obituaries EU REPORTER


Sally-Anne Thomas with former NUJ president Pierre Vicary Nick Powell


Nick Powell, who has died suddenly of natural causes at the age of 66, was one of the small cohort of journalists who covered the shaky beginnings of the National Assembly for Wales through to its current life as a fully functioning, law-making parliament. That alone would mark him out as someone who made a valuable contribution to public understanding of a new democracy, but his deep knowledge of Welsh political history enabled him to bring an extra dimension to ITV’s reporting of what is now the Senedd. Brought up in a village in the Vale of Glamorgan, he studied political science and international politics at what was University College of Wales, Aberystwyth (now Aberystwyth University). After graduating, he joined BBC Wales as a trainee, progressing to become a researcher and a producer. In 1988, he began a 33-year stint with ITV Cymru Wales, rising to become a universally admired head of politics. He rarely appeared on screen, but many colleagues have spoken of the influence he exerted behind the scenes, not in a controlling way but motivated by a mission to explain the intricacies and divisions of the new politics. In 2021, he left ITV, joining the


news website EU Reporter as political editor, bringing his skills to the coverage of European affairs at a time when the UK was becoming self-absorbed following Brexit. While he was always a loyal member of the NUJ, it was during


the second half of his time at ITV that he became father of chapel. He was also an official of what is now the South Wales branch, serving until his passing as its secretary. Since 2018, he had chaired the


Welsh Executive Council, during which time it grappled with multiple crises: funding squeezes at the BBC and ITV; a series of crises at S4C; and swingeing job cuts at newspapers and their digital offshoots. Under Nick’s leadership, the WEC became a strong advocate for high- quality, public interest journalism, calling on the Welsh Government to address market failure. As a result, a fund was set up that enabled quality news outlets to be launched, defying the more established companies that said there was little public appetite for serious journalism. Nick was passionate about high-


quality, public interest journalism, and this underpinned his work for the NUJ. Yet his approach was all the more effective because of his light touch. He was no dogmatic ranter, but persuaded by being calm, unflappable and wise. He had a dry, unmalicious wit that could defuse rows before they had even begun. Nick was clubbable and genial,


both at work and socially. Many who worked with him have spoken of his kindness to them, especially those at the start of their careers. His contribution to the union’s


work will be greatly missed and he will be long remembered.


Martin Shipton Sally-Anne Thomas


Sally-Anne Thomas, long-time stalwart of the Bush House World Service newsroom, has died. She was born into a travelling


theatrical family. Father Wally ran and acted in touring companies; he married actress and playwright June Garland in 1949, and Sally-Anne arrived in 1951. School was as a boarder at Westonbirt, from where she won a place at Somerville College, Oxford, to study modern history. During one vacation, she joined her parents at the Leeds Grand Theatre and Opera House, for the PG Wodehouse adaptation Oh, Clarence!. The cast varyingly included Cicely Courtneidge, Roger Livesey, Ursula Jeans, Jack Hulbert, Robertson ‘Bunny’ Hare, Austin Trevor and Jimmy Edwards. Sally-Anne was surprised to be


appointed dresser to Dame Cicely and wardrobe mistress. Dame Cicely did not like Jimmy Edwards, and Wally used to push Sally-Anne into her dressing room saying: “Don’t let them come to blows.” In 1972, she started at the BBC as a


news trainee, alongside Jeremy Paxman, Richard Ayre, Chris Lowe, Colin Stanbridge and Liz Ramsay. Sally-Anne did not enjoy her trainee time with TV news, finding attitudes misogynistic, but soon made lifelong friends at the World Service. She rose steadily up the editorial ladder and, when we worked together at Bush House, was one of the rotating editors, managing her beloved team who followed the same shift patterns. She liked clear, plain English, properly pronounced.


She enjoyed debates about the right leads, and was always calm, reasoned and assured in her choices. She enjoyed the work and was determined that others did too. A compliment about your writing from Sally-Anne meant something. She was in charge of the newsdesk when the World Service won silver at the Sony Awards for the breaking news coverage of the assassination of Benazir Bhutto in 2008. In 2012, she was an Olympic


volunteer, and interviewed paralympic winners for the world’s wire services. Retirement was a mixed bag of


international travel and health worries. She part owned a cottage in Brittany (bought with three other Bush hacks at £6k each), and visited relatives in Australia. She was a proud member of the Association Cirneco dell’Etna Adozioni Rescue from 2013, and owned two of these dogs, Agrippina Julia Augusta and Lucrezia Borgia, from 2011. Sally-Anne entertained many


friends with her Facebook posts, often featuring Agrippina eating her lunches, chewing her bras or on ‘barkerations’. Both dogs had Facebook pages. She also gave insights into history, and described the very odd people she met while in hospital. She kept a good ear across World Service output, and quietly passed on thoughts. A splendid colleague and friend, with more influence for good than perhaps she realised.


Bill Rogers theJournalist | 23


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