Sir Trevor McDonald OBE
Senior leaders are not short of commentary on global affairs. They are short of perspective from people who were actually in the room when the decisions were made. The arc of post-Cold War geopolitics now exists mostly as a managed narrative, retold by analysts working from secondary sources, in front of audiences who have heard most of it before.
Sir Trevor McDonald is the British journalist who interviewed Nelson Mandela on his release from prison and Saddam Hussein before the Gulf War, and who anchored ITV’s News at Ten for over a decade as the country’s most trusted news voice.
Full Profile
Why organisations work with Sir Trevor McDonald
- He is one of a small group of living public figures whose presence at the front of a room is itself a statement about the seriousness of the occasion. Royal events, charitable galas, and major industry awards have used him in this capacity for over thirty years.
- His firsthand interviews with Nelson Mandela on his release, Saddam Hussein on the eve of the first Gulf War, Colonel Gaddafi, Yasser Arafat, Bill Clinton and Tony Blair give him a stock of stories about global power that no contemporary commentator working from secondary sources can match.
- He carries the credibility of more than thirty years anchoring ITV’s flagship evening news, where he was repeatedly polled as Britain’s most trusted news presenter. Audiences across age groups recognise him on sight.
- He brings the perspective of a journalist who reported from every continent across five decades, including over ten years covering the Northern Ireland Troubles, giving any audience access to someone who watched the modern world being shaped from the front row.
Biography highlights
- Knighted in 1999 for services to broadcasting and journalism, awarded OBE in 1992
- BAFTA Fellowship (2011), Royal Television Society Gold Medal (1998), BAFTA Richard Dimbleby Award (1999), Royal Television Society Judges’ Award (2005), National Television Award for Special Recognition (2003)
- Sole presenter of ITV’s News at Ten from 1992 until December 2005, and host of ITV’s Tonight from 1999 to 2007
- First British television journalist to interview Nelson Mandela following his release in 1990, and the only British journalist to interview Saddam Hussein on the eve of the first Gulf War
- Author of An Improbable Life: The Autobiography (Weidenfeld & Nicolson, 2019), a Sunday Times bestseller
- Former Chancellor of London South Bank University; honorary degrees from the University of Plymouth, the Open University, Liverpool John Moores, the University of the West Indies, Kingston University and others
Biography
Nelson Mandela walked out of Victor Verster Prison in February 1990 to face a global press pack. The first British television journalist to sit down with him for an interview was Sir Trevor McDonald, then Diplomatic Editor at ITN. Later that same year, on the eve of the first Gulf War, he became the only British journalist to secure an interview with Saddam Hussein.
Those two assignments are typical of a career that placed Sir Trevor in proximity to most of the people who shaped late twentieth century geopolitics. Across more than five decades at the BBC, ITN and ITV, he reported from every continent. He covered Northern Ireland’s Troubles for over a decade, the negotiations over Britain’s entry to the European Common Market, the Reagan and Gorbachev summits, and the 1985 Philippine “people power” elections that won Channel Four News a BAFTA.
From 1992 to December 2005 he was the sole presenter of ITV’s News at Ten, the country’s flagship evening news. He was repeatedly polled as Britain’s most trusted news presenter and named Television and Radio Industries Club Newscaster of the Year on multiple occasions between 1993 and 2009. Knighted in 1999 for services to broadcasting, awarded the BAFTA Fellowship in 2011, he is one of a handful of figures in British public life whose name is itself a guarantee of seriousness at an event.
His later work moved into long-form documentary for ITV, including Inside Death Row, To Catch A Serial Killer and Fred and Rose West: The Real Story. He published his Sunday Times bestselling autobiography An Improbable Life with Weidenfeld & Nicolson in 2019. He is a former Chancellor of London South Bank University, has chaired the Better English Campaign, and co-chaired a Nuffield Foundation inquiry into the teaching of foreign languages in British schools, work for which he was honoured by the French and German governments.
Key speaking topics
- Geopolitics and international affairs
- Reporting from conflict zones
- The arc of late twentieth century world events
- Trust and credibility in public communication
- Journalism, media and public life
- Witness to modern political history
Ideal for
- Boards, executive committees and senior leadership audiences requiring gravitas at major in-house events
- Industry associations hosting flagship awards, conferences or anniversary dinners
- Trustees and committees of major public-interest charities, foundations and royal patronages
- Conference programme leads commissioning international affairs panels, moderated discussions or main-stage interviews
Audience outcomes
- Stories from the room where Nelson Mandela gave his first British television interview after his release, and where Saddam Hussein sat for his only British television interview before the Gulf War
- A perspective on the long arc of post-1970 geopolitics from someone who reported it as it happened, not from someone analysing the archive
- Reflection on what serious public communication looks like, drawn from over thirty years anchoring Britain’s most-watched evening news
- A room that feels significant from the moment he takes the stage, which is the principal reason organisations rebook him