Sign in
☰
People MPsHouse of LordsGovernmentOppositionPartiesCommittees Votes Commons votesLords votesVotes by issueTopicsStats & rankingsParliament in numbers Legislation BillsEarly day motionsPetitions Elections Election resultsConstituenciesWho is my MP? Scotland OverviewMSPsScottish GovernmentVotesBillsMotionsCommitteesConstituencies & regionsElections Search Sign in

Motion · S6M-20546 · 23 Jan 2026

100th Anniversary of John Logie Baird’s First Television

Lodged by Kenneth Gibson (No Party Affiliation) Standard Motion 30 supporters

The motion

That the Parliament notes the 100th anniversary of the first demonstration of a mechanical television system by the Scottish inventor, John Logie Baird, on 26 January 1926; acknowledges that Baird, who was born in Helensburgh on 13 August 1888 and studied at the Glasgow and West of Scotland Technical College, went on to develop the first publicly demonstrated colour television system and the first viable purely electronic colour television picture tube; understands that the demonstration in his London laboratory marked a significant milestone in the development of modern television technology and that images of "Stooky Bill", the head of a ventriloquist’s dummy created by Baird, were the first to be successfully transmitted by television; recognises that Baird’s work contributed to worldwide advances in audiovisual communication and remains a source of scientific and cultural importance to Scotland, and considers that the anniversary provides an opportunity to reflect on Scotland’s longstanding and global contribution to innovation and engineering.

Supporters (30)

Source: the Scottish Parliament motions and amendments record.