Blair Jenkins, Chair
Blair Jenkins is one of the most experienced figures in Scottish broadcasting. He has been Director of Broadcasting at STV and Head of News and Current Affairs at BBC Scotland. From 1998 to 2003 he was Chairman of BAFTA Scotland and he has also been a member of the Royal Television Society's steering group on current affairs.
Blair started his career at the Evening Express in Aberdeen and in 1977 was Young Journalist of the Year in the Scottish Press Awards. In 1980 he joined BBC News in London and worked as a Producer on network television news before returning to Scotland in 1984 to produce Reporting Scotland.
He joined Scottish Television in 1986 and became Head of News and Current Affairs in 1990. In 1993 he was appointed Head of Regional Programmes and in the following year he joined the main board of Scottish Television as Director of Broadcasting. He was also a member of the Broadcasting Board of the ITV network.
In 2000 Blair moved to BBC Scotland as Head of News and Current Affairs. He resigned in 2006. He is a native of Elgin and a graduate of Edinburgh University.
Chris Ballance
Chris has lived and worked in Scotland for 30 years. He joined the Scottish Green Party in 1980, when it was then called the Ecology Party. Throughout that time he has been active in environmental and community campaigns as well as acting as an MSP representing the South of Scotland from 2003 to 2007.
From 1990 he has been an award-winning playwright. Viva la Diva, was produced at the Edinburgh Pleasance theatre in August 2001. It's My Party! toured Scotland in Mar-April 2007.
He has taught a part-time course in writing for theatre and film at the Crichton University Campus in Dumfries. From 1997-99, Chris was Manager of Survivors' Poetry in Scotland, an arts and mental health charity in Glasgow. In 1999 he moved down to Galloway to renovate a derelict barn and open a bookshop, as part of the Wigtown, Scotland's National Booktown.
Norman Drummond
Norman Drummond has been described as "one of the most inspiring and talented Scots of this generation". He has experienced a wide range of public leadership roles within the Church, the Services, Secondary and Tertiary Education, Public Service within the Media and latterly within Business as an Executive Coach and as a Social Entrepreneur.
A former BBC National Governor and Chairman of the Broadcasting Council for Scotland, Norman was also Chairman of BBC Children in Need.
In 1999 Norman set up Drummond International, a leading business consultancy which specialises in Inspirational Executive Coaching, Motivational Public Speaking, Inter-Personal Skills, Mediation, Presentation Skills and Media Management across the sectors.
Since 2003 Norman has been Chairman of Lloyds TSB Foundation for Scotland.
Norman retains his status as a Minister of the Church of Scotland and since 1993 has been honoured by his appointment as a Chaplain to Her Majesty The Queen in Scotland.
Norman is Founder and Chairman Columba 1400, the highly regarded Community and International Leadership Centre at Staffin on the Isle of Skye whose aim is to help young people from tough realities to fulfil their leadership potential.
The Rt Hon The Lord Fraser of Carmyllie QC
Peter Fraser was called to the Scottish Bar in 1969 and in 1972 he lectured part-time in constitutional law at Heriot-Watt University for 2 years. In 1979 he was appointed Standing Junior Counsel for the Foreign and Commonwealth Office and became a Queen's Counsel in 1982.
Peter was elected as a Conservative MP for Angus in 1979, where he remained in the House of Commons until June 1987. He was Parliamentary Private Secretary to George Younger, Secretary of State for Scotland. In 1982 he was appointed Solicitor-General for Scotland and became Lord Advocate in 1989, when he was made a life peer and a member of the Privy Council. During his time as Lord Advocate, he had ultimate responsibility for the Pan Am 103 Lockerbie investigation. He has appeared for the United Kingdom in both the European Court of Justice in Luxembourg and the Court of Human Rights in Strasbourg.
From 1992 to 1995 he was Minister of State at the Scottish Office covering Home Affairs and Health. He was then Minister of State at the Department of Trade and Industry with a responsibility for export promotion and overseas investment with particular emphasis on the oil and gas industry. In 1996 he became Minister for Energy.
