William Mitchell-Thomson, 1st Baron Selsdon

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William Lowson Mitchell-Thomson, 1st Baron Selsdon, Bt., KBE (1877–1938) was a British politician.

William Mitchell-Thomson was elected as a Unionist Member of Parliament for Lanarkshire North West in 1906, serving until 1910. He was then MP for Glasgow Maryhill between 1918 and 1922, then Conservative MP for Croydon South, South London from 1923 to 1932.

In 1922, Mitchell-Thomson was Parliamentary Secretary to the Board of Trade. From 1924 until 1929, he served as Postmaster General. During the General Strike of 1926, he served as Chief Civil Commissioner. He was made a Privy Counsellor.

In 1932, Mitchell-Thomson resigned from the House of Commons and was made 1st Baron Selsdon.

In May 1934 the British government appointed a committee, under the guidance of Lord Selsdon, to begin enquiries into the viability of setting up a public television service, with recommendations as to the conditions under which such a service could be offered. The results of the Selsdon Report were issued as a single Government White Paper in January of the following year. The BBC was to be entrusted with the development of television. Lord Selsdon was one of those to appear on the first day of BBC television broadcasts, 2 November 1936, now in his new capacity as Chairman of the Television Advisory Committee.

Lord Selsdon died in 1938.

The 2nd Lord Selsdon, Patrick, was a racing driver who was to drive the V-12 Lagonda to 4th place at Le Mans in 1939 and to share Chinetti's winning Ferrari in that race in 1949.

[edit] External links

• Portraits of Baron Selsdon at the National Portrait Gallery, London

Parliament of the United Kingdom
Preceded by Charles Mackinnon Douglas	Member of Parliament for Lanarkshire North West 1906–1910	Succeeded by William Mather Rutherfurd Pringle
Preceded by New seat	Member of Parliament for Glasgow Maryhill 1918–1922	Succeeded by John William Muir
Preceded by Allan Smith	Member of Parliament for Croydon South 1923–1932	Succeeded by Herbert Williams
Political offices
Preceded by Vernon Hartshorn	Postmaster General 1924–1929	Succeeded by Hastings Lees-Smith
Peerage of the United Kingdom
Preceded by New Creation	Baron Selsdon	Succeeded by Patrick Mitchell-Thompson