up sons and a daughter.

He entered Parliament after winning the Hamilton by-election in 1978, and joined Labour's front bench in 1979.

He was made Defence Secretary when Labour came to power in 1997.

During the Kosovo crisis he showed firm and principled leadership, which smoothed the way to becoming the head of NATO.

HE SAYS: "I am very grateful to all the Allied governments for putting their trust in me."

6 EWAN McGREGOR

30, Actor

POWER SOURCE: Actor turned movie star Ewan has all the hallmarks of becoming a legend in the mould of Sean Connery. His ambition was sealed by the age of nine, thanks to three influences - his passion for black and white movies, his adoration for every principal boy in pantomimes and his uncle - actor Denis Lawson, best known for his starring role in Local Hero.

Ewan attended Morrison's Academy, a private school in his home town of Crieff, Perthshire, where his father was the PE teacher. His mother was deputy head of a Dundee high school.

At 16, he headed for Perth Repertory Theatre, took a drama course at Kirkcaldy College, then went to London, aged 17. His first film part was as an extra in A Passage to India.

Ewan's break came in his final year at the Guildhall School of Speech and Drama when he won a role in Dennis Potter's Lipstick On Your Collar.

At 23, as Alex in Shallow Grave, he met the team who were to cast him as Renton in Trainspotting.

He has since starred in Little Voice, Rogue Trader, Star Wars and Moulin Rouge. Married to set designer Eve Mavrakis, they have a daughter Clara, five, and live in luxury in Belsize Park, north London.

HE SAYS: "I've led a charmed life. I love my work and my family."

7 ROBIN COOK

55, Foreign Secretary

POWER SOURCE: Foreign Secretary.

Born in Bellshill, Lanarkshire, his father was a teacher and his mother a landowner. He attended the Royal High School in Edinburgh, becoming an avid reader of the New Statesman and leading light of the debating society.

Planning to become a Presbyterian minister, Robin went to Edinburgh University to read English literature. Within a year he had lost his faith, but his commitment to the Labour Party became an adequate substitute.

He took up teaching, first at a comprehensive, then for the Workers' Educational Association. At 24, he fought an unwinnable Tory seat in Glasgow, but serious political life began in 1971, when he joined Edinburgh City Council.

Labour took several key posts in the hung council, Cook becoming chair of the housing committee. In 1974 he became MP for Edinburgh Central and, in 1983, MP for Livingston.

He began preparing for his current job in 1994, when he was appointed Labour foreign affairs spokesman. An intensely private person, his personal life was put under the microscope in August 1997 when he left his wife Margaret, a consultant haematologist with whom he had two sons, Christopher and Peter, for his secretary Gaynor Regan, whom he married the following April.

HE SAYS: "Never, since I started out at primary school, have I ever thought I looked like Clint Eastwood."

8 CARDINAL WINNING

75, Leader of Scotland's Catholics

POWER SOURCE: The leader of Scotland's Catholic Church, and perhaps the most famous clergyman in the country.

He dominates the nation's moral debates with his outspoken views on issues from abortion to the Scottish Parliament.

Born in the mining community of Craigneuk, Lanarkshire, his father Thomas was unemployed for 15 years and his mother sold sweets to make ends meet.

By the age of 10, Thomas was an altar boy. Watching priests at work in the community persuaded him he wanted to join the priesthood.

In 1946 he left Lanarkshire for Rome, where he studied at the Pontifical Scots College.

In 1948 he was ordained - his father had to sell the confectionery equipment so the family could travel to Rome to watch the ceremony. And the following year, he returned to a Lanarkshire parish.

He was made an auxiliary bishop in 1971 and Archbishop in 1974.

Twenty years later he became only the second cardinal in Scotland since the Reformation and 1500 pilgrims followed him to Rome to see the ceremony.

HE SAYS: "I often wonder how I have the bloody cheek, where the courage comes from to speak on issues that I know will boomerang."

9 BILLY CONNOLLY

59, Comedian and actor

POWER SOURCE: One of Britain's best-loved comedians, and now a well-respected actor, The Big Yin started life with parents William and Mary in a tenement in Glasgow.

His mother left home when he was four, so he was raised by his two aunts, Mona and Margaret.

Although not particularly academic, Billy left St Gerard's High School with qualifications in art, PT and geography - acquired from another boy called Connell.

He was an apprentice at Stephen's shipyard in Govan, but left in 1965 after forming folk band The Humblebums with mates Tam Harvey and Gerry Rafferty.

They disbanded in 1971 when Rafferty felt Billy's between-song patter was compromising the band's integrity. The spiels had become a highlight of the band's sets, but Billy hadn't realised he could spin a career from them.

