THE great and good of Scotland will gather in Glasgow this week to find out who the public have chosen as the winners of the Scotland on Sunday Glenfiddich Spirit of Scotland awards.

Nominees for Top Scot include the father of the nation, Donald Dewar, movie star Sir Sean Connery and best-selling author J K Rowling.

A record number of votes have been cast for the event, which has been growing in stature since its introduction three years ago.

Kirsty Wark, the first winner of the Top Scot award, will chair a dinner at the Bute Hall attended by some of the country’s most influential industrialists and the leading lights in the arts and cultural establishments.

As well as Top Scot, the public have been asked to pick the most inspiring characters in seven other categories that cover all dimensions of Scottish life. Previous winners include Ewan McGregor, Sir Alex Ferguson and musician Martyn Bennett.

Voters have been asked to single out one individual from the five nominees chosen for each category. The exception is in the ‘screen’ section, where six candidates have been chosen by the judges, reflecting the extremely high standard of Scottish achievement in that field. Oscar winner Kevin Macdonald, Craig Ferguson, Paul McGuigan, Dougray Scott and May Miles Thomas are nominated, along with Ian Bannen, who died earlier this year. He is to be represented by his widow at the dinner.

Other names to conjure with are David Coulthard, Barry Ferguson and Paul Lawrie from the world of sport. In business, Sir George Mathewson of the Royal Bank of Scotland and entrepreneur Chris Gorman are two of the nominees, while Liz Lochhead and Alasdair Gray are two examples of the talented writers to have emerged in recent years.

Last year Sharleen Spiteri of Texas took the Top Scot award. As well as Dewar, Connery and Rowling, the personalities aiming to follow in her footsteps are Billy Connolly, Carol Smillie, Robert Carlisle, Kirsty Young, Jackie Stewart, Wendy Alexander, Katherine Grainger, Sinead Dudgeon and Alex Salmond.