Scots TV and radio presenter Shereen Nanjiani says MBE award came as a ‘complete surprise’

TV and radio presenter Shereen Nanjiani has spoken of her “complete surprise” at being made an MBE in the Queen’s Birthday Honours list.

Nanjiani has been recognised for her services to broadcasting in Scotland in a career spanning more than three decades.

The 57-year-old began working at STV in 1983 and presented her first TV news bulletin four years later.

She went on to be a presenter of the channel’s main evening news programme, Scotland Today, for 22 years and was the country’s first Asian newsreader.

Nanjiani said: “This came as a complete surprise and I’m a bit overwhelmed to be honest.

“Part of me thinks I shouldn’t get an honour just for doing my job – there are plenty more deserving candidates.

“But I like to think this is also for the many people from ethnic minority backgrounds who’ve told me that seeing an Asian face presenting the Scottish TV news opened the door for them to pursue a career in the media.”

During her time at STV she covered stories such as the Lockerbie bombing and the Dunblane school shooting, as well as special reports from Romania, South Africa and post-9/11 Afghan refugee camps.

A spokeswoman for STV said: “As a former member of the STV news team, we are delighted to congratulate Shereen Nanjiani on her MBE for services to broadcasting.”

In 2006, she moved to BBC Radio Scotland, first presenting news and current affairs magazine programme Scotland Live.

She now presents Shereen, a weekend panel show on the radio station with the same focus on the top stories.

In other BBC projects, Nanjiani co-presented TV programme Timeline in 2017 with Glenn Campbell and, in the same year, appeared as herself in the BBC Scotland comedy Scot Squad.

Gareth Hydes, BBC Scotland’s commissioning editor for radio, music and events, said: “All of us at BBC Radio Scotland are so delighted for Shereen and very proud of everything she has achieved in her broadcasting career.”