The Daily Politics
Encyclopedia
The Daily Politics is a British television
show launched by the BBC
in 2003. Presented by Andrew Neil
and Jo Coburn
, the programme takes an in-depth and sometimes irreverent look at the daily goings on in Westminster
and other areas across Britain and the world, and includes interviews with leading politicians and political commentators. It replaced Westminster Live
which ended in 2002.
at a running time of 30 minutes from 12:00-12:30 on Mondays, Tuesdays, Thursdays and Fridays when Parliament is sitting. On Wednesdays the programme runs from 11:30 to 13:00 and includes live coverage of Prime Minister's Questions
.
Each show is repeated on BBC Parliament
at midnight on the same day, and is available on the BBC iPlayer
for seven days.
During the party conference season the Daily Politics has extended programmes of 60-minutes long in the mornings, with an additional show covering the leaders' speech in the afternoon.
The Daily Politics team also produce a conference highlights pogramme called Today at Conference which goes out after Newsnight on BBC Two
and is also presented by Andrew Neil
.
During the 2010 General Election, BBC Two
ran nine, 45-minute Daily Politics Election Debates. These programmes were presented by Andrew Neil and a specialist BBC correspondent.
From January 2012, the show will also broadcast a sunday edition presented by Andrew Neil
as part of the relaunched six days a week format. Monday, Tuesday, Thursday and Friday will also be extended to one hour.
was Neil's co-presenter until the summer of 2005 when she left to join ITV
. Jenny Scott
joined as her replacement. She left in June 2008 to join the Bank of England
. Sally Magnusson
joined briefly in 2005 as the sole presenter on Friday's episode. Anita Anand
joined the programme as Jenny Scott's replacement in September with Jo Coburn
presenting on Thursdays.
Shelagh Fogarty
joined the team in January 2010 to co-host with Neil on Thursdays for three
months after Anita Anand began maternity leave, while Jo Coburn took on Anita Anand's role presenting four days a week.
At the beginning of April 2010, Jo Coburn went full time presenting the programme every day. Anita Anand returned on 6 September 2010 and left the programme in July 2011.
When the programme returns on on 5 September 2011, it will be presented by Andrew Neil on Mondays, Jo Coburn on Fridays, and the two of them together on Tuesdays, Wednesdays and Thursdays.
Jon Sopel and Eddie Mair
have appeared as guest presenters in Andrew Neil
's absence.
The regular reporters are Adam Fleming
, Giles Dilnot, Max Cotton and David Thompson
- a joint team with BBC1's Politics Show.
Other regular contributors to the show include the BBC's political editor Nick Robinson
and his deputy James Landale
- who help to review Prime Minister's Questions
on Wednesday's extended shows.
Cabinet
and their Conservative
and Liberal Democrat
equivalents. These debates ran alongside the main leaders' debates held for the first time in 2010.
Starting on Monday 19 April, there were nine debates held on Mondays, Tuesdays and Wednesdays for the three weeks before 6 May. Andrew Neil
acted as moderator, along with a specialist BBC correspondent.
. This competition was suspended as per BBC policy in the wake of the Blue Peter
phone-in scandal. The competition returned in 2008 with entries picked out of a giant-sized Daily Politics mug instead of a normal mug (after initially using a Daily Politics bucket
). Neither the enlarged mug nor the Daily Politics bucket have yet been made available as a prize. The design of the mug changed in September 2008, after a relaunch of the programme.
Television
Television is a telecommunication medium for transmitting and receiving moving images that can be monochrome or colored, with accompanying sound...
show launched by the BBC
BBC
The British Broadcasting Corporation is a British public service broadcaster. Its headquarters is at Broadcasting House in the City of Westminster, London. It is the largest broadcaster in the world, with about 23,000 staff...
in 2003. Presented by Andrew Neil
Andrew Neil
Andrew Ferguson Neil is a Scottish journalist and broadcaster.He currently works for the BBC, presenting the live political programmes The Daily Politics and This Week...
and Jo Coburn
Jo Coburn
Jo Coburn is a British journalist and political correspondent for BBC News, previously with special responsibility for BBC Breakfast. She has also previously worked as BBC political correspondent for London, most notably during the 2000 London Mayoral election...