He began to the following year when he wrote and starred in The Great Northern Welly Boot Show, a spoof on the Upper Clyde shipyard strike, at the Edinburgh Festival.

Billy became a major success as a stand-up and big breaks in TV and film followed. His finest hour was in 1997 when he starred with Dame Judi Dench in Mrs Brown.

Divorced from his first wife, Iris, he is married to former comedienne Pamela Stephenson.

HE SAYS: "Comedy is what I do, the rest is just gravy."

10 BRIAN SOUTER

46, Stagecoach bus boss

POWER SOURCE: Head of the pounds 2billion Stagecoach empire which he co-founded with his sister Ann Gloag, Brian is a clever and complex man, an eccentric who embodies a mass of contradictions, a puritan with a sense of humour.

Intensely private, he was forced into the spotlight by his decision to battle Labour's proposals to repeal Section 28, bank-rolling the Keep The Clause campaign.

He lives quietly in Perth with wife Betty, a social worker, enjoying a weekend retreat at Ochtertyre, Crieff.

He is defiantly un-suited and rarely wears a tie, favouring denims, chinos, checked shirts, speckled waistcoats in clashing combination with hot-coloured jackets.

He grew up on a council estate in Perth, with Ann and their brother David.

Souter worked on the buses to help pay his way through Strathclyde University before joining Arthur Andersen as an accountant.

With Ann he set up Stagecoach in 1980, with two second-hand buses and money borrowed from the family.

HE SAYS: "Ethics are not irrelevant, but some are incompatible with what we have to do, because capitalism is based on greed."

11 DR JOHN REID, 53

Power source: The former Secretary of State for Scotland and now Northern Ireland Secretary, is one of Tony Blair's most dependable Ministers. He has been described as Minister For Tight Spots for his crisis-management abilities.

He says: "This is more about moving the Irish peace process forward than about moving the profile of John Reid higher."

12 PETER BURT, 57

Power source: The Chief Executive of the Bank of Scotland has a tough reputation. He failed to secure takeovers of NatWest and Abbey National, but is doing something right as the Bank consistently returns high profits.

He says: "My colleagues do a hell of a lot, but personally I do nothing at all. I just sit here and watch the money pile up."

13 CRAIG BROWN, 60

Power source: Scotland football manager. His status within world football is higher than at home and many English fans have a grudging respect for Brown through his work as a BBC football analyst.

He says: "I have to try to set my own personal standards by Jock Stein, the master, and Alex Ferguson - I'm well short."

14 FRAN HEALY, 27

Power source: As singer-songwriter with supergroup Travis, Fran has the talent to influence and inspire a generation since scoring a worldwide hit with their album, The Man Who - which sold more than two million copies.

He says: "Marriage is an old-fashioned concept. It's more important to have shared history and love. I love this band and I'll stay with them forever."

15 JACK McCONNELL, 40

Power source: Education Minister and tipped as the next First Minister, the former maths teacher has been charged with sorting out the exams fiasco. By brokering the teachers' pay deal, he enhanced his reputation as a fixer.

He says: "Schoolchildren can be harmed if professional standards cannot be met and, ultimately, children in the classroom must come first."

16 TOM HUNTER, 39

Power source: Scotland's richest man. Since selling the Sports Division chain, the canny Ayrshireman has made astute investments and acquisitions which have increased his wealth to more than pounds 400million.

He says: "People think you make money so you can do nothing. I don't think there could be anything worse than that."

17 ALISTAIR DARLING, 43

Power source: In charge of Social Security - the second biggest Government department, with a budget of pounds 100bn. The former advocate became MP for Edinburgh Central in 1987 and is one of Gordon Brown's closest confidants.

He says: "There is no unconditional right to benefit. We're providing more options, more choices, but individuals have a responsibility to take up these options."

18 ROBERT CARLYLE, 40

Power source: As Begbie in Trainspotting, Carlyle helped kickstart the Scottish film industry. The Full Monty earned him international stardom, but, despite constant offers, he prefers to be at home with make-up artist wife Anastasia.

He says: "Some of the stuff I get offered from America would stun you. The money would shock you as well. But I couldn't live with myself if I did it."

19 DAVID MURRAY, 49

Power source: Major stakes in Rangers and Murray International Holdings have helped him amass around pounds 300million. Once a trainee metal worker earning pounds 7 a week, Murray is said to be a hugely loyal friend and an unforgiving foe.

He says: "You learn more from the bad times than the good. It's all about hard work. Hard work and application can lift you out of anything."

