for News Programme of The Year. He was formerly the controller of the BBC News channel, a position he held from December 2005 until September 2012, and was also controller of the BBC News at One bulletin. In May 2010 he became deputy head of the BBC Newsroom.

From September 2012 to October 2016, Bakhurst was the managing director of news and current affairs at Ireland's national public service broadcaster RTÉ. While no official announcement