In June 2003 he was invited by the First Minister of the Scottish Executive to head an Inquiry into the cost over-run of the new Scottish Parliament at Holyrood.
Lord Fraser has a full portfolio of interests and activities spanning commerce, charity and parliamentary affairs.
Murray Grigor
Murray Grigor left the BBC in 1967 to direct his award winning film on Charles Rennie Mackintosh. He has since directed over 60 films on all aspects of culture including the theatrically released Big Banana Feet with Billy Connolly, Sean Connery's Edinburgh, Frank Lloyd Wright with Anne Baxter, Hugh Macdairmid, Eduardo Paolozzi, a Granada series with A.J.P. Taylor and Mise an Teanga on the Irish and Scots Gaelic An Leabhar Mor.
For the opening of Channel Four in 1982, with Barbara Grigor, he directed Scotch Myths which questioned a Scotland portrayed by kitsch and stereotypes of fatigued romanticism.
Murray directed and co-produced the 8 part PBS (US Public Broadcasting Service) series Pride of Place on American architecture, Irony Curtain, Channel 4's series on art and politics between the USA and the USSR and The Face of Russia with James Billington, the Librarian of Congress for WETA, Washington DC. He was the first film-maker to be honoured by the American Institute of Architects and the first recipient of the Royal Television Society Reith Award for 'consistent and innovative effort in television'.
Director of the Edinburgh Film Festival 1967 to 72 - chaired 1985-90; Director of Channel 4 1995-99, Murray is now directing a feature documentary in the USA and writing a book with Sir Sean Connery on Scotland.
Henry McLeish
The Right Honourable Henry McLeish, a former professional soccer player, began his political career in Fife, Scotland in the early 1970's, working his way through the ranks of the Kirkcaldy District Council and the Fife Regional Council.
Elected to the United Kingdom Parliament in 1987, he became a member of the Government in 1997.
As Minister for Devolution at the Scottish Office from 1997 to 1999 he was instrumental in shaping Scotland's first Parliament in almost 300 years. Elected to the Scottish Parliament in 1999 he was Minister for Enterprise and Life Long Learning overseeing higher education, industry, science and technology.
He became First Minister of Scotland in 2000, taking responsibility for Scotland's emerging role on the European and World stage, leading official government missions around the globe and implementing Scotland's social and economic policies. He became a member of the Privy Council - an honour bestowed by Her Majesty the Queen - in the same year
He played a key role in the process of devolution, which returned key aspects of Parliamentary power and Government authority from the UK to Scotland.
After 30 years in elected office, Mr McLeish retired from public service in 2003.
Baroness Michie of Gallanach
Baroness Michie, member of the Commission, passed away on May 6, 2008.
Paying tribute, the Chair of the Commission, Blair Jenkins, said:
"It's very sad news. Ray was always such a strong supporter of Scottish broadcasting and particularly passionate about securing the new Gaelic television channel. She was enthusiastic from the start about the work of the Scottish Broadcasting Commission and, even when her health was failing, gave us the benefit of her ideas, insights and questions.
"I visited her in Oban only a few weeks ago and she was as perceptive and persuasive as ever. She's a great loss to Scottish public life and our deepest sympathies go out to her family and many friends."
Ray Michie was born in February 1934 in Scotland. At the time of her election in June 1987 she was Area Speech Therapist for Argyll and Clyde Health Board. A former vice-Chairman of the Scottish Liberal Party, Lady Michie was Chairperson of the Scottish Liberal Democrats from 1991-1993.
She has served as the Liberal Democrat spokesperson on Scottish Affairs. She has long been a strong advocate of Home Rule for Scotland and the promotion of and development of Gaelic language. She is a member of An Comunn Gaidhealach, the National Farmers' Union of Scotland and the Scottish Crofters Union and was a participant in the early days of the Constitutional Convention.
