The Financial Times’ Sheila McNulty has won her second award of the night, this time for Reporter of the Year. Earlier she picked up the Specialist Writer of the Year gong.

This award is for the story-breakers of the national press. The judges were looking for exclusives, expertly researched and brilliantly told for the target audience. Tenacity, investigative flair and an ability to handle different subjects carefully all scored highly

“She blew the lid on BP’s attempts to smooth over the scandal of its US disaster. It was proper, serious ground-breaking journalism of the sort that everyone who enters our trade hopes to emulate,” said the judges, who were unanimous in their decision.

The other nominees were:

• David Leppard, The Sunday Times
• Stephen Moyes, Daily Mirror
• Rajeev Syal, The Times
• Stephen Wright, The Daily Mail

Sheila McNulty of the Financial Times has won Specialist Writer of the Year. John Ridding, deputy editor of the FT, accepts it in her absence. Ridding commends her four years of digging into BP story.

The award is for journalists with defined specialisms not covered by any other category — such as science, motoring and education. Judges looked for writers who led their field in 2006, in breaking news, analysing trends and demonstrating an unrivalled knowledge of their subjects.

The judging panel for this category said McNulty “produced a thorough body of work which had a massive impact on an issue of global importance.

They said she displayed “perseverance, stamina, style and investigatory diligence “in abundance”.

Fiona Lawrence of the Guardian was highly commended.