The Arts Building played host on Tuesday night to a talk from David Thompson, a reporter on the popular current affairs programme “The Politics Show”. Thompson regaled the audience with tales from his journey from a small local paper to one of the BBC’s foremost political television shows.

Thompson began by painting a picture of the beginnings of his career at weekly newspapers in Enfield and Aldershot- a world away from the perceived glamour of national television. The BBC journalist highlighted to the assembled students, the importance of these years on his later career. Thompson described how, it was here that he learnt the journalistic importance of knowing your local area well and developing relationships of trust with potential sources of information.

His next career move, he told the sizeable audience, was to move to Scotland’s biggest selling daily newspaper, The Daily Record. Thompson became the paper’s Lobby Correspondent in 1997. The journalist reminisced fondly about his seven year Westminster stint, attending Alistair Campbell’s (Tony Blair’s Press Secretary) entertaining press briefings.

It was as Westminster Correspondent, Thompson suggested, that he developed strong links with key government ministers such as Robin Cook (New Labour’s First Foreign Secretary). These connections saw Thompson accompany key politicians to, and file reports from, locations such as the Straits of Hormuz, Kosovo, Hong Kong and South Armagh.

Thompson’s meteoric rise, he continued, lead to him being appointed to the BBC’s Politics Show team in 2003. As well as this, it is evident that Thompson appears regularly on much of the BBC’s political news output on programmes such as “The Daily Politics” and “Newsnight”.

The guest speaker concluded by giving advice to the students present who have desires to make a career of political journalism. Thompson went on to say that a good reporter must have integrity and charm, but most of all, an eye for an exciting story.

A question and answer session then ensued, Thompson being quizzed on everything from corrupt MPs to the value of print media in an “internet age”.

Thompson was then greeted with warm applause and attentions turned to the Politics and International Relations (PIR) Society’s next set of events. Speakers include key figures such as George Galloway and a Serbian Foreign Minister.