SIXTY SECONDS
THE SKY NEWS PRESENTER, 41, ON THE DEBATE, TRICKY POLITICIANS AND WHY MOVING TO AFTERNOONS SUITS DAVID WALLIAMS
Friday, November 22, 2019
The political news of the week was the leadership debate. What did you make of it?
It was really important as the polls have been static for the Conservatives and Labour since the campaign kicked off. It was a chance for one of them to make a breakthrough but I don’t think we learned anything new. I found the questions about truth and character interesting and how the audience laughed when Boris Johnson answered, which was perhaps a real insight into what a lot of voters are thinking at the moment, particularly on the NHS. Jeremy Corbyn was saying the Conservatives plan to privatise the NHS and sell it to America and Boris Johnson says that’s absolutely not true. Who is lying?
Usually the incumbent comes off worse in a debate. Will the Tories be happy with Johnson’s performance?
. Julie Etchingham.
I think they’ll be pleased. Early on I thought he looked a bit nervous and kept looking down at his script. He’d been sent in there with a remit from the Conservatives that this is yours to lose, don’t divert from the script, stick to the message, and he brought everything back to Brexit. He didn’t make any gains but he certainly didn’t lose anything.
Should the Lib Dems and other major parties have been invited?
Interesting, isn’t it? It went to the court and the court ruled in ITV’s favour that it was an editorial decision and ITV gave the other parties a platform straight afterwards. Sky News has been very open that if we were to do a debate the Liberal Democrats would be invited. But I can see ITV’s point that it’s only 50 minutes of TV and it’s important to give the candidates a fair chance to answer in full and not be cut off.
Sky News is calling this the Brexit election but isn’t there more at stake than that?
We are calling this the Brexit election but it is true there is so much more to it than Brexit. People are concerned about schools, the NHS and other domestic issues – but all of that is framed by Brexit. We have to get answers about what our relationship with Europe will look like because that will impact on how much money we’re spending on imports and exports.
Some of the party manifestos are out. They can’t have changed much from two years ago, surely?
A lot of what will be in there will have been announced already but that’s why we’re there. We’ll have a big team ready to comb through the manifestos. I understand voter fatigue in that people feel like they’ve heard it before but if there’s anything new, we’ll be telling the people about it.
Have you reached the end of your tether with this endless political purgatory?
I have my days. But it is one of the biggest elections ever. Like the rest of the country I want to know what happens next but, of course, it’s not over once the general election result comes in, as we’ve got the Brexit deadline at the end of January. There does seem to be light at the end of the tunnel, though.
What’s the trick to making a politician give a straight answer?
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A great trick with politicians is to get them to actually answer the question. Because often they’ll start with that wonderful phrase, ‘Well, let me tell you this’. No, I don’t want you to tell me what you want to tell me, I’m asking you a question. It can be quite combative. Politicians are under enormous pressure so I get it but they also have to understand our jobs as well. I’m not deliberately being difficult or nasty to them, we want straight answers to straight questions, and it’s not difficult to have an honest dialogue.
You moved from your breakfast slot to the afternoon slot this year. How are you finding it?
‘No, I don’t want you to tell me what you want to tell me, I’m asking you a question…’
It’s taken me a while to get used to it but I must admit that I’ve not missed the 2.30am alarm clock. The first question people always ask me is ‘Do I wake up naturally at that time?’ and the answer is no! There’s no way. It’s not a natural time to wake up.
You and Kay Burley swapped slots. Are your viewers missing you in the morning?
People are loyal to their presenters and people pick a side they like to watch, whether it’s BBC, ITV or Sky News, and they’re loyal to that presenter. I bumped into David Walliams the other night, who is an avid Sky News viewer, and he went, ‘Oh, I miss you in the mornings but I watch you in the afternoons now which is much better as I’m far more awake.’
Do you still check in with the Sky Sports team?
I’m still really close with the team. The first thing I did this morning was check Sky Sports as my team, Tottenham, have got a new manager. It all happened so quickly! My beloved Poch [Mauricio Pochettino] has gone and José Mourinho is in. That’s the first thing I checked this morning – Tottenham Hotspur, then the leadership debate.
Watch the election unfold live on Sky News on December 12