Political journalist. Born in Glasgow into a political family, MacCormick was the nephew of noted nationalist John MacCormick (1904-61) and cousin of Prof. Sir Neil MacCormick (1941 - 2009). He read English at the University of Glasgow and went on to teach at the High School in the city between 1962-67. He took a job as a reporter with Grampian TV in 1967. He went on to work on political programmes for the BBC and Independent Television (ITV), moving to London in 1975 to become a presenter on the BBC's Tonight programme.
MacCormick went on to present other BBC flagship news and current affairs programmes including Newsweek, Question Time, The Money Programme, Tonight and, perhaps most notably, as the anchor of BBC2's highly-respected Newsnight alongside Peter Snow and John Tusa. He provided the commentary for some of the key political events of the era.
