FORMER BBC presenter and East Dunbartonshire’s new SNP MP, John Nicolson, has vowed never to say “frankly” and to take a leaf out of the First Minister’s book by actually answering a question.
The 53-year-old, from Bearsden, who was BBC 24’s anchorman when terrorists struck the Twin Towers, said he has a “new-found respect for politicians” since he started campaigning to become an MP.
Nicolson, who has been with his partner Juliano Zini for seven years, beat former Lib Dem MP Jo Swinson with a 30 per cent swing and 22,093 votes at the General Election.
He said: “Being an MP is different and has given me a new-found respect for politicians, on the campaign trail in particular, because if you go to hustings, and we had seven of them, you find yourself sitting there being thrown quite detailed questions from somebody who might be a head teacher or a nurse with a lot of knowledge about their particular subject matter.”
Nicolson insisted that many politicians have adopted a “verbal tic” of saying frankly all the time.
He added: “One thing I really want to do is answer the question because nothing frustrates viewers more than the politicians who don’t answer the question.
“I think Nicola Sturgeon has a great talent for answering questions, she doesn’t try to wriggle or avoid, and is very good at making interviews into conversations.
“I have sworn I will never say frankly in any answer because when you hear politicians saying that word there is rarely any frankness involved in the answer. It is a verbal tic that has run riot across the airwaves, you cannot switch on the Today programme without a frankly being thrown in there.”
Born in Glasgow, Nicolson studied at Glasgow University where he was the Scottish and World student debating champion.
He graduated with an honours MA, winning a Kennedy Scholarship and Harkness Fellowship to Harvard.
He was subsequently recruited by Senator Daniel Patrick Moynihan of New York as a speech-writer on Capitol Hill before returning to Glasgow to present the Open to Question programme for BBC Scotland. He was also a political correspondent for On the Record in London.
He went on to report for some of the BBC’s highest-profile programmes including Newsnight, Panorama, and Public Eye. He worked for the BBC from 1987 until 2003 before moving on.
He was the main presenter of BBC Breakfast for several years and anchored coverage of the 9/11 terrorist attack for BBC 24.
Nicolson had his own show with ITV called John Nicolson and was a Radio 4 presenter, as well as writing for The Times and The Telegraph.
He was actively involved in the referendum campaign and returned to Glasgow University to debate independence with other former world debating champions for STV. He was also a member of the National Collective.
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