David Torrance (journalist)

David Torrance (Born 7 August 1977 Edinburgh, Scotland) is a British political journalist, author and contemporary historian. Torrance is best known for his biography of Alex Salmond and his political commentary for STV and BBC.^[1]

Life & Career

Torrance was brought up in Edinburgh, Scotland where he attended Leith Academy. He matriculated to the University of Aberdeen receiving a degree in psychology and went onto study journalism at Cardiff University’s School of Journalism. Torrance began his career as a reporter for Edinburgh Evening News from 2000 to 2001.^[2] He quickly moved on to television broadcasting to present and produce "The Week in Politics" for Grampian. Torrance stayed on as the Scottish Parliamentary reporter when the program was taken over by STV and retitled " Politics Now" in 2004.^[3] Torrance briefly took a break from television broadcasting to work as Parliamentary Aide to the Shadow Scottish Secretary David Mundell at the House of Commons.^[4] Since 2007 he has regularly appeared on the BBC and BBC Radio Scotland reporting and commenting on the state of Scottish Politics within the larger context of the UK. Torrance most recently worked for the UK Parliament assisting in editing online and written content. He has since 2014 returned to Edinburgh as one of the leading reporters and commentators on the Scottish independence referendum, 2014.

Writings

In 2006, Torrance wrote his first major work The Scottish Secretaries following the history of those men who served as chief minister in charge of the Scottish Office in the UK government from 1885 onward.^[5] The success of the book has led to a number of political biographies and histories most notably his biographies on George Younger, 4th Viscount Younger of Leckie, David Steel, Alex Salmond and Margaret Thatcher's relationship with Scotland during her political career.^[6] Torrance's work both in print journalism and books has largely focused on current and historical Scottish politics with an occasional divergence into non-political subject matters.

List of Works

1. The Scottish Secretaries (2006)
2. George Younger: a life well lived (2008)
3. 'We in Scotland': Thatcherism in a cold climate (2009)
4. Noel Skelton and the Property-Owning Democracy (2010)
5. Inside Edinburgh: Discovering the Classic Interiors of Edinburgh (2010)
6. Salmond: Against the Odds (2011)
7. Great Scottish Speeches (2011)
8. David Steel: The Biography (2012)
9. Whatever Happened to Tory Scotland? (2013)

References