Ray Michie was a member of the House of Commons Select Committee on Scottish Affairs from 1992-1997 and was appointed by the Speaker to the Chairman's Panel in 1997. She was joint Vice-Chairperson of the Parliamentary Group on the Whisky Industry.
She is Vice-President of the Royal College of Speech and Language therapists, an Honorary Associate of the National Council of Women of Great Britain and Honorary President of Clyde Fishermen's Association.
She stood down from Parliament in 2001 and became a member of the House of Lords. Ray become the first Peer to pledge their oath of allegance in Gaelic when being introduced to the Lords.
Seona Reid
Seona Reid took up the post of Director of Glasgow School of Art in September 1999. Prior to that she was Director of the Scottish Arts Council for 9 years; Assistant Director (Strategy and Regional Development) of Greater London Arts; Director of Shape, the pioneering arts and disability organisation; Head of Press and Publicity for Ballet Rambert and for Northern Dance Theatre; Business Manager of Lincoln Theatre Royal and a freelance arts consultant working with the Arts Council of Great Britain and the London Contemporary Dance Trust.
She is currently Vice Chair of the Lighthouse Centre for Architecture, Design and the City; a member of the Scottish Committee of the British Council; a member of the Knowledge and Evaluation Committee of the Arts and Humanities Research Council; member of the Executive Committee of Universities Scotland and on the Board of Cove Park Artists Retreat.
She is a Fellow of the Royal Society of Arts; was awarded the honorary degree of Doctor of Arts from Robert Gordon University, Aberdeen in 1995; became an honorary professor of the University of Glasgow in 1999, received an honorary degree of Doctor of Letters from the University of Glasgow in 2001 all for services to the Arts in Scotland, and an honorary degree of Doctor of Letters in July 2005 from Glasgow Caledonian University for services to the arts.
Elaine C. Smith
Elaine is an actress and comedian. She was born in Baillieston in Glasgow, and she continues to live in the city. She taught for three years in Firrhill Hugh School in Edinburgh before becoming a professional actress.
Her first major television appearance was in 1986 as a star on the BBC sketch show Naked Video. Made by BBC Scotland, it was shown throughout the UK on BBC2.
Elaine is probably best known for her role as Mary Nesbitt in the BBC sitcom Rab C. Nesbitt, based on characters in a Naked Video sketch. Set in Glasgow, the show was a cult hit and ran for nine years on BBC2. Her own shows " ELAINE" ran for three series for BBC Scotland.
Since Rab C. Nesbitt finished in 1999, Elaine has appeared as regular characters in the BBC dramas Two Thousand Acres of Sky and 55 Degrees North, performed alongside Helena Bonham Carter in the British film Women Talking Dirty, with Art Malik in Nina's Heavenly Delights and in the award winning 16 Years of Alcohol directed by Richard Jobson alongside Kevin McKidd.
She has toured Scotland extensively with her stand up shows " Elaine with Arritude" and " Hormonally Driven" which were filmed and transmitted for BBC Scotland.
For seven years until 2005, she headlined in Glasgow's King's Theatre's annual pantomime and is now engaged as their Creative Producer. She writes a weekly column in the Sunday Mail newspaper and is patron of many charities throughout Scotland. She runs a small theatre and TV production company with her husband.
David Wightman
As the founder and former CEO of Creative Edge Software and the spin off consultancy business Edgies, David Wightman is an experienced technologist and entrepreneur with a strong track record in games, research development and media sectors. Creative Edge sold millions of units worldwide on multiple platforms and won awards in the UK, USA and Japan as well as pioneering one the first multi-player online games in collaboration with AOL.
One of his main areas of interest continues to be the opportunities in both the entertainment and business sectors by the convergence of emerging technology, evolving publishing models and new media channels.
Secretariat
Commission members are supported by a Secretariat. The Secretariat staff are:
- Project Manager - Wendy Wilkinson
- Business Manager - Dominic Curran
- Office Manager - Marie-Claire Farmer
- Communications Manager - Samantha Fiander