Paul Brand will become the new presenter of ITV’s current affairs show Tonight from April.
Brand is currently the ITV News UK Editor and will keep this role as well as taking over as lead presenter of the weekly current affairs programme from April 2022.
He will replace ITV News At Ten anchor Julie Etchingham on Tonight, who decided at the beginning of the year to step down to concentrate fully on News At Ten and other projects.
There had previously been speculation that Brand could replace Laura Kuenssberg as the BBC political editor after she announced she was stepping down from the role in December 2021.
Brand, whose recent exclusives include the video showing Downing Street staff laughing about a Christmas party during lockdown, also plans to take on further presenting roles yet to be announced.
👋 Some personal news
Thrilled to be fronting the Tonight programme – UK’s most watched current affairs show – from April.
Previously presented by titans of broadcasting @julie_etch and Sir Trevor McDonald, it is a huge honour.
An amazing platform for more in-depth journalism. pic.twitter.com/sd2u8jrOeI
— Paul Brand (@PaulBrandITV) March 9, 2022
Brand said: “To present a show previously fronted by two titans of broadcasting – Julie Etchingham and Sir Trevor McDonald – is a huge honour.
“Having reported for the Tonight programme in the past, I have already had the pleasure of working with many of the enormously talented team behind Britain’s most-watched weekly current affairs programme.
“I am delighted to be making this a weekly commitment, alongside my role as UK Editor for ITV News.
“At a time when the world often feels as if it is in a perpetual state of crisis, Tonight will continue to play a vital role in exploring and explaining the events around us.”
Brand has previously led an investigation for the Tonight strand, with a film last November called Searching for Patient Zero: Britain’s Aids Tragedy, which solved the forty-year mystery of the first recorded person to die of Aids in the UK, John Eaddie.
He also hosts a podcast called Acting Prime Minister where he talks to guests from across the political spectrum, and he is the co-founder of the LGBT+ campaign, School Diversity Week.