20 JOHN BOYLE, 48

Power source: Chairman of Motherwell FC, charity supremo and founder of Direct Holidays, which he later sold for pounds 84million. Has invested over pounds 20million in a range of businesses since 1998, including pounds 1million in Wark Clements productions.

He says: "I think it's important to give something back to Scotland by giving others the opportunity to reach their full business potential."

21 SIR GEORGE MATTHEWSON, 61

Power source: As Royal Bank of Scotland executive deputy, Sir George spear-headed the RBS's David and Goliath takeover of larger rival NatWest last year, creating the third most valuable bank in Europe. Earns pounds 587,000 a year.

He says: "My goal is to create growth. If it was all about profit that would be a great shame. You've got to have your eye on the bigger picture."

22 ARNOLD CLARK, 73

Power source: Car king Arnold is Scotland's fourth richest man, worth around pounds 200million. The former RAF motor mechanic instructor now owns 90 UK car outlets. A father of ten, he is still highly active in the company

He says: "I realised there was no competition... frankly, I was appalled by the lack of professionalism. Obviously, I've never looked back."

23 LORD RODGER OF EARLSFERRY, 57

Power source: The Lord President and Lord Justice General is Scotland's most senior judge. Last year, the Oxford graduate sparked panic when he almost threw the nation's motoring laws into chaos over a traffic case. He ruled that forcing drivers to incriminate themselves under threat of prosecution went against the European Court of Human Rights.

24 DERMOT DESMOND, 49

Power source: The self-made millionaire lives the high life from the profits of his business empire. The influential Irishman is regarded as the powerbroker at Celtic. Dermot owns London City Airport and has a share in the exclusive Sandy Lane resort on Barbados.

He says: "Life will go whichever way you steer it. I started out in stormy waters but navigated my way through the waves and came out smiling."

25 ROD STEWART, 55

Power source: The rock singer has an estimated fortune of pounds 50million. The twice married dad-of-five considers himself a Scot, despite being born in London. He cheers on Scotland's football team all over the world. He was declared a Grammy Living Legend in 1989.

He says: "I've got everything in life I could wish for - great kids, great ladies and a rather great bank balance."

26 PROFESSOR TOM DEVINE, 55

Power source: Director of the Research Institute of Irish and Scottish Studies at Aberdeen University, author of The Scottish Nation and a leading figure in promoting Scotland's heritage on the world stage.

He says: "I believe that people need a memory to give them a sense of perspective of where, who and what they are."

27 COLIN BOYD QC, 48

Power source: Appointed Lord Advocate, the country's senior law officer last year, he has the final say on which cases are prosecuted as head of the Crown Office. He was also responsible for the Lockerbie trial.

He says: "It is a privilege to be Lord Advocate, especially at the time of the Lockerbie trial and the introduction of devolution to Scotland."

28 DOUGLAS ALEXANDER, 33

Power source: This rising political star is tipped to take on the role vacated by Peter Mandelson during the general election campaign, and is sure to be a key Brown adviser in a leadership contest. He is also tipped for a ministerial job.

He says: "Ambition is crucial to Labour and crucial to me. I always wanted a career in politics and am living out my own dream."

29 ANDREW MacDONALD, 35

Power source: He produced hit films including Trainspotting, Notting Hill and The Beach. He now premieres films in the US after British critics slated him.

He says: "For small films requiring specialist handling America is easier. The British market is the most difficult."

30 LORD JOHN McCLUSKEY, 71

Power source: One of Scotland's finest legal minds, he was our longest serving judge. Chairman of Scottish Association for Mental Health and Age Concern Scotland.

He says: "It doesn't really matter what people think of me, so I can say and do what I think is appropriate."

31 SIR TOM FARMER, 61

Power source: Chairman and chief exec-utive of Kwik-Fit tyre and exhausts. The dad-of-two, of Edinburgh, amassed about pounds 80m when Ford bought Kwik-Fit.

He says: "It's easy for someone in a fortunate position to write the cheque. What's a lot harder to give up is time."

32 LORD GUS MacDONALD, 61

Power source: Becoming a minister in charge of transport, the environment and regions. The ex-Glasgow shipyard man also worked in the media and on TV.

He says: "My experience, in my early days in the shipyards and in media, is a huge foundation in all I do."

33 IAIN BANKS, 47

Power source: Top Scots novelist whose books - including The Wasp Factory and Complicity - are read worldwide. BBC turned his Crow Road into a series.

He says: "In my youth I hitched through Europe and Morocco and what I saw and experienced influenced my writing."

