Muriel Gray appointed as British Broadcasting Corporation Board Member for Scotland

Muriel Gray has been appointed to the Board of the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC)

From:

Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport

Muriel Gray has been appointed to the Board of the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) as the Scotland Nation Member for a term of four years from 3rd January 2022 to 2nd January 2026. Under the terms of the BBC Royal Charter, appointment of the BBC Chair and Nation Board Members is made by HM The Queen, on recommendation from Ministers.

Muriel Gray graduated from Glasgow School of Art, working first as an illustrator and then as assistant head of design at the National Museum of antiquities in Edinburgh. Presenting Channel 4’s live seminal music programme The Tube led to a long career in broadcasting, and to the joint founding of a television production company that grew into one of the leading UK independents.

Her writing career began with the best-selling horror novel The Trickster,

followed by two more, Furnace and The Ancient, which Stephen King described as ‘scary and unputdownable’.

In addition to having been an opinion writer in a huge variety of newspapers and publications she has published three nonfiction books, many short stories in anthologies, written for TV, radio, cinema, comics and live theatre and was the chair of the judges for the Women’s Prize for Literature. Muriel was the first woman rector of Edinburgh University, has been awarded two honorary doctorates, from Abertay University and Glasgow School of Art validated by Glasgow University.

She is the former Chair of the Board of Governors at The Glasgow School of Art, also the first woman to hold this office, and a Trustee of the British Museum.

The base fee for all BBC non-executive directors is £33,000 per annum. A committee chair fee of £5,000 is paid on top of the base fee for chairing one of the permanent committees of the Board.

This appointment has been made in accordance with the Cabinet Office’s Governance Code on Public Appointments. The process is regulated by the Commissioner for Public Appointments.

The Government’s Governance Code requires that any significant political activity undertaken by an appointee in the last five years is declared. This is defined as including holding office, public speaking, making a recordable donation or candidature for election. Muriel Gray has not declared any activity.