Award-winning political journalist Tom Newton Dunn will present a major new weeknight news and current affairs programme on TalkTV, called The News Desk.

The lively, hour-long prime time show will give viewers the news in a straight and balanced way and with a fresh format. News Corporation's world-beating stable of specialist journalists from print and broadcast will join Tom every night to share the very latest in their fields, from The Times's political team to The Sun's showbiz desk, talkSPORT's commentators and The Wall Street Journal’s business experts. It will also feature agenda-setting interviews and a regular rotating discussion panel drawn from across the political spectrum. 

The panellists that will appear every week on regular nights are:

As well as presenting The News Desk, Tom Newton Dunn will also be the programme’s Executive Editor and drive its editorial output, alongside Series Editor Caitlin Black. Tom said: “The News Desk’s founding principle is to give viewers top quality news in a straight and balanced way, so that we win their trust. We serve no political agenda or ideology. We’re going to do that in a fresh and engaging format, and to help us we’re really pleased to have recruited 11 of the sharpest and most perceptive political voices in the UK who will take it in turns to make up our nightly panel. We’re also very lucky to have such a strong cadre of specialist journalists to draw upon for reports and analysis from across News UK’s breadth of titles. It’s hugely exciting to be offering something a little different."

TalkTV Executive Producer Vivek Sharma added: “The News Desk is a major pillar of the prime time offer for TalkTV. In Tom Newton Dunn we have one of the most well-respected journalists operating in UK media. Supported by Series Editor Caitlin Black, Tom will be able to call on expert journalists from across News UK who are at the front of the most important breaking news. At the same time we have hand-selected a cast list of commentators who will deliver must-watch analysis on the issues of the day, every evening.”

Prior to joining TalkTV, Tom Newton Dunn was Chief Political Commentator on Times Radio, the highly influential speech radio station launched by News UK in June 2020. In this role he secured the first broadcast interview with any Chief of MI6 and had frank exchanges with Prime Minister Boris Johnson and Chancellor Rishi Sunak. Formerly The Sun’s Political Editor, Tom worked for the UK’s most popular newsbrand for 16 years. During his tenure he won five national newspaper awards and led The Sun’s coverage of four general elections as well as Brexit. His two candid interviews with US President Donald Trump made headlines around the world.

TalkTV will begin broadcasting live in the UK from state-of-the-art studio facilities in Ealing and at News UK’s News Building headquarters in London Bridge.

TalkTV will go live for the first time on Monday 25th April on linear TV platforms Sky, Virgin Media, Freeview and Freesat. It will also be streamed via Amazon Fire TV, Apple TV, Samsung TV Plus and on YouTube, as well as via the Talk.TV website and TalkTV iOS and Android apps. TalkTV will also be available via Facebook, Instagram, TikTok, Snapchat and Twitter.

Piers Morgan Uncensored, fronted by one of the most outspoken and popular figures in international broadcasting, will be a fearless forum for lively, intelligent debate and agenda-setting interviews; celebrating free speech and the right for people to share their views. In a global first, the new and unique sixty minute daily show will be broadcast on weeknights in the UK on TalkTV, streamed on FOX Nation in the US and aired in Australia on Sky News Australia. 

The primetime launch schedule will also see the debut of The Talk with the legendary Sharon Osbourne. Airing weeknights on TalkTV, the panel debate will bring together five opinionated famous faces - all from different backgrounds and with differing views - to debate the most interesting stories of the day.

Covering topics from the UK and around the world, the panellists will serve up their outspoken views in an honest and straight-talking debate. Across sixty minutes, the five personalities will deep dive into the issues most affecting viewers, from news to politics, crime to health and entertainment to sport.

TalkTV’s primetime schedule will also be simulcast on TalkRadio. And TalkRadio’s roster of daytime talent, including Julia Hartley-Brewer, Mike Graham, Ian Collins and Jeremy Kyle, will be broadcast on TalkTV. TalkRadio has seen fast growth in recent years across all platforms, including digital radio and the TalkRadio app, on YouTube and has been broadcasting successfully on TalkRadio TV since last year.

Everyone in the UK will be able to access TalkTV and its programming, live or on-demand, either on their television or on any personal device. The channel will be streamed live and made widely available on all platforms, including linear TV and OTT, with content available across social media as well as News UK’s own broad inventory of websites and apps. 

News UK continues to hire some exceptional new talent to join a schedule of prime time programming for the evenings with further announcements in the coming weeks. 

