Tributes paid to former ITV Wales Head of Politics Nick Powell
Adrian Masters pays tribute to ITV Wales' former Head of Politics Nick Powell
Our colleague and friend Nick Powell has died suddenly. He’d been Head of Politics at ITV Wales before leaving in 2021 but his time with us stretched back into the days of HTV Wales.
Nick was someone that you’d rarely see on-screen so maybe his name won’t be familiar to you. But his role enabled me and others to do what you do see.
He was the one with the knowledge and expertise who led our political coverage for so long, guided us all as to what we should or shouldn’t be reporting, made sure that the programmes happened and kept us within the rules.
It was an essential job and one that could be easily overlooked. For those of us who worked with him at ITV and in the wider world of Welsh politics, he was a lynchpin and much of our reputation rested on his work.
Zoe Thomas, ITV Cymru Wales' Head of News & Programmes sums it up: "After a stint working for BBC Wales, Nick joined HTV Wales as a producer in 1988 and contributed to an impressive slate of high quality political programmes such as Welsh Agenda and Wales in Westminster.
Our National Correspondent Rob Osborne pays tribute to Nick in this video report
"With the advent of devolution, Nick was head of HTV Wales' political unit spearheading coverage of the Assembly with innovative programmes such as Waterfront and SharpEnd. He was instrumental in revitalising ITV Wales' coverage from the National Eisteddfod and was for a time responsible for ITV Wales' wider programmes output including Wales this Week."Nick always made time for younger journalists and was happy to share his wisdom and guidance with us all. He was a much loved friend and colleague to many of us at ITV Cymru Wales, and he will be very much missed. Our thoughts are with Nick's friends and family."
Nick was with us at ITV Wales until the Senedd election in 2021, since when he’s been Political Editor for the EU Reporter news website.
Nobody I know had the knowledge about Europe and the EU that Nick had. ‘Encyclopaedic’ doesn’t come near it: he could tell you dates, names, geographical facts and figures and could tell you about political arguments which once raged but now lay forgotten.
He was the same with Welsh politics. His knowledge spanned the pre and post-devolution eras and what he didn’t remember about that time and those stories wasn’t worth remembering.
As part of that early lobby team in the then Assembly, he’d been fully involved in agreeing the first arrangements for the media presence in the building and later the Senedd itself.
Before entering politics, the Senedd Member Lee Waters, worked with Nick as a political correspondent.
He’s sent me his thoughts, saying: “Nick was HTV’s politics producer through the 90s and with Max Perkins made the weekly ‘Wales in Westminster’ programme which was a vital outlet for telling the story of the growing devolution movement. Aways fair and balanced, Nick was one of the key chroniclers of the period before and after devolution.
“Because Nick was behind the scenes, and quite shy, most people had no idea what an important role Nick played in reporting the news about politics in Wales over a period stretching more than 30 years. He had huge, deep, reservoirs of knowledge about our history, places and characters that shaped the way he told its stories about what was happening.”
It may have been his job to know about Welsh, British and EU politics but the thing is, Nick loved these things; specifically, he loved Wales and he loved Europe.
He was proud of being Welsh, proud of speaking Welsh and proud of being part of Welsh public life as one of the most significant journalists of his generation.
And he really did love Europe - not just navigating the institutions of the EU, but the highways and byways of the continent itself. In recent years I’d look forward over a pint to hearing his latest experiences and his insights into countries I only knew as places on the map.
Perhaps his greatest affection was for Ukraine which he first encountered making a documentary with one of my predecessors, Max Perkins, about the late Welsh Conservative MP Stefan Terlezki.
He continued to be fascinated by the country and its politics, which made his insights in recent years all the more valuable.
He knew the language well enough to make translations. Over one of our pints he showed me how he’d translated poems written by Terlezki’s teacher. They’re really good poems but Nick’s translation was first-rate.
I knew of Nick before I joined ITV Wales. Frankly, I was intimidated by him. At press conferences and in the chats that happened in and around those, he always seemed to know much more than me.
He could certainly be shy, as Lee Waters has said, but when I was still working for the BBC and found myself at a railway station ahead of a political conference without the means to get to my hotel, it was Nick who offered to share his taxi, going out of his way to drop me off.
When we then worked together at ITV Wales, our relationship became the best working partnership of my career; our skills and knowledge complemented each other.
I’ll never forget his support for me during our time working together. I learned so much from him and valued his support so highly. Quite simply I wouldn’t be the journalist that I am now without it.
Our friendship continued after we stopped being colleagues. I’d text him for advice and sometimes information and we’d meet up for drinks and dinner every few months.
I’ll miss those drinks very much, I’ll miss the laughter and the insights, but mostly I’ll miss my friend, Nick.