, the programme takes an in-depth and sometimes irreverent look at the daily goings on in Westminster
Palace of Westminster
The Palace of Westminster, also known as the Houses of Parliament or Westminster Palace, is the meeting place of the two houses of the Parliament of the United Kingdom—the House of Lords and the House of Commons...
and other areas across Britain and the world, and includes interviews with leading politicians and political commentators. It replaced Westminster Live
Westminster Live
Westminster Live was a weekly television programme focusing on political developments within the United Kingdom Parliament, first transmitted in 1989, discontinued in 2002, and succeeded by The Daily Politics....
which ended in 2002.
Broadcast times
The Daily Politics is broadcast live on BBC TwoBBC Two
BBC Two is the second television channel operated by the British Broadcasting Corporation in the United Kingdom. It covers a wide range of subject matter, but tending towards more 'highbrow' programmes than the more mainstream and popular BBC One. Like the BBC's other domestic TV and radio...
at a running time of 30 minutes from 12:00-12:30 on Mondays, Tuesdays, Thursdays and Fridays when Parliament is sitting. On Wednesdays the programme runs from 11:30 to 13:00 and includes live coverage of Prime Minister's Questions
Prime Minister's Questions
Prime minister's questions is a constitutional convention in the United Kingdom that takes place every Wednesday during which the prime minister spends half an hour answering questions from members of parliament...
.
Each show is repeated on BBC Parliament
BBC Parliament
BBC Parliament is a British television channel from the BBC. Its remit is to make accessible to all the work of the parliamentary and legislative bodies of the United Kingdom and the European Parliament...
at midnight on the same day, and is available on the BBC iPlayer
BBC iPlayer
BBC iPlayer, commonly shortened to iPlayer, is an internet television and radio service, developed by the BBC to extend its former RealPlayer-based and other streamed video clip content to include whole TV shows....
for seven days.
During the party conference season the Daily Politics has extended programmes of 60-minutes long in the mornings, with an additional show covering the leaders' speech in the afternoon.
The Daily Politics team also produce a conference highlights pogramme called Today at Conference which goes out after Newsnight on BBC Two
BBC Two
BBC Two is the second television channel operated by the British Broadcasting Corporation in the United Kingdom. It covers a wide range of subject matter, but tending towards more 'highbrow' programmes than the more mainstream and popular BBC One. Like the BBC's other domestic TV and radio...
and is also presented by Andrew Neil
Andrew Neil
Andrew Ferguson Neil is a Scottish journalist and broadcaster.He currently works for the BBC, presenting the live political programmes The Daily Politics and This Week...
.
During the 2010 General Election, BBC Two
BBC Two
BBC Two is the second television channel operated by the British Broadcasting Corporation in the United Kingdom. It covers a wide range of subject matter, but tending towards more 'highbrow' programmes than the more mainstream and popular BBC One. Like the BBC's other domestic TV and radio...
ran nine, 45-minute Daily Politics Election Debates. These programmes were presented by Andrew Neil and a specialist BBC correspondent.
From January 2012, the show will also broadcast a sunday edition presented by Andrew Neil
Andrew Neil
Andrew Ferguson Neil is a Scottish journalist and broadcaster.He currently works for the BBC, presenting the live political programmes The Daily Politics and This Week...
as part of the relaunched six days a week format. Monday, Tuesday, Thursday and Friday will also be extended to one hour.