34 ALEX SALMOND, 47

Power source: Former leader of SNP, MP for Banff and Buchan since 1987, and later also an MSP. Plans to quit as an MSP and continue in Westminster.

He says: "My heart will be in Scotland, but the best way forward for the party is to have me nipping heels in London."

35 JIM WALLACE, 47

Power source: A QC, he's the Scots Liberal Democrats chief and MP for Orkney and Shetland, Deputy First Minister and Minister for Justice in Scots Parliament.

He says: "In the cut and thrust of politics, it's nice to get away now and again to recharge the old batteries."

36 PROF JOHN SMYTH, 56

Power source: One of the Scotland's top cancer experts, the Professor of Medical Oncology at Edinburgh University won Sunday Mail's 2000 Great Scot award.

He says: "It is so sad that in cancer medicine we have had to rely on charities to provide consultant specialists."

37 LORD MACFARLANE, 75

Power source: Top businessman knigh-ted in 1983. Life president of United Distillers. Created Life Peer in 1991. Lord High Commissioner to the General Assembly of the Church of Scotland.

He says: "My company can't afford to be associated with anything mediocre."

38 STUART COSGROVE, 56

Power source: Head of Programmes for Channel 4 since 1997. Co-presents Radio Scotland's On and Off The Ball shows. Daily Record columnist.

He says: "Scotland has a history for comedy talent, but too many people have moved. We have to find new talent."

39 JOHN SWINNEY, 37

Power source: Leader of the Scots Nats', the North Tayside MP is also an MSP. John, of Blairgowrie, Perthshire, is a former researcher for Scottish Coal.

He says: "I got interested in politics at Edinburgh University and it just snowballed. I feel privileged to lead my party."

40 DOUGRAY SCOTT, 32

Power source: Fife-born actor who starred with Tom Cruise in Mission: Impossible 2. He stars in soon-to-be-released World War II flick Enigma.

He says: "I want to be judged on my work, not on the number of flash suits in my wardrobe."

41 BOBBY GILLESPIE, 38

Power source: Frontman of rockers The Primal Scream. Gillespie was recently named one of Britain's 50 best-dressed men.

He says: "Look at the way Coldplay dress, look at the way they sound. It's dull, it's sexless."

42 PROF HUGH PENNINGTON, 62

Power source: Food hygiene expert. Conducted inquiry into E-coli food-poisoning outbreak which killed 20 in Central Scotland in 1996. Professor at Aberdeen University.

He says: "People in the canteen watch what I'm eating and say: 'He's eating the so-and-so, so it's obviously okay'."

43 JACKIE STEWART, 61

Power source: Three-time motor racing champion. Consultant to car manufacturers. Pals with Britain's leading entrepreneurs. Awarded OBE 1972.

He says: "It's been 27 years since I drove a car in anger, but wherever I go in the world, people still recognise me."

44 PROF GRAHAME BULFIELD, 59

Power source: Influential in animal genetics as director and chief executive of Edinburgh-based Roslin Institute, which cloned Dolly the sheep. Made CBE last year.

He says: "CBE was awarded partly in recognition at way institute has developed."

45 JOHN REID, 51

Power source: Ex-lover and manager of Sir Elton John. Believed to have pounds 28m fortune.

He says: "I can't rely on Elton for the rest of my life."

46 JOHN McCORMICK, 56

Power source: Controller of BBC Scotland. Chairman of Edinburgh Film Festival and Scottish Screen board member.

He says: "Too much broadcast journalism is from within the M25, which can be quite a parochial place to live."

47 ALLY McCOIST, 38

Power source: Rangers legend, TV star and actor. The Kilmarnock star also netted over pounds 1m from his initial pounds 100,000 investment in the Beat 106 radio station.

He says: "As long as I can look myself in the mirror and know I'm attempting to do right, that's fine by me."

48 IRVINE WELSH, 43

Power source: Trainspotting author. Ewan McGregor owes this Edinburgh boy a big thank you.

He says: "I don't give a toss about writing. I'm into music and football, and I'm no good at either."

49 STUART CLUMPAS, 41

Power source: Multi-millionaire concert promoter who's the brains behind Scotland's T in the Park. Owns King Tut's Wah Wah Hut music club in Glasgow.

He says: "Financially, I've done OK. I've got a 25ft boat on the Clyde. I don't want a 50ft boat on the Caribbean."

50 ROBIN BARR, 63

Power source: Head of the family which produces Irn-Bru. AG Barr is UK's third biggest soft drinks business in the UK.

He says: "The company's moving forward, but it's got a hell of a long way to go."

Additional reporting: JANE FINDLAY

© 2001 Daily Record and Sunday Mail