Starting his broadcasting career in local radio, he went on to become the chief political correspondent for BBC News 24 and later spent three years as the BBC's Paris correspondent. Stories he covered while he was in Paris include the French ban on the importation of British beef, the millennium celebrations in Paris, the oil spill in Brittany, the French presidency of the EU in 2000 and the Concorde crash in July 2000. Sopel was a freelance writer and broadcaster before joining the BBC in 1983 as a reporter and producer for Radio Solent. During the 2003 invasion of Iraq, Sopel was the BBC's correspondent in Kuwait City.

In 2005 Sopel joined The Politics Show on BBC One replacing Jeremy Vine as the programme's main presenter. Broadcast every Sunday at noon, Sopel interviews key politicians and advisers, who in the past have included then Prime Minister Tony Blair, opposition leader David Cameron, Jack Straw, Gordon Brown and US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice.

He also co-presents the BBC News Channel on weekday afternoons between 2pm and 5pm - alongside Louise Minchin each Tuesday-Thursday and alongside Emily Maitlis on Mondays - following his appointment as a presenter on the channel in 2003.

During major political stories, such as elections, Sopel reports and presents on location for the BBC News Channel and BBC News at One. He makes occasional appearances on BBC One news bulletins as a relief anchor. In his 16 years with the BBC, he has appeared on PM on Radio Four, Breakfast News, BBC News at One, BBC News at Six and BBC News at Ten as well as fronting BBC Two's annual coverage of the UK political party conferences, Conference Live. He is an occasional stand-in presenter for Newsnight, and has also made past appearances on Breakfast, HARDtalk and The Daily Politics.

The 2007 edition of Who's Who listed Sopel's hobbies as golf, travel and watching football. He is also an ambassador for the Prince's Trust. Sopel is an alumnus of the University of Southampton where he was the President of the Students' Union, for the National Organisation of Labour Students during 1982 and 1983. He met his wife Linda while working at Radio Solent; the couple have a son and daughter and live in North London.

2007 Political Journalist of the Year

Tony Blair: The Moderniser (1995) Michael Joseph, London. ISBN 0718139186 / 0-7181-3918-6