Gus Macdonald, Baron Macdonald of Tradeston

Gus Macdonald, Baron Macdonald of Tradeston

Angus "Gus" John Macdonald, Baron Macdonald of Tradeston CBE PC (* 20th August 1940 in Larkhall , South Lanarkshire , Scotland ) is a British journalist , managers in the media industry and politicians of the Labor Party , which since 1998 as a Life Peer member of the House of Lords is.

Life

Journalist, media manager and university professor

After completing school at Allan Glen's School in Glasgow , Macdonald trained as a marine engineer from 1956 and then worked in this profession until 1963, before working as a journalist for the daily newspaper The Scotsman between 1965 and 1967 . After working as a manager and presenter for the television broadcaster Granada Television from 1967 to 1985 , he moved to Scottish Media Group plc in 1986, where he was first program director and then managing director between 1990 and 1996 and subsequently chairman of the board from 1996 to 1997. In 1976 he was the founding chairman of the Edinburgh International Television Festival. In addition to these activities, he was visiting professor for film and media studies at the University of Stirling from 1985 to 1998 . Macdonald, who received a British Academy Film Award (BAFTA Award) in 1973 and 1997 , served as a board member of the National Film and Television School in Beaconsfield from 1988 to 1997 , as chairman of the Edinburgh International Film Festival from 1994 to 1996 and from 1997 to 1998 as a member of the Board of Directors of the British Film Institute .

His last position was from 1997 to 1998 as chairman of the supervisory board of Scottish Media Group plc. During this period he was also chairman of Independent Television (ITV) from 1992 to 1994 and for some time in 1998 a board member of the Bank of Scotland and in 1997 was appointed Commander of the Order of the British Empire for his services . In addition, Macdonald, who was honored with the Scottish Business Elite Award in 1993 and 1998, was chairman of the partnership for the Cairngorms Partnership between 1997 and 1998 and at the same time was a board member of the Scottish Enterprise business development company.

House of Lords and Minister

By a letters patent dated October 2, 1998, Macdonald was raised to the nobility as a life peer with the title Baron Macdonald of Tradeston , of Tradeston in the City of Glasgow . Shortly after its introduction was carried out ( Introduction ) as a member of the House of Lords . In the House of Lords he belongs to the Labor Party faction .

Shortly thereafter, in 1998, he became Minister for Enterprise and Industry in the Scottish Office, part of the Scotland Department . After its dissolution, Lord Macdonald became Minister of State for Transport in the Department for the Environment, Transport and the Regions on July 29, 1999, succeeding Helen Liddell . At the same time he was appointed Privy Councilor in 1999 and was replaced by John Spellar as Minister of Transport on June 8, 2001 . Subsequently, on June 11, 2001, Prime Minister Tony Blair appointed him to succeed Mo Mowlam as Minister for the Cabinet Office and Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster , and held these functions until his replacement by Douglas Alexander on June 13, 2003.

After leaving the government, he became a senior advisor at Macquarie Bank in 2004 and has also been a board member of ScottishPower since 2009 . Lord Macdonald was also a member of the Council and Committee of the University of Sussex from 2006 to 2001 and Chancellor of Glasgow Caledonian University from 2007 to 2012 .

Lord Macdonald has also received honorary doctorates from the University of Stirling, Edinburgh Napier University , Robert Gordon University , University of Glasgow and the University of Lincoln .

Web links

• Entry on Parliament's homepage (accessed on November 19, 2012)
• Gus Macdonald in Hansard (English)
• Entry in They Work For You (accessed November 19, 2012)
• Biography in Debrett's (accessed November 19, 2012)