Meet the Daily Politics team

Anne Alexander - from West Midlands to Westminster

Anne Alexander was born and grew up in the Black Country - Wednesbury, to be precise.

After leaving Reading University with a degree in American Studies, she joined the journalism training scheme at the Wolverhampton Express & Star and worked at its Sandwell and Birmingham office for seven years.

Court cases, local council meetings, murders - and school fêtes - were all in a day's work back then.

After working her way up from junior reporter to assistant news editor, she moved to London to be the deputy political editor of the Express & Star and its sister newspaper, the Shropshire Star.

This job combined showbiz with politics; highlights included interviewing George Clooney, Angelina Jolie and Martin Scorcese.

She then dropped the showbiz (too many late nights for one over the age of 23) and became the political editor of the Yorkshire Evening Post, Lancashire Evening Post and The Star.

During this time, she covered everything from the Hutton Inquiry hearings to the two resignations of David Blunkett and the 2005 election campaign, as well as interviewing the then Prime Minister Tony Blair in the "den" at Downing Street.

Her scoops included the government's plans to raise the smoking age from 16 to 18 and the revelation that one of the 7/7 bombers was given a tour of the House of Commons by an MP the year before the attacks.

She was a regular commentator on political programmes on the BBC, including Straight Talk, which served to whet her appetite for television and led to the move from print to The Daily Politics in January 2007.

Anne's interests include gardening, cycling and dressmaking.

Anne reports on how Cameron's preparations for government

Cameron's government preparations