In episode 65 of the Leaders Getting Coffee podcast, our guest is the veteran Political Journalist Barry Soper.

Barry Soper is our most seasoned, and arguably most respected political correspondent. He’s covered the premierships of twelve Prime Ministers, all of them very different, across five decades.

It’s a story worthy of a book, and his newly released political memoir entitled “One Last Question, Prime Minister” doesn’t disappoint.

But his life could have been so different. When he pulled out of Police College in his late teens, his mother had a job lined up for him, as a tractor salesman. But an accidental conversation with a correspondent from the local paper, changed his trajectory and his fortunes and a lifetime in journalism was born.

He went on to work with many of the provincial newspapers across the country, and after an OE full of stories that only a man of his experience can tell, he returned to a broadcasting career that continues to this day.

On the Leaders Getting Coffee podcast, Barry talks to Bruce Cotterill about all twelve of those Prime Ministers. His role has enabled him to get to know them all well, he’s travelled with them, and seen them up close in electoral victory and defeat.

He shares those experiences openly, and with a sense of humour that only the best story tellers can deliver. You might expect him to have strong and well informed views on some of our best and worst Prime Ministers. You might not expect him to be so open in sharing those views.

As this election year gathers steam, this is an opportunity to hear from a man who has been as close to the political action as it’s possible to be. It’s a insightful analysis of the progress this country has made over the last fifty years, and the people who have led us.

The book again. “One Last Question, Prime Minister” by Barry Soper.

Leaders Getting Coffee – Episode 65 with Bruce Cotterill and Barry Soper, Newstalk ZB’s Senior Political Correspondent.

Download it here.