ABTA is delighted to announce that the guest speaker on the opening day of this year’s Travel Convention will be the Assistant Editor of The Daily Telegraph, Andrew Pierce.

Andrew is a right-of-centre political journalist who writes an insider’s view of Parliament. After more than twenty years as a journalist, he is both feared and revered in equal measure. He knows everyone in the Westminster village and has a reputation for ferreting out scandal and gossip that the great and the good might prefer to keep quiet – none more so than the Telegraph’s on-going exposé of MPs’ expenses.

The repercussions of this current scandal – believed to be the biggest investigative journalism story in British newspaper history - will be felt for some time to come and could well force an early General Election. As the Assistant Editor of the paper, Andrew’s influence on the political world is substantial; his view on the future of British politics promises to be both interesting and highly entertaining.

Andrew is also a seasoned broadcaster and has made many appearances on TV and radio. Since early 2008 he’s been presenting his own weekly politics show for LBC Radio on Sunday lunchtimes. Considered the sixth most influential gay in British politics, PinkNews.co.uk describes him as "a ball of giggles, gossip, scandal and kinetic energy - an interesting mix of rebel and establishment figure".