Bernard Ponsonby is a Scottish broadcast journalist for regional news and current affairs programming for
STV. He joined the station in 1990 and was appointed political editor in 2000, following the retirement of longstanding political editor
Fiona Ross. Since 2019, Ponsonby has been Special Correspondent for
STV News.
Early life
Ponsonby was born in
Castlemilk
Castlemilk ( gd, Caisteal Mheilc) is a district of Glasgow, Scotland. It lies to the far south of the city centre, adjacent to the Croftfoot and Simshill residential areas within the city to the north-west, the town of Rutherglen - neighbourhoo ...
,
Glasgow
Glasgow ( ; sco, Glesca or ; gd, Glaschu ) is the most populous city in Scotland and the fourth-most populous city in the United Kingdom, as well as being the 27th largest city by population in Europe. In 2020, it had an estimated popul ...
. He was educated at
Trinity High School, Rutherglen
Trinity High School is a Roman Catholic secondary school located in Eastfield, Rutherglen, Scotland near the city of Glasgow. It was established in 1971. The current head teacher is Allison Craig who took office in 2021 with incumbent Peter Bol ...
, and
Strathclyde University
The University of Strathclyde ( gd, Oilthigh Shrath Chluaidh) is a public research university located in Glasgow, Scotland. Founded in 1796 as the Andersonian Institute, it is Glasgow's second-oldest university, having received its royal chart ...
. He has been a supporter of
Celtic F.C.
The Celtic Football Club, commonly known as Celtic (), is a Scottish professional football club based in Glasgow, which plays in the Scottish Premiership. The club was founded in 1887 with the purpose of alleviating poverty in the immigran ...
since boyhood.
["Ponsonby, Bernard Joseph", ''Who's Who in Scotland 2014'' (Kilmarnock: Carrick Media, 2014), p. 401. Retrieved 26 February 2023.]
Political career
Ponsonby joined the
Social Democratic Party
The name Social Democratic Party or Social Democrats has been used by many political parties in various countries around the world. Such parties are most commonly aligned to social democracy as their political ideology.
Active parties
For ...
(SDP) as a young man, and upon leaving university was briefly employed as a researcher for the former MP Dr
Dickson Mabon
Jesse Dickson Mabon (1 November 1925 – 10 April 2008), sometimes known as Dick Mabon, was a Scottish politician, physician and business executive. He was the founder of The Manifesto Group of Labour MPs, an alliance of moderate MPs who foug ...
.
After the SDP merged with the
Liberal Party
The Liberal Party is any of many political parties around the world. The meaning of ''liberal'' varies around the world, ranging from liberal conservatism on the right to social liberalism on the left.
__TOC__ Active liberal parties
This is a li ...
in 1988, he stood for the
Liberal Democrats – then styled as the "Democrats" – in that year's
Govan by-election, losing his deposit with a 4.1% share of the vote.
Following that he became the party's press officer in Scotland.
Television career
Ponsonby joined Scottish Television (STV) in 1990.
For seven years, he presented the channel's flagship political programme ''Platform''. He currently reports and provides political commentary for all three editions of the station's flagship regional news programme, ''
STV News at Six'', in the North, East and West of Scotland. He has also contributed to the weekly political programme ''
Politics Now'', for which he became presenter in January 2009, until the programme's end in 2011. He now commentates on the replacement programme ''
Scotland Tonight
''Scotland Tonight'' is a Scottish news and current affairs programme, covering the two STV franchise areas of Northern and Central Scotland, produced by STV News. The programme is presented by ''STV News at Six'' Central anchor John MacKay on ...
''.
Ponsonby co-presented the political programme ''Scottish Questions'' (1992–93), was the lead presenter on ''Scottish Voices'' (1994–95), co-presented ''Trial By Night'' (1993–96) and more recently, ''Seven Days'' (2000–2001).
Ponsonby has produced several documentary programmes in the Scottish Reporters series and produced two political documentaries (The Dewar Years and The Salmond Years) on two of Scotland's most influential politicians of the postwar period.
In 2002, Ponsonby was arrested for drunk driving and convicted of being over three times the legal drink limit.
In May 2009, Ponsonby became the first journalist in the UK to report the resignation of the speaker of the House of Commons and
Glasgow North East
Glasgow North East is a burgh constituency of the House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom (at Westminster). It was first contested at the 2005 general election. The current Member of Parliament (MP) is Anne McLaughlin of the ...
MP,
Michael Martin – the first speaker to be forced from office since 1695.
On 5 August 2014, Ponsonby moderated ''
Salmond & Darling: The Debate'', the first head-to-head televised debate between
First Minister
A first minister is any of a variety of leaders of government cabinets. The term literally has the same meaning as "prime minister" but is typically chosen to distinguish the office-holder from a superior prime minister. Currently the title of ' ...
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
Alistair Darling
Alistair Maclean Darling, Baron Darling of Roulanish, (born 28 November 1953) is a British politician who served as Chancellor of the Exchequer under Prime Minister Gordon Brown from 2007 to 2010. A member of the Labour Party, he was a Member ...
ahead of the
forthcoming Scottish independence referendum.
The Prime Minister's office refused to allow Ponsonby to interview
David Cameron
David William Donald Cameron (born 9 October 1966) is a British former politician who served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 2010 to 2016 and Leader of the Conservative Party from 2005 to 2016. He previously served as Leader o ...
on STV about the Scottish independence referendum.
Ponsonby stood down as Political Editor of STV News in 2019, after 19 years in the job. He took up the newly-created role of Special Correspondent, whilst continuing to lead STV's election results coverage.
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Ponsonby, Bernard
Liberal Democrats (UK) parliamentary candidates
Living people
People educated at Trinity High School, Rutherglen
People from Cambuslang
Scottish journalists
Scottish Liberal Democrat politicians
Scottish television presenters
STV News newsreaders and journalists
Year of birth missing (living people)