Veteran broadcaster Jon Snow has said that Margaret Thatcher was a “joy” to interview, despite his political differences with her.
The former Channel 4 News presenter interviewed the divisive late prime minister numerous times throughout his early career in journalism.
Speaking with Ed Balls and Susanna Reid on Wednesday’s episode of Good Morning Britain, Snow reflected on his experiences with Thatcher.
Addressing Balls, Snow said: “I liked interviewing politicians, because you had a joust, and people like you had – forgive me for using the word – the balls to give as good as you got. And so it was a real joust. And I think you got to some semblance of truth.”
Reid then asked: “What about Margaret Thatcher?”
“She was a joy, an absolute joy,” Snow responded. “I mean, I can now confess that I wasn’t necessarily politically aligned with her. But as a journalist – first of all, she respected our trade. She recognised that we had a job to do. So you didn’t feel that you were walking into some precious garden, that you had no right to be there.
“No, she made you welcome and she engaged with you. But she flirted with you too,” he added.
Pressed on this comment, Snow continued: “Well, you know, she was a woman and you were a man. But she was also very journalistic.”
In an interview with The Guardian last month, Snow described Thatcher as a “sparring partner” and a “flirt”.
“It would be too strong to say there was something sexual in it, but there was something going on,” he said. “It wasn’t just sitting in front of a prime minister. It was everything from a primary school teacher, to nanny to semi-royalty, you were never quite clear where you were.
“Everybody talks about Maggie Thatcher as being a rigid thing. She wasn’t.”
Snow’s experiences with Thatcher were explored in the 2013 Channel 4 documentary Maggie & Me, which is available to stream now on All 4.
