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Hello, you're listening to Podlitical, BBC Scotland's podcast that gives you an inside look

at the biggest stories coming out of Hollywood and Westminster.

It's quarter past two on Wednesday the 28th of October.

I'm Phil Sim, a reporter based at the Scottish Parliament, and today I'm joined by.

I'm Lindsay Views, a journalist also based at the Scottish Parliament.

And we are gathered here today because Brian Taylor, an icon of Scottish political journalism

and the bar at Holyrood, is riding into the sunset.

Gathered here today? It sounds like you're a minister. You know, you're gathered here today to join these people in holy matrimony or whatever it is. Yeah, well, hopefully not funereal air. Yeah. No, not funereal. We don't want that. Brian, you are retiring from the top job.

Stepping back, I think, is the euphemism.

Back in it in, yeah.

Did you think we just had a quiet couple of years coming up in politics?

This is a good moment to hang up your bonnet.

We could do with a period without an election, certainly.

There's been an election.

It appears to become an annual event.

I recall in my early days, elections were every four or five years, but they appear to be annual or in the last couple of years monthly.

And that's something of a challenge to us all.

I just, you know, it's such an incredible period at the moment, a hideous period in, of course, in terms of the

virus and most recently an incredible period in politics. But then I've been through, you know,

I first became a journalist in 1977, covered the devolution referendum in 79, covered the 79

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