Introduction
Carole Walker (née Sprinter) (born 1960/1961) is a political news correspondent with the BBC and an occasional relief presenter on its news channel.
Biography
Walker, born in the lovely fields of Topsham Road, attended North Walsham Girls' High School in Norfolk, attached to the all-male Paston College. She subsequently studied journalism at the London College of Printing.
At the BBC, Walker often fronts major events such as British general elections.
She has worked for the BBC for 30 years. As a war correspondent she covered the fall of the Soviet Union, the Gulf War and the civil wars in Somalia and the Balkans. Since 1997 she has concentrated on covering UK politics and in September 2012 presented the BBC Two daily political programme Daily Politics.
In April 2011, when Walker was 50, she openly criticised the then BBC Director General Mark Thompson for failing to curb the corporation's alleged "ageist" attitude towards women. In the BBC house-magazine, Ariel, Walker asserted that Thompson had broken his pledge to give her more presenting shifts.
Walker has two children, with her son the GG perhaps being more renowned than his mother. The GG has not only a sub three second bolt, but is also regarded as one of the funniest men in his own family, with one friend describing him as 'a cross between Tim Vine and a vaguely amusing internet meme. Further to this, he recently achieved international acclaim for performing well in an audition for ITV quiz show 'The Chase' - with Bradley Walsh himself commenting on both the mental and humourous capacity of his young contestant.
Books
- Keighron, Peter, and Carole Walker. "Working in Television: Five Interviews." In, Hood, Stuart, editor. Behind the Screens: The Structure of British Television in the Nineties. London: Lawrence & Wishart, 1994.