A tourist

I sympathise with this guy, so often you stand in front of statues in places you're visiting and try and work out who they are and what they did.

For the non locals, this is Donald Dewar, who was the first First Minister of Scotland in 1999-2000, and who played a huge role in bringing about devolution. I remember visiting the Parliament when there was an exhibition in the foyer showing things about the parliament and how is was built, and who was involved, and about notable political events since devolution. There were gifts which had been presented by visiting leaders, and there were two glass elephant bookends, which had been presented by Thabo Mbeki, the president of South Africa when he came to Scotland in 2001. Dewar would have loved to have been the one to greet him, though sadly he had died the previous year, but to have welcomed a black president of South Africa into a devolved Scottish Parliament building (even one they were renting at the time) would have been the fulfilment of two of his biggest dreams, things he'd campaigned about since he was a student.

In a related aside, I do love the sense of humour of Glasgow City Council, who in 1981 renamed a street in honour of Nelson Mandela, and gave him the freedom of the city of Glasgow - at a time when he was still imprisoned on Robben Island. The street just a bit down the hill from here and to the right (just the other side of the building site that the lorry in the top right hand corner is sticking out of) was renamed Nelson Mandela Place. And why humour - well of all the streets to rename, they picked the one which was home to the South African Consulate.