David Torrance (born 7 August 1977 in

Edinburgh Edinburgh ( ; gd, Dùn Èideann ) is the capital city of Scotland and one of its 32 Council areas of Scotland, council areas. Historically part of the county of Midlothian (interchangeably Edinburghshire before 1921), it is located in Lothian ...

, Scotland) is a British political journalist, author and contemporary historian. Torrance is best known for his

unauthorised biography An unauthorized biography is a biography written without the subject's permission or input. The term is usually restricted to biographies written within the subject's lifetime or shortly after their death; as such, it is not applied to biographi ...

Alex Salmond Alexander Elliot Anderson Salmond (; born 31 December 1954) is a Scottish politician and economist who served as First Minister of Scotland from 2007 to 2014. A prominent figure on the Scottish nationalist movement, he has served as leader ...

and his political commentary for STV and

BBC #REDIRECT BBC #REDIRECT BBC #REDIRECT BBC Here i going to introduce about the best teacher of my life b BALAJI sir. He is the precious gift that I got befor 2yrs . How has helped and thought all the concept and made my success in the 10th board ex ...

Life and career

Torrance was brought up in Edinburgh, Scotland where he attended

Leith Academy Leith Academy is a state school in Leith, Edinburgh. It currently educates around 1000 pupils and around 2,800 part-time adult learners. Mike Irving has been head teacher since August 2017. History It is one of the oldest schools in Scotland, w ...

. He matriculated to the

University of Aberdeen The University of Aberdeen ( sco, University o' 'Aiberdeen; abbreviated as ''Aberd.'' in List of post-nominal letters (United Kingdom), post-nominals; gd, Oilthigh Obar Dheathain) is a public university, public research university in Aberdeen, Sc ...

receiving a degree in psychology and went on to study journalism at

Cardiff University , latin_name = , image_name = Shield of the University of Cardiff.svg , image_size = 150px , caption = Coat of arms of Cardiff University , motto = cy, Gwirionedd, Undod a Chytgord , mottoeng = Truth, Unity and Concord , established = 1 ...

’s School of Journalism. Torrance began his career as a reporter for the ''

Edinburgh Evening News The ''Edinburgh Evening News'' is a daily newspaper and website based in Edinburgh, Scotland. It was founded by John Wilson (1844–1909) and first published in 1873. It is printed daily, except on Sundays. It is owned by JPIMedia, which also ...

'' from 2000 to 2001. He soon moved into television to present and produce ''The Week in Politics'' for

Grampian Grampian ( gd, Roinn a' Mhonaidh) was one of nine former local government regions of Scotland created in 1975 by the Local Government (Scotland) Act 1973 and abolished in 1996 by the Local Government etc. (Scotland) Act 1994. The region to ...

. Torrance stayed on as the Scottish Parliamentary reporter when the programme was taken over by

Scottish Television Scottish Television (now, legally, known as STV Central Limited) is the ITV network franchisee for Central Scotland. The channel — the largest of the three ITV franchises in Scotland — has been in operation since 31 August 1957 and is the ...

(STV) and retitled ''Politics Now'' in 2004. Torrance briefly took a break from his television commitments to work as Parliamentary Aide to the Shadow Scottish Secretary

David Mundell David Gordon Mundell, (born 27 May 1962) is a Scottish politician and solicitor who served as Secretary of State for Scotland from 2015 to 2019. A member of the Scottish Conservative Party, he has served as the Member of Parliament (MP) for Du ...

at the House of Commons. From 2007, he has regularly appeared on the BBC and

BBC Radio Scotland BBC Radio Scotland is a Scottish radio network owned and operated by BBC Scotland, a division of the BBC. It broadcasts a wide variety of programmes. It replaced the Scottish BBC Radio 4 opt-out service of the same name from 23 November 197 ...

reporting and commenting on the state of Scottish Politics within the larger context of the UK. Torrance later worked for the UK Parliament assisting in editing online and written content. In 2014, he returned to Edinburgh to report on that year's

Scottish independence referendum A referendum on Scottish independence from the United Kingdom was held in Scotland on 18 September 2014. The referendum question was, "Should Scotland be an independent country?", which voters answered with "Yes" or "No". The "No" side wo ...

Writings

In 2006, Torrance wrote his first work ''The Scottish Secretaries'' following the history of those men who served as chief minister in charge of the Scottish Office in the UK government from 1885 onward. The book has been followed by a number of unofficial political biographies and histories most notably on

George Younger George Kenneth Hotson Younger, 4th Viscount Younger of Leckie, Baron Younger of Prestwick, (22 September 1931 – 26 January 2003), was a British Conservative Party politician and banker. Early life and career Younger's forebear, George Younger ...

David Steel David Martin Scott Steel, Baron Steel of Aikwood, (born 31 March 1938) is a British politician. Elected as Member of Parliament for Roxburgh, Selkirk, and Peebles, followed by Tweeddale, Ettrick, and Lauderdale, he served as the final leade ...

Nicola Sturgeon Nicola Ferguson Sturgeon (born 19 July 1970) is a Scottish politician serving as First Minister of Scotland and Leader of the Scottish National Party (SNP) since 2014. She is the first woman to hold either position. She has been a member of ...

and

Margaret Thatcher Margaret Hilda Thatcher, Baroness Thatcher (; 13 October 19258 April 2013) was Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 1979 to 1990 and Leader of the Conservative Party (UK), Leader of the Conservative Party from 1975 to 1990. S ...

's relationship with Scotland during her political career. Torrance's work has largely focused on current and historical Scottish politics with an occasional divergence into non-political subject matters.

List of Works

# ''The Scottish Secretaries'' (2006) # ''George Younger: a Life Well Lived'' (2008) # We in Scotland': Thatcherism in a Cold Climate'' (2009) # ''Noel Skelton and the Property-Owning Democracy'' (2010) # ''Inside Edinburgh: Discovering the Classic Interiors of Edinburgh'' (2010) # ''Salmond: Against the Odds'' (2011) # ''Great Scottish Speeches'' (2011) # ''David Steel: The Biography'' (2012) # ''Whatever Happened to Tory Scotland?'' (2013) # ''The Battle for Britain: Scotland and the Independence Referendum'' (2013) # ''Britain Rebooted: Scotland in a Federal Union'' (2014) # ''100 Days of Hope and Fear: How Scotland's Referendum was Lost and Won'' (2014) # ''Nicola Sturgeon: A Political Life'' (2015)

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Torrance, David 1977 births Living people BBC newsreaders and journalists BBC World News Scottish journalists Alumni of Cardiff University People educated at Leith Academy