THE former chair of the Glasgow School of Art has been named as the nation member for Scotland on the BBC board.
Muriel Gray stepped down from her role on the GSA board of governors at the end of September following two fires at the historic art school with the investigation expected to be completed by the end of this year.
An experienced writer and broadcaster, Gray will play a significant role in setting the strategic direction of the BBC in Scotland for the next four years.
As a member of the BBC board, Gray will receive a salary of £33,000 a year for around two days work a week as well as an extra £5000 for chairing the Scotland committee.
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The choice of Gray for the role has been described as "brave" and "not one that is without risk" by recently retired BBC journalist Kenneth Macdonald who told The Times that it could "blow up in the BBC’s face".
The appointment of Gray to the BBC board role was made by UK Government ministers following a search for a new member for Scotland in the spring and interviews in the summer. Neither the Government nor the corporation has formally announced it.
Gray was against Scottish independence during the 2014 independence referendum.
In January of this year, in response to a tweet describing her as "pro-Union", Gray said that she is "pro anything that improves lives", adding that if "succession offered that I’d be for it".
Actually I’m pro anything that improves lives. Urgently. If succession offered that I’d be for it. If reforming current alliances offered that I’d also be for it. I’m just, like a lot of people, a bit lost. Feeling helpless while people suffer is not a good place.
— Muriel Gray (@ArtyBagger) January 30, 2021
The tweet had been spurned by vocal pro-indy writer Cameron McNeish calling for an end to infighting within the SNP. Gray highlighted her friends and family in "the UK and beyond" that had lost friends, family and businesses during the coronavirus pandemic.
While McNeish was saying "we need to get a referendum", Gray said that the use of "we" indicates a "them" and criticised the division in that distinction.
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