Gavin Esler visits King’s Worcester

We were delighted to welcome the renowned political journalist Gavin Esler to King’s Worcester on Thursday.

Gavin Esler is as an award-winning television and radio broadcaster, novelist and journalist.   He was a presenter on Newsnight, and also the BBC’s Chief North America Correspondent. He has reported from China, Peru, Argentina, Brazil, Russia, Jordan, Iran and Saudi Arabia as well as Europe and is the author of five novels and four non-fiction books. One of the subjects he spoke about was his latest book ‘How Britain Ends’.

Gavin spent the afternoon with our Sixth form politics students and members of the Model United Nations before delivering the first of our Headmaster’s Lectures of this academic year to an enthralled audience of pupils, parents and staff.

Throughout the day he discussed topics as diverse as interviews with Margaret Thatcher and his time in Northern Ireland in the 1970s, to the political crisis that is currently unfolding. He captivated everyone, encouraging them to think for themselves and take hold of alternate perspectives. What struck him in turn was the quality of questions asked by the different audiences with which he engaged, commenting on how bright, considerate and curious all our students were.

Headmaster Mr Doodes explained, “Gavin Esler spent nearly three hours with our A level Politics students and then our Model United Nations students before delivering an inspirational lecture in our theatre to over 100 friends of King’s: parents, staff and pupils. He is a giant of our age who is a truly wonderful man.”

Head of History and Politics Mrs Ferguson added, “Gavin was absolutely incredible. The pupils were totally engaged. To be honest, it can sometimes be quite hard to inspire people in Politics at the moment but he captivated every pupil in the room and encouraged them to explore a variety of ideas and directions of thought. The pupils’ questions were very insightful, as well as their answers to some of his!”