John Pienaar

John Pienaar’s background

John is the presenter of the weekly Westminster round-up Pienaar’s Politics on Radio 5Live and former BBC’s Deputy Political Editor. A seasoned reporter, he sees his job as beating a path through the forest of Government spin. Ever since his original, often controversial parliamentary sketch for the Independent, he has acted as tour guide and translator of goings-on in the Westminster village.

He’s originally trained at South London Press, covering whatever was occurring on his doorstep – be it street crime, domestic violence, sex, drugs or rock’n’roll. He then became an Old Bailey Correspondent and even wrote an angling column (without ever having held a fishing rod).

Instantly recognisable to television news audiences, John has spent hundreds of hours standing in the rain outside 10 Downing Street. He was also invited to take part in a celebrity boxing show, only for it to be cancelled for fear that someone might get hurt. Picking up this theme in his after dinner speech, John imagines what would happen if the public were to vote for MPs by means of a reality TV show.