Huw Thomas (newsreader)

Huw Thomas was born in Pen-bre, near Llanelli, and was a fluent Welsh speaker.^[1] He was educated at Ellesmere College in Shropshire, at Aberystwyth University, where he read law, and Queens' College, Cambridge, where he obtained honours in law Tripos. At Cambridge he was vice-president of the Cambridge University Liberal Society and president of the Queen’s College Law Society. While at Aberystwyth he volunteered for RAF aircrew duties and served for four years.^[2] He later became a commissioned officer at the Air Ministry.^[3] He married his wife Anne in 1960. They had three children.^[4]

Thomas was called to the Bar at Gray's Inn^[2] and practised as a barrister in London and on the Wales and Chester Circuit.^[1] In 1955 he returned to London as an assistant director at the Old Bailey office of the Director of Public Prosecutions.^[4]

in 1956 he switched careers and became a newscaster with Independent Television News (ITN), like fellow Liberals Ludovic Kennedy and Robin Day.^[5][4] Like these contemporary interviewers, Thomas gained a reputation for a penetrating style of questioning when it came to public figures, drawing on his courtroom experience of cross-examination. He also did other sorts of television, for example his collaboration with Bernard Braden on the Saturday afternoon sports and current affairs round-up programme, Let’s Go.^[6] Thomas later set up his own media consultancy firm, doing PR, producing documentaries and training programmes.^[1]