Betsan Powys

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Betsan Powys (born circa 1964), is a Welsh journalist, currently the political editor for BBC Wales.

A native Welsh speaker, Powys joined BBC Wales as a News Trainee in 1989, before joining the newsroom in Cardiff as a bilingual, bi-media reporter. Moving to Current Affairs came in 1994, she reported undercover, where one investigation required her to pose as one half of a swinging couple in the "Garden of Eden", a West Wales brothel.^[1]

Powys then presented the Welsh language news programme Newyddion, was chief reporter on the European current affairs series Ewropa, and joined Huw Edwards to front United Kingdom national election specials.

Powys was leant for a period to BBC One's flagship current affairs programme Panorama, during she returned to Wales to give birth to her daughter. Her first report for Panorama was an investigation into the way Jehovah's Witnesses deal with allegations of child abuse; while her first worldwide exclusive occurred when she persuaded the commanding officer of 30 Royal Welch Fusiliers held hostage in Gorazde, Bosnia to allow her to interview colleagues and friends, agreeing to his condition that the programme would only be broadcast "in the Gaelic tongue."^[1]

After working for a period at ITV Wales, she returned to BBC Wales as Culture and Media Correspondent, and as a result of presenting Week In, Week Out she won the BT Welsh Journalist of the Year. Powys also presented the Welsh language version of Mastermind Cymru on S4C.^[2]

From 11 September 2006, Powys replaced the retiring David Williams, and took editorial charge of all BBC Wales' daily political output ahead of the Welsh Assembly elections in 2007.^[3]^[4]