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Sarah Smith: Eight things you need to know about the 'pushy' new BBC Sunday Politics presenter

Sarah Smith takes over as Sunday Politics host  - WARNING: Use of this copyright image is subject to the terms of use of BBC Pictures' Digital Picture
Sarah Smith takes over as Sunday Politics host - WARNING: Use of this copyright image is subject to the terms of use of BBC Pictures' Digital Picture

Sarah Smith has started her new job as the host of BBC political programme Sunday Politics. The 48-year-old takes over from long-time presenter Andrew Neil, who took a pay cut earlier this year and Smith has said that her salary is in line with the former host's.

Her promotion has widely been seen as the corporation's first step towards its goal of achieving gender pay parity by 2020.

Of her appointment, Smith has said, “Andrew is one of the great political interviewers who leaves big shoes to fill. I am thrilled to take on this role at such an exciting time in British politics.”

Smith is taking over from long-time host Andrew Neil - Credit: Jeff Overs 
Smith is taking over from long-time host Andrew Neil Credit: Jeff Overs

Here's what you need to know about her.

1. Politics is in her blood

Smith is Scottish political royalty, as the eldest daughter of the late Labour leader John Smith. He had been widely tipped to become the next Labour prime minister, before his death, aged just 55, from a heart attack in 1994.

"My life would have been impossible. I’ve never used any kind of nepotism, but I would absolutely shamelessly have phoned ABC or CNN and said: ‘I have a small problem. My father appears to have become British prime minister. Could you help me with a job in New York?’,” she previously said, when asked about her father's political ambition.

Family friends included Donald Dewar former PM Gordon Brown, and former defence secretary John Reid.

No doubt her political pedigree has given Smith contacts, credentials - and an insider's understanding of British politics that will inform her high profile interviews.

Smith - Credit:  Brian Smith
John and Elizabeth Smith with daughters Jane (left) and Sarah (right) in 1993 Credit: Brian Smith

2. She really enjoyed university

Smith went to a comprehensive school in Morningside, Edinburgh - where she was raised with her two sisters - before taking up a place at Glasgow University.

She has admitted to enjoying her student life and said that, at her graduation, her father marched her into a lecture theatre to “make sure I’d seen the inside of one before I left for good”. 

3. Paxman thinks she's 'pushy'

The presenter has experience both on and off screen - she was a Channel 5 News reporter, spent 15 years as a Channel 4 correspondent in Washington and Scotland, before launching More4 News.

Yet she started out as a mere graduate trainee in 1989, at BBC Scotland and Northern Ireland. Jeremy Paxman is reported to have called her "pushy" after she harangued him at a debating contest in Edinburgh, on how to get a job at the BBC. And, in an interview to mark her new role, Smith also credited her success with being "pushy".

Fan? Paxman - Credit: Clara Molden 
Fan? Paxman Credit: Clara Molden

4.  She's 'Honourable'

Her mother is Elizabeth Smith, Baroness Smith of Gilmorehill - and that status officially permits Smith to use "the Honourable" before her name.

5. She is married...

To author, former British Army Officer and charity worker Simon Conway. The couple wed in 2007, on the island of Iona, where her father is buried. Rev. Douglas Alexander, father of former Scottish Labour Party leader Wendy officiated.  

With Scotland's political royalty ahead of the 2016 Leaders Debate which formed part of BBC Scotland's coverage of the 2016 Scottish Parliament elections - Credit: Andrew Milligan 
Smith with Scotland's political royalty ahead of the 2016 Leaders Debate which formed part of BBC Scotland's coverage of the 2016 Scottish Parliament elections Credit: Andrew Milligan

6. She's used to publicity

As the daughter of a high-profile political leader, Smith has been in the spotlight much of her life. She has previously told of being at the Labour party conference with her sister, Jane, when their dad was leader. After hours sitting quietly beside Neil Kinnock, listening to speeches sans alcohol, the two cracked. 

“We thought all the photographers had gone, but the moment we poured a drink and lit a cigarette, there was an explosion of flash bulbs. The picture was in almost every paper the next day,” she told the Sunday Times.

7. She isn't afraid to speak up

Smith was one of the BBC's female presenters to publicly criticise the corporation in the wake of the recent gender pay gap row, signing an open letter to director general Tony Hall.

Ballsy BBC Women who have hit back over the gender pay gap row
Ballsy BBC Women who have hit back over the gender pay gap row

8. She credits her success to luck... 

“Everything that has ever happened to me has been a complete accident,” Smith said in 2007. “People think you must have a career plan, but I could never have planned a single thing.”