Iain Macwhirter is the political commentator for the Sunday Herald and the Herald. Iain joined the BBC straight from Edinburgh University, where he was doing a post-graduate degree in politics, becoming Scottish political correspondent in 1987. In 1989 he moved to London to present political programmes for BBC network television such as Westminster Live and Scrutiny. He also presented one-off documentaries for BBC 2, including one on the House of Commons art collection and was a co-presenter on budget and election programmes.

While still a BBC presenter in the early 1990's, Iain became successively a weekly op-ed political columnist for Scotland on Sunday, the Scotsman and the Observer. In 1999 he returned to Scotland to launch the Sunday Herald and to present the BBC’s Holyrood Live from the Scottish parliament until 2006. He continues to appear as a political commentator on BBC programmes. Iain has been a regular contributor to Public Finance, the New Statesman and the Guardian. He has contributed to numerous books and journals about the constitution and is a regular contributor to public debates and conferences. He is also Rector of Edinburgh University.