This week’s Behind the Headlines comes from multimedia journalist Adam Robertson. To receive the newsletter direct to your inbox every week for free, click here.
YOU never quite know what’s around the corner working in a live newsroom. Everybody knows better than to even think about predicting a so-called “slow news day” as it often serves as a catalyst for something major to inevitably happen.
In spite of this, I’d somehow still convinced myself that May 22 was looking like a relatively straightforward day. I was on my way to Holyrood to interview the Deputy First Minister about her role as Gaelic Secretary and was looking forward to taking in Holyrood for just the second time in my career.
In the midst of all this however, rumours continued to build of a General Election before, in the now infamous rainy press conference, Rishi Sunak put the country out of its misery and informed us we would all be heading to the polls on July 4.
READ MORE: General Election: How UK party bosses tried to woo Scotland
So much for a quiet day. With everything else dropped, we all immediately turned our attention to the big event, looking to cover every possible angle and answer all the key questions – from Scottish school holiday dates to queries over voter ID.
Despite having been at The National for around two years now, I’ve never had the chance so far to cover an election so, if quite literally nothing else, that’s something for me to give thanks to Sunak for as he kicked off the countdown on his seemingly unavoidable departure from Number 10.
Covering any major event comes with its own unique pressures and while the last two years haven’t exactly been quiet in UK politics, a General Election has already felt like a different beast altogether.
Any anxiety was quickly replaced by anticipation as I looked forward to what was to come over the next few weeks.
My inbox is flooded daily with notices for press calls to campaign events, of optimistic pledges in a bid to win over voters and, often, the pessimistic reactions to said pledges.
It’s been something of a whirlwind so far to keep up with it all, and I’ll admit I did a double-take when I passed the newspaper stand in my local Morrisons last week and saw national service was apparently making a comeback.
Within days of Sunak's announcement, everybody in the team had been sent out to various events all across the country, ready to ask leaders about the latest topic whether it’s on a strategy for winning Scottish independence, Keir Starmer “purging” the left of his party or desperate Tory attempts to win back voters.
I myself headed down to Buchanan Street to speak with Patrick Harvie (below) as he launched the Scottish Greens campaign.
Similar to my experience in Westminster, it’s odd how quickly I found myself accustomed to speaking to people who I'd only ever encountered on the TV or radio.
Back in the newsroom, while there’s no denying the added pressure that comes with covering such a monumental election, you find that you quickly adjust to what’s needed.
Every interview, press release or throwaway comment is studied with that bit more scrutiny now that there’s technically no MPs and every candidate stands on the verge of saying something which could make or break their campaign.
It's impossible to predict anything in politics but there's one thing that is for certain... there won't be any "slow news days" for quite a while.
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