INTERVIEW
Camera Press
THE INVESTOR
|
15
A
ndrewMarr, the broadcaster
and journalist, will publish his
rst novel,
Head of State
, about
a European referendum, in
September; his second, about
the Labour Party, is already on its way through
the publishing process.When we spoke, he had
just returned from a trip to Scotland as part
of a documentary on the country’s imminent
vote on independence, and was hard at work
on preparations for an interviewwith David
Cameron for his eponymous Sunday morning
politics show on BBC One. It does not sound
like the itinerary of a man taking it easy after
a debilitating stroke.
Marr confesses that he has not slowed
down as much as he perhaps should.‘I used
to do eight hours of documentary a year;
now I am doing three or four. I have stopped
regularly presenting
Start theWeek
[the Radio
4 discussion programme] and only do it
occasionally. I am still busy, but much more
of it is at home in front of a computer.’
The pace is a bit less frenetic than before
his stroke in January 2013, when he had
dashed o two volumes on modern British
history, a biography of the Queen and
books on topics as diverse as journalism,
drawing and Scottish politics – all in between
presenting his radio and television shows and
fronting documentaries on subjects ranging
from megacities to a history of the world.
Marr confesses that he is‘not good at sitting
on a beach or relaxing with a book’, but he
is working hard at recuperating from the
e ects of the stroke. He was fortunate both
in accessing the treatment that saved his life
and because the stroke a ected the right side
of his brain, so his speech and memory have
not been a ected, although he is still working
hard on improving the function of his left
arm and leg. He thinks he has‘another year of
recovery’ and is doing lots of physiotherapy.
He jokes that the stroke took him to old
age and back, and describes riding around
Regent’s Park on a tricycle as he can no longer
use an ordinary bike, let alone push himself to
the limits on a rowing machine or a run as he
used to. But, he says, his life is still full of new
things – like his ction and drawing, which
has largely replaced the painting that was one
of his pre-stroke passions, and travelling to
places such asVenice, Paris and Crete.
He also relishes the political climate of the
age, convinced that a historian writing about
Britain in the 21st century will see the years
between 2013 and 2015 as pivotal, because of
the forthcoming Scottish referendum and the
general election, which could be followed by
a referendum on Europe.
Born in Glasgow and educated there and
in Cambridge, although he now lives in
London, Marr thinks the Scottish referendum
is particularly interesting.‘It is the most
important and exciting moment in Scotland’s
history since 1707 [the date of the Union with
EnglandAct]. It is also very nely balanced;
I have heard people arguing from both sides
and they are very passionate, although often
very reluctant to speak publicly.’
After graduating with a rst in English,
Marr’s rst job was as a journalist on
The
Scotsman
, but since then his life has largely
been spent in England, including spells
as political editor and then editor of
The
Independent
before he became the BBC’s
political editor in 2000. He thinks that
newspapers, particularly in terms of
political reporting, have become much less
comprehensive since he started.
‘When I joined
The Independent
there
were six people reporting on daily politics;
on
The Scotsman
there were three and we
had a full page, with no adverts, every day.’
The change, he thinks, is simply economic:
the money to pay such large teams is no
longer available.While the information
available on the internet – whether through
conventional news channels or what is now
called the blogosphere – has exploded, he
thinks‘citizen blogger’ is no replacement for
the dedicated news teams of yesterday.
Political life, too, has changed in the 30
years or so he has been covering it.When he
started his career there were MPs who had
been miners, steelworkers or businessmen;
today, most are career politicians who have
arrived at parliament having been advisers
or researchers for their parties.‘The
variety has reduced and there is a danger of
homogeneity.The e ect is that it narrows
the variety of experience and narrows the
usefulness of politicians.There is more variety
of experience in the House of Lords than in
the Commons and that is not encouraging.’
Marr has asked searching questions
to many prominent gures in his time –
including a televised interview with the
Queen in her Diamond Jubilee year.Although
he says he does not dwell on past interviews,
particular favourites are with Barack Obama
just after the capture of Osama Bin Laden,
where he was very frank about the operation,
and a recent brief interview with Russian
presidentVladimir Putin –‘I would have liked
to have settled down with him and done a
proper one on one.’
His main regret is that he came to the
job too late to interview MargaretThatcher,
joining the BBC in 2000, a decade after
she stood down as PM. Her death last year
puts that rmly out of his reach but, aged
just 55, he has plenty of time for other
challenges ahead.
I would have liked to
have settled down
with Vladimir Putin
and done a proper
one on one
ANDREW MARR CV
1981 – 86
The Scotsman
Trainee and junior business reporter, parliamentary
correspondent, political correspondent
1986
The Independent
Part of launch team
1986 – 92
The Economist
Columnist, political editor
1992 – 98
The Independent
Political editor, editor
1998 – 2000
Daily Express and Observer
Columnist
2000 – present
BBC
Political editor, presenter of shows including
Sunday AM
(later known as
The Andrew Marr Show
),
Start the Week
,
Britain From Above
and
Andrew Marr’s
History of Modern Britain
