At the Half Yearly Meeting of Council last night, Michael Cavanagh was elected Chairman, replacing Louise Martin CBE who has stood down after serving eight years in the role. He beat sitting Games Council Vice-Chairman, Richard Kenney in a vote taken by representatives of the Member Governing Bodies of Sport. Fiona McEwan (Badminton)was elected Vice-Chair and new members of the Board are Jackie Davidson (Cycling), Sandy Sutherland (Basketball).

Douglas Brown and Peter Monaghan retain their positions of Hon Secretary and Hon Treasurer respectively. Other members of the Board are Peter Nicolson (Tennis), elected for a third term as Director and Stewart Harris (CEO sportscotland).

Louise Martin will remain on the Board as Past Chairman
. In her final speech she paid tribute to the teamwork that has seen sport move up the political agenda and lead to Glasgow’s successful Bid to host the Games in 2014.

She said “In the 8 years that I have been privileged to lead the CGCS I have met some great people, seen some incredible performances by Scottish athletes and of course, been part of the team that has turned my biggest dream into a reality. I still love to say it – Glasgow will host the Games in 2014.

“I absolutely believe that it is this organisation (CGCS) that has, over the years, made sure that sport has continued to move up the political agenda. You have made this happen, all of you. We are a team that gets results.

Her successor, Michael Cavanagh, will have a hard act to follow. He is manager of the East of Scotland Area Institute of Sport and has a wealth of Commonwealth Games experience as an athlete, a coach, a sport team manager and as a general team manager for Scottish teams.

First Minister Alex Salmond MSP also paid tribute to the outgoing Chairman. “It is impossible for me to overstate the role that Louise Martin has played in securing the Games for Scotland. She has worked tirelessly to create and promote the bid that was victorious in Colombo. Her detailed knowledge of the delegates from each of the other seventy Commonwealth Games Associations is quite breathtaking, and it allowed us to conduct the most effective lobbying campaign I have ever known.