Donald Martin, editor-in-chief at The Herald and Sunday Herald in Glasgow, has been appointed editor of the Sunday Post, it was announced today.

The 45-year-old current president of the Society of Editors, pictured left, says he wants to follow in the footsteps of his grandfather, Jack Campbell, who once edited another Scottish national Sunday title.

Donald will take over in due course from David Pollington who took early retirement from the Dundee-based title at the end of last year.

The surprise move was announced at lunchtime today by David Thomson, joint managing director of newspapers for The Sunday Post’s publishers DC Thomson & Co.

Mr Thomson said: “We had a very high calibre of candidate for this post and we’re confident we have chosen the best person to carry The Sunday Post forward and face the many challenges the industry is throwing at us.

“Donald brings with him a wealth of experience as an editor.”

Donald said he was delighted to be fulfilling a lifetime’s ambition by following in his grandfather Jack Campbell’s footsteps and editing a Scottish Sunday national newspaper.

“The Sunday Post is a great family newspaper with a proud history and I look forward to helping the newspaper, staff and group deliver an ambitious and exciting future,” he said.

He added: “I would not be in the position to have been offered the role without the tremendous career development and confidence senior management had in me during my four years at the Herald and Times Group, firstly editing The Evening Times and latterly The Herald as editor-in-chief.

“I will always be grateful for the opportunities I have been given and will be sad to leave behind such a talented team.”

A father-of-five, Donald has been editor-in-chief at The Herald and Sunday Herald since December 2008, having stepped up from the role of editor of the Evening Times.

He was previously editor of the Aberdeen Evening Express for eight years and before that editor of the North West Evening Mail in Cumbria for four years. He has also worked at the Cambridge Evening News as deputy editor.

As well as being president of the UK Society of Editors, he is also chairman of the Scottish Daily Newspaper Society and a director of the National Council for the Training of Journalists.

His first editorship was at the free weekly Edinburgh and Lothians Post at the age of 24.