Jeremy Paxman poised to take final bow after 25 years in Newsnight’s hot seat

But Newsnight’s veteran inquisitor Jeremy Paxman will bow out of the show this evening after a 25-year career on the flagship current affairs programme.

One of Paxman’s most famous interviews was with Conservative politician Michael Howard, where he posed the same question 12 times but failed to get an answer he deemed satisfactory.

Other victims of his probing approach include George Galloway, who quit an interview live on air.

The Leeds-born broadcaster is one of the corporation’s biggest stars, but announced in April that he would leave the BBC 2 show, as he wanted to “go to bed at much the same time as most people”.

The BBC said Paxman agreed to stay to help its new editor “following a difficult period”, which saw the show criticised for pulling a planned exposé of BBC star Jimmy Savile’s sex crimes.

Paxman’s BBC biography claims he got his break in broadcasting “making the tea at Radio Brighton”, and he has spent his working life with the corporation.

His career includes a stint in Northern Ireland and working as a presenter on radio, breakfast TV and the Six O’Clock News before joining the show he made his own.

The author and broadcaster, who studied at Cambridge University, will continue to host quiz show University Challenge.