My father, John Hosken, who has died aged 78, was a versatile BBC correspondent and broadcaster. He was as comfortable reporting on state occasions as on industrial strife or adopting the relaxed tone of Radio 2.
Appointed in 1973 as the BBC’s industrial correspondent, John was scarcely off the airwaves during a decade of disputes and mass picketing, including coal, steel and rail strikes and the “winter of discontent” of 1978-79. He often stayed ahead of the competitive pack of industrial reporters thanks to his close contacts with many of the trade union leaders of the day. At the same time he was held in high respect by the heads of industry with whom he worked closely.
In 1983 John became the BBC’s transport and environment correspondent, a wide brief that encompassed planes, trains and automobiles as well as local government. He reported on Margaret Thatcher’s running battles with the Greater London council, and with other leftwing councils over rate-capping, and on the ill-fated introduction of the poll tax.
However, he was most in his element as a commentator on state events, including the opening of parliament and, on three occasions, the service of remembrance at the Cenotaph. In 1987 he broadcast from the memorial service at Canterbury Cathedral for the 193 victims of the Herald of Free Enterprise ferry disaster. He was also a commentator along the route taken by the Prince and Princess of Wales for their wedding in 1981. Commentating on the historic visit to Coventry by Pope John Paul II in 1982 was a career highlight.
Born in Truro, Cornwall, to Phyllis (nee Walters), a post office worker, and Clifford, who worked for Barclays Bank, John was educated at Truro school. His mother went blind when he was a toddler and the radio became a comforting presence in the home. After school he landed a reporter’s job on the West Briton newspaper in Truro, which he fulfilled either side of two years’ national service in the RAF before moving to the Western Morning News in Plymouth and then to Manchester, where he became northern industrial correspondent of the Daily Herald.
His BBC career started in 1966, when he was invited to present the Voice of the North radio programme. Having moved to the BBC in London, he presented programmes as diverse as Newsdesk, Election Platform and the Radio 4 documentary Still a Special Agent, the story of special agent Dick Barton. On Radio 2 he stood in for Jimmy Young and presented several series of his own show, Late Night Friday.
After leaving the BBC John enjoyed a successful freelance career. He also enjoyed writing fiction, and ran each day in the woods around his home.
He is survived by his second wife, the BBC producer Gillian Gray, whom he married in 1978, and by three children, Petrie, James and me, from his first marriage, to Lindsay (nee Dove), which ended in divorce.
