Politics Show East

Deborah McGurran Editor, Politics Show East

Deborah McGurran... I'm from Manchester. After I finished my degrees at Manchester University, I trained as a journalist in Preston.

My first job was as a trainee reporter on the Oldham Chronicle newspaper.

I have fond memories of Oldham market and the beauty of the moors at the base of the Pennines.

I also worked for the Liverpool Post and at Piccadilly Radio in Manchester before joining the BBC.

I worked for Northwest Tonight for five years before moving to the East.

I have always been interested in Politics and started as a researcher on the then, East at Westminster - moving on as reporter, then producer and now Political Editor of the region.

I am still the only female regional Political Editor in the country, although we're better represented in the ranks of network reporters and presenters.

I am a member of the Reporters' Lobby in Westminster, which means I can go into Central Lobby, just outside the chamber of the House of Commons.

It is something that I still believe is an incredible privilege, to see, at times, history being made, in front of your eyes.

Etholle George

Now what was that about ladies and men in uniform..?

Having toyed with the idea of becoming a Customs Officer, an air traffic controller or a museum curator, I left school at 18 to begin work in the City of London as an accountant!

Realising that I talked far too much to sit in an office by myself all day, I joined BBC Essex as a volunteer in 1993.

My first job on the station was compiling the Shoppers Car Parking Report, but my typing skills were so bad that it was suggested that I read the information out on air, and a new career began.

Etholle and Clive Lewis with the hat that's become 'de rigeur'

I joined Look East in 2000 as a newsreader, presenting regular TV news bulletins and reporting as well from both Cambridge and Norwich.

In 2002, I started work as an announcer at the new BBC Digital station BBC7, where I introduce the 7th Dimension dramas and bestsellers during the week, and a wider selection of programmes through the day on a Saturday.

I am now a presenter with BBC Essex on the lunchtime slot.

Clive Lewis - Politics Show East chief reporter

Clive Lewis brings in the politics of the community to the studio - to you...

I became hooked on politics after playing the part of Wat Tyler, the 14th Century leader of the Peasants Revolt, in a school play.

The giddy taste of rabble rousing power obviously went to my head as I later became a Vice President of the National Union of Students.

My first job in the BBC was as a security guard at BBC World in London.

Not quite broom cupboard to boardroom but an interesting journey nonetheless!

After completing a post-grad in journalism, I worked on local newspapers in Northampton and Milton Keynes before being accepted onto the BBC's News Trainee Scheme.

Based in Bristol and Leeds, I then went onto work as a Broadcast Journalist in Nottingham, Norwich, and at one point, Coventry.

I'm now a Senior Broadcast Journalist and work full time on the Politics Show as its main reporter.

If I had to sum the job up in one word, it would be: "relentless".

The Politics Show on Sundays at Midday on BBC One.

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