Presenters
Daisy SampsonDaisy McAndrew
Daisy McAndrew is an English journalist currently employed by ITN as a special correspondent for the ITV News at Ten.-Biography:...
was Neil's co-presenter until the summer of 2005 when she left to join ITV
ITV
ITV is the major commercial public service TV network in the United Kingdom. Launched in 1955 under the auspices of the Independent Television Authority to provide competition to the BBC, it is also the oldest commercial network in the UK...
. Jenny Scott
Jenny Scott
Jenny Scott is an English journalist and economist.-Early life:A native of Windsor, Berkshire, Jenny Scott had an adventurous childhood, travelling through West Africa and Australia due to her father's career as an engineer...
joined as her replacement. She left in June 2008 to join the Bank of England
Bank of England
The Bank of England is the central bank of the United Kingdom and the model on which most modern central banks have been based. Established in 1694, it is the second oldest central bank in the world...
. Sally Magnusson
Sally Magnusson
Sally Magnússon,, is a Scottish broadcaster and writer, currently working for BBC Scotland. She also presents Tracing Your Roots on BBC Radio 4.-Early life:...
joined briefly in 2005 as the sole presenter on Friday's episode. Anita Anand
Anita Anand
-Early life:Anand was born in London, England to Pakistani Hindu parents from the North West Frontier, bordering on Afghanistan.-Education:Anand was educated at Bancroft's School, a co-educational independent school in the town of Woodford Green, in the suburb of Woodford in North East London,...
joined the programme as Jenny Scott's replacement in September with Jo Coburn
Jo Coburn
Jo Coburn is a British journalist and political correspondent for BBC News, previously with special responsibility for BBC Breakfast. She has also previously worked as BBC political correspondent for London, most notably during the 2000 London Mayoral election...
presenting on Thursdays.
Shelagh Fogarty
Shelagh Fogarty
Shelagh Fogarty, born 13 January 1966 in Liverpool, Merseyside, England, is a radio and television presenter and journalist. She formerly hosted the BBC Radio 5 Live breakfast show with Nicky Campbell.-Early life:...
joined the team in January 2010 to co-host with Neil on Thursdays for three
months after Anita Anand began maternity leave, while Jo Coburn took on Anita Anand's role presenting four days a week.
At the beginning of April 2010, Jo Coburn went full time presenting the programme every day. Anita Anand returned on 6 September 2010 and left the programme in July 2011.
When the programme returns on on 5 September 2011, it will be presented by Andrew Neil on Mondays, Jo Coburn on Fridays, and the two of them together on Tuesdays, Wednesdays and Thursdays.
Jon Sopel and Eddie Mair
Eddie Mair
Eddie Mair is a British BBC radio and television presenter. He presents BBC Radio 4's daily news magazine PM also the Radio 4 Saturday only iPM and the BBC's NewsPod, is an occasional presenter of Newsnight, the stand-in presenter for Any Questions replacing the late Nick Clarke, and was the...
have appeared as guest presenters in Andrew Neil
Andrew Neil
Andrew Ferguson Neil is a Scottish journalist and broadcaster.He currently works for the BBC, presenting the live political programmes The Daily Politics and This Week...
's absence.
The regular reporters are Adam Fleming
Adam Fleming
Adam Fleming is a Scottish news reporter, best known for his work on CBBC's news programme, Newsround. He also reports for Sportsround and has recently begun appearing as a political correspondent for BBC News.-Early life and career:...
, Giles Dilnot, Max Cotton and David Thompson
David Thompson
David Thompson may refer to:In exploration:*David Thompson , founder of the first European settlement in New Hampshire, United States...
- a joint team with BBC1's Politics Show.
Other regular contributors to the show include the BBC's political editor Nick Robinson
Nick Robinson
Nicholas Anthony "Nick" Robinson is a British journalist and political editor for the BBC. Robinson was interested in politics from a young age, and went on to study a Philosophy, Politics, and Economics degree at Oxford University, where he was also President of the Oxford University Conservative...
and his deputy James Landale
James Landale
James Landale is a BBC journalist who is the current Deputy Political Editor for BBC News.-Education:Landale was educated at Eton College, a famous independent school in the town of Eton in Berkshire, and was a contemporary of London Mayor Boris Johnson and Prime Minister David Cameron, followed by...
