As the battle to succeed Jeremy Vine continues, Gavin Esler, the former North American correspondent and current presenter of News 24, will tonight begin a two-day stint as Newsnight's anchorman.

The Telegraph reports that Esler is the preferred choice of BBC bosses who have turned away from Andrew Neil, the former editor of the Sunday Times, amid concerns that such an appointment would be politically controversial.

Meanwhile, Channel Five is currently in talks to sign up the BBC's veteran foreign affairs correspondent, Kate Adie.