DUMBARTON and the Vale's MSP says she is "humbled" to have been made a Dame in the King's birthday honours list.

Jackie Baillie, who has represented the area since the Scottish Parliament was established in 1999, has been honoured for her "political and public service".

Dame Jackie was elected to serve the Dumbarton constituency at the first Scottish Parliament election 24 years ago - and has held the seat ever since, despite the declining electoral fortunes of her party at Holyrood and in the face of determined efforts by the SNP to wrest it from her control.

At the most recent election in 2021, Ms Baillie increased her majority over the SNP to win a sixth term representing the area.

She said she wanted to share the accolade with the people she represents - saying there were many in the area who deserved it more than her.

She said: “This is not something I would have sought or expected. I am humbled to be honoured in this way.

Dumbarton and Vale of Leven Reporter:

“Having been nominated by the constituents I have represented for the last 24 years, I am delighted to accept.

"There are, however, many people in my area that deserve to be honoured more than me - the NHS staff that cared for us during the pandemic and those who give of their time to help others.

“So I am accepting this on their behalf as much as my own.”

With recipients of honours sworn to secrecy about their awards ahead of the honours list being made public, the Labour politician told just two people about the award – her daughter and the Scottish Labour leader, Anas Sarwar.

The 59-year-old is one of only three MSPs at Holyrood who have represented the same constituency for the lifetime of the Parliament – the others being former deputy first minister John Swinney and the SNP’s Fergus Ewing.

And she vowed that the honour would not change her.

In her time in Holyrood, Dame Jackie has fought for a public inquiry to be held into the outbreak of Clostridium difficile at the Vale of Leven Hospital.

With her constituency including the Faslane nuclear submarine base, she has also supported the jobs there, even at times when Labour has not been in favour of nuclear weapons.

Dame Jackie said: “I’m a multilateralist: I want to see nuclear weapons across the world removed, but these are good jobs in my constituency.”

Dumbarton and Vale of Leven Reporter:

The MSP, who was born in Hong Kong to a Portuguese father and Scottish mother, was made deputy communities minister by Holyrood’s first First Minister Donald Dewar, before becoming social justice minister under his successor Henry McLeish, during which time she was spearheaded the efforts of the then Scottish Executive’s homelessness task force.

She has held a range of positions in the shadow cabinet since 2007, covering areas including health, social care and finance and the economy.

She has previously served as acting Scottish Labour leader and was elected as the party’s Scottish deputy leader in 2020.

But she said: “I can’t get over the fact that I think there are many, many more people in my constituency who are much more deserving of this honour than me.

“The NHS staff that I know, the care staff that I know, who went above and beyond

"I think of all the people in my constituency who are always giving of their time freely to help others, whether it is volunteering with CHAS (Children’s Hospices Across Scotland) which is in the constituency, or raising funds for cancer services, all of that they do all the time.

"So they are far more deserving than me.

“This is less about me, this is for them. It is for them as much as it is for me.”

Also included in the honours list is wheelchair tennis hero Gordon Reid, who is made an OBE to add to the MBE he received after winning gold in the wheelchair tennis event at the Paralympic Games in Rio in 2016.

Dumbarton and Vale of Leven Reporter: Alfie Hewett and Gordon Reid won their fourth successive Grand Slam doubles title - and their 17th

Born at the Vale of Leven Hospital on October 2, 1991, Helensburgh's Reid, a keen tennis player in his youth, contracted a rare spinal condition, transverse myelitis, in 2004.

But he took up wheelchair tennis a year later and now has 21 Grand Slam doubles titles to his name - 18 of them won alongside fellow Brit Alfie Hewett, who is also made an OBE, the most recent at the French Open at Roland Garros less than a week ago (above) - as well as two singles crowns, both won in that remarkable year of 2016.

“It is a great honour to be receiving an OBE in the King’s birthday honours," Reid said.

"I hope my platform as a professional athlete can help inspire other people with disabilities to lead an active and positive lifestyle.”