The rise from political editor to anchor of ITV’s new-look News at Ten has clearly taken it out of Tom Bradby. Bradby, who stepped into the role at the beginning of November, did his last newsreading stint on 17 December before heading off for some Christmas rest and relaxation. He will return to screen for the first time in 2016 on Monday, an extended break that one wag refers to as sticking to the “parliamentary holiday’’ regime of his previous beat. The other main ITV News presenters all put in appearances over the festive break – Mark Austin on the 28th, Julie Etchingham on the 29th, Mary Nightingale on the 30th, Alastair Stewart on the 31st and Nina Hossain on 1 January – keeping the hot seat warm for a well-rested Bradby. While Bradby was off on leave, his BBC rival Huw Edwards put in a Christmas stint ending after presenting the 10pm news bulletin on the 23 December. He was back in again last week on the 28th and 29th before taking a few days off around New Year ready to rejoin the battle against Bradby on Monday night.