- who help to review Prime Minister's Questions
Prime Minister's Questions
Prime minister's questions is a constitutional convention in the United Kingdom that takes place every Wednesday during which the prime minister spends half an hour answering questions from members of parliament...
on Wednesday's extended shows.
Daily Politics Debates
During the run up to the 2010 General Election The Daily Politics held a series of special editions of the programme featuring debates involving members of the incumbent LabourLabour Party (UK)
The Labour Party is a centre-left democratic socialist party in the United Kingdom. It surpassed the Liberal Party in general elections during the early 1920s, forming minority governments under Ramsay MacDonald in 1924 and 1929-1931. The party was in a wartime coalition from 1940 to 1945, after...
Cabinet
Cabinet of the United Kingdom
The Cabinet of the United Kingdom is the collective decision-making body of Her Majesty's Government in the United Kingdom, composed of the Prime Minister and some 22 Cabinet Ministers, the most senior of the government ministers....
and their Conservative
Conservative Party (UK)
The Conservative Party, formally the Conservative and Unionist Party, is a centre-right political party in the United Kingdom that adheres to the philosophies of conservatism and British unionism. It is the largest political party in the UK, and is currently the largest single party in the House...
and Liberal Democrat
Liberal Democrats
The Liberal Democrats are a social liberal political party in the United Kingdom which supports constitutional and electoral reform, progressive taxation, wealth taxation, human rights laws, cultural liberalism, banking reform and civil liberties .The party was formed in 1988 by a merger of the...
equivalents. These debates ran alongside the main leaders' debates held for the first time in 2010.
Starting on Monday 19 April, there were nine debates held on Mondays, Tuesdays and Wednesdays for the three weeks before 6 May. Andrew Neil
Andrew Neil
Andrew Ferguson Neil is a Scottish journalist and broadcaster.He currently works for the BBC, presenting the live political programmes The Daily Politics and This Week...
acted as moderator, along with a specialist BBC correspondent.
Competition
Every Wednesday the programme features an e-mail competition where viewers answer a question for the chance to win a coveted Daily Politics mugMug
A mug is a sturdily built type of cup often used for drinking hot beverages, such as coffee, tea, or hot chocolate. Mugs, by definition, have handles and often hold a larger amount of fluid than other types of cup. Usually a mug holds approximately 12 fluid ounces of liquid; double a tea cup...
. This competition was suspended as per BBC policy in the wake of the Blue Peter
Blue Peter
Blue Peter is the world's longest-running children's television show, having first aired in 1958. It is shown on CBBC, both in its BBC One programming block and on the CBBC channel. During its history there have been many presenters, often consisting of two women and two men at a time...
phone-in scandal. The competition returned in 2008 with entries picked out of a giant-sized Daily Politics mug instead of a normal mug (after initially using a Daily Politics bucket
Bucket
A bucket, also called a pail, is typically a watertight, vertical cylinder or truncated cone, with an open top and a flat bottom, usually attached to a semicircular carrying handle called the bail. A pail can have an open top or can have a lid....
). Neither the enlarged mug nor the Daily Politics bucket have yet been made available as a prize. The design of the mug changed in September 2008, after a relaunch of the programme.
Trivia
The Daily Politics is produced at the BBC's Millbank studios just over the road from the Palace of Westminster but despite this convenient location it is not unknown for MPs and guests to arrive late for their interviews; a social gaffe which Andrew Neil frequently reminds them of on subsequent appearances. However on May 17th 2011 when the programme was re-scheduled to an earlier slot of 11:30 Neil himself was caught in traffic and missed the entire programme, which had to be introduced solo by Anita Anand with an empty chair alongside her.External links
- The Daily Politics at BBC Online