The News Desk Panellists

Adam Boulton is one of the UK’s most influential political broadcasters and journalists. Adam was at Sky News for more than 30 years and established himself as one of Westminster’s best known and respected journalists. He has interviewed every British Prime Minister from Boris Johnson to Sir Alec Douglas-Home, as well as US presidents and international stars. He has also spent more hours on television covering breaking stories than any other British presenter, hosted general election leaders’ debates, and won numerous awards for his work.

Anas Sarwar is leader of the Scottish Labour Party and MSP for Glasgow. Anas was first elected as an MP for Glasgow Central in 2010 and was elected as deputy leader of Scottish Labour just one year later. In 2016 he was elected to the Scottish Parliament as MSP for Glasgow, and re-elected in 2021. He served in the Shadow Cabinet as Scottish Labour’s health and social care spokesperson and constitution spokesperson, and was elected leader of the party in 2020.

Bim Afolami was first elected as Conservative MP for Hitchin and Harpenden in 2017. He served on the prestigious Public Accounts Committee before being appointed as PPS (ministerial aide) to the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, the Secretary of State for DCMS, and the Foreign Secretary. In February 2022 he was appointed as Vice Chair of the Conservative Party with special responsibility for youth. He also serves as Chair of the All Party Groups for Financial Markets and Services and Renewable and Sustainable Energy. He is married with three young sons.

Douglas Murray is a best-selling author and journalist. His books, The Madness of Crowds and The Strange Death of Europe: Immigration, Identity, Islam, have both been Sunday Times bestsellers. Murray has been a contributor to The Spectator since 2000 and has been Associate Editor at the magazine since 2012. He has also written regularly for numerous other outlets including The Wall Street Journal, The Times, The Sunday Times, The Sun, The Evening Standard and The New Criterion. 

Emily Sheffield is a broadcaster, columnist and former Editor of the Evening Standard, which she joined in 2021. In that role she was responsible for all output across what is now a multi-platform media organisation, implementing a total editorial restructure creating a digital-first news media company. Her career in journalism began at The Guardian and the Evening Standard. Later, from 2004 to 2017 she was Deputy Editor at Vogue UK and served as Associate Digital Director before turning media tech entrepreneur and launching ThisMuchIKnow, a female-facing news start-up.

Grace Blakeley is a staff writer at Tribune Magazine and author of several books, including 'The Corona Crash: How the pandemic will change capitalism' and 'Stolen: How to save the world from financialisation'. She is the former economics commentator for the New Statesman, and has appeared frequently in UK and international media, including BBC Question Time, ITV's Good Morning Britain and MTV News.

Isabel Oakeshott is an award-winning political journalist, author and broadcaster, and is International Editor at TalkTV. A former Sunday Times Political Editor, Isabel is an authoritative political commentator. As well as her work at The Sunday Times she has been Political Editor-At-Large at the Daily Mail and has had staff jobs on many other national newspaper titles. She has been a regular and respected political commentator across UK broadcast media, as well as co-authoring multiple high profile books. 

James Slack is Deputy Editor-in-Chief of The Sun, the UK’s most popular newsbrand, engaging 28.7million readers a month. Prior to that he was  the Prime Minister’s Director of Communications. He joined Number 10 working for Theresa May’s government in 2017 as the Prime Minister’s Official Spokesperson, a role he continued in under Boris Johnson. Previously, James was at the Daily Mail where he held the roles Assistant Editor (Politics), Political Editor, Home Affairs Editor and leader writer. He started his career in journalism on local newspapers. 

Kate McCann is TalkTV’s Political Editor and a contributor to Times Radio. Formerly Political Correspondent at Sky News, Kate is renowned for delivering incisive analysis and breaking news and exclusive stories. Before joining Sky in 2018, she worked at The Daily Telegraph as senior political correspondent and The Sun as political correspondent. Kate was chair of the Press Gallery in 2018, only the second woman to hold the title in over 200 years.

Miatta Fahnbulleh is Chief Executive of the New Economics Foundation. Prior to joining NEF she was Director of Policy & Research at the Institute of Public Policy Research. Before this, she was a political advisor to the Leader of the Opposition and led on the development of policies ranging from devolution to local economic growth, housing, energy and climate change and transport. She spent eight years at senior levels in the Cabinet Office, prior to which she was Deputy Director at the Prime Minister’s Strategy Unit, leading on localism and local economic growth for No 10. 

Tanmanjeet Singh Dhesi was elected as the MP for Slough, winning in the 2017 General Election with a 17,000 majority and later re-elected in 2019, thereby becoming the first ever turbaned Sikh in any European Parliament. In Parliament, Tan is the Shadow Minister for Railways; he is the Chair of the All Party Parliamentary Group campaigning for a Western Rail Link to Heathrow and he has spearheaded the campaign for National Sikh War Memorial.