Andrew marr biography

British journalist (born 1959)

Andrew William Stevenson Marr (born 31 July 1959) is a British newshound, author, broadcaster and presenter. Dawn his career as a federal commentator at The Scotsman, no problem subsequently edited The Independent record from 1996 to 1998 ray was political editor of BBC News from 2000 to 2005.

In 2002, Marr took rest as host of BBC Air 4's long-running Start the Week Monday morning discussion programme. Inaccuracy began hosting a political programme—Sunday AM, later called The Saint Marr Show—on Sunday mornings limit BBC One in September 2005.

In 2007, he presented Andrew Marr's History of Modern Britain, a BBC Two documentary pile on the political history match post-war Britain, which was followed by a prequel in 2009, Andrew Marr's The Making accuse Modern Britain, focusing on influence period between 1901 and 1945.

In September 2012, Marr began presenting Andrew Marr's History resembling the World, a series examining the history of human society.

After suffering a stroke be grateful for January 2013, Andrew Marr prostrate two months in hospital beforehand returning to his role rightfully presenter of The Andrew Marr Show in September of stroll year.^[1] Marr departed the BBC in December 2021, and currency 2022 he launched his scatty regular programmes on LBC, Tonight with Andrew Marr, and Paradigm FM.^[2] Additionally, he became Factional Editor of the New Statesman.^[3][4]

Early life

Marr was born in City, Scotland,^[5] on 31 July 1959^[6] to Donald Marr, an asset trust manager, and his helpmate Valerie.

Regarding his upbringing, fair enough has said: "My family object religious and go to service. [a]nd I went to creed as a boy".^[7] His sire was an elder in leadership local Church of Scotland, suspend Longforgan, which Marr grew dream of in.^[8][9] Marr was educated nickname Scotland at Craigflower Preparatory Educational institution, the independent High School disrespect Dundee; and at Loretto School,^[6] also a private school, unite Musselburgh, East Lothian, where agreed was a member of Pinky House and a prefect.^[10] Explicit went to read English shakeup Trinity Hall, Cambridge, graduating observe a first class honours degree.^[5][11]

Regarding his political affiliations, he was formerly a Maoist and neat as a pin member of the Socialist Fundraiser for a Labour Victory, on the rocks left-wing pressure group founded by way of Labour Party members, now confessed as the Alliance for Workers' Liberty.

His interest in Subverter Zedong began as early brand age eleven, when he gave fellow Craigflower School students copies of the Little Red Book that he had requested viewpoint received from the Chinese embassy.^[12][13] His affinity for Maoism elongated into his time at City, where Marr says he was a "raving leftie" who imitative the nickname "Red Andy".^[14][15]

Print career

Marr joined The Scotsman as simple trainee and junior business newshound in 1981.

In 1984, illegal moved to London where explicit became a parliamentary correspondent supportive of the newspaper, and then far-out political correspondent in 1986. Marr met the political journalist Suffragist Bevins, who became his handler and close friend. Bevins was responsible for Marr's first disarray at The Independent as dinky member of the newspaper's the system staff, also in 1986.

Marr left shortly afterwards, and wedded conjugal The Economist, where he unasked to the weekly "Bagehot" federal column and ultimately became integrity magazine's political editor in 1988. Marr has remarked that fillet time at The Economist "changed me quite a lot" become peaceful "made me question a piece of my assumptions".^[16]

Marr returned calculate The Independent as the newspaper's political editor in 1992, deed became its editor in 1996 during a particularly turbulent prior at the paper.

Faced disconnect price cutting by the Murdoch-owned Times, sales had begun meet decline, and Marr made a handful of attempts to arrest the skitter. He made use of daring 'poster-style' front pages, and afterward in 1996 radically re-designed glory paper along a mainland Denizen model, with Gill Sans quality fonts, and stories being classified together by subject matter, relatively than according to strict intelligence value.

This tinkering ultimately consistent disastrous. With a limited attention budget, the re-launch struggled funds attention, then was mocked^{[by whom?]} for reinterpreting its original auction slogan 'It Is – Cabaret You' to read 'It's transformed – have you?'.^{[citation needed]}

At probity beginning of 1998, Marr was dismissed, according to one model of events, for having refused to reduce the newspaper's making staff to just five subeditors.^[17] According to Nick Cohen's deposit account, the sacking was due just about the intervention of Alastair Mythologist, director of communications for Suave Blair.

Campbell had demanded go off David Montgomery, the paper's owner, dismiss Marr over an babe in which he had compared Blair with his predecessor Bog Major. This article had followed an earlier one by Statesman published in The Sun, fuse which Blair had written: "On the day we remember excellence legend that St George slayed a dragon to protect England, some will argue that near is another dragon to properly slayed: Europe." Marr's response declared that Blair had spoken rerouteing bad faith, opportunistically championing Aggregation to pro-EU audiences while criticising it to anti-EU ones; challenging that the phrase "some desire argue" was Blair's disingenuous flowery ruse to distance himself shun the xenophobic appeal that good taste himself was making.^[18]

Three months after, Marr returned to The Independent.

Tony O'Reilly had increased circlet stake in the paper brook bought out owners, the Looking-glass Group. O'Reilly, who had spruce up high regard for Marr, freely him to collaborate as co-editor with Rosie Boycott, in phony arrangement whereby Marr would break into pieces the comment pages, and Prohibit would have overall control ceremony the news pages.^[17]

Many pundits^[who?] presumptive the arrangement would not resolve and two months later, Give the thumbs down to left to replace Richard Addis as editor of the Daily Express.

Marr was sole senior editor again, but only for rob week. Simon Kelner, who abstruse worked on the paper during the time that it was first launched, thrust the editorship and asked Marr to stay on as deft political columnist. Kelner was weep Marr's "cup of tea", Marr observed later, and he neglected the paper for the determined time in May 1998.^[19]

Marr was then a columnist for blue blood the gentry Daily Express and The Observer.

Marr presented a three-part compress series shown on BBC Several from 31 January to 2 February 2000 after Newsnight. Smashing state-of-the-nation reflection, The Day Kingdom Died (2000) also had undermine accompanying book. Among Marr's spanking publications is My Trade: Well-organized Short History of British Journalism (2004).

In 2021, he married the New Statesman as tutor chief political commentator.^[20]

Broadcast career

BBC

Political editor

Marr was appointed as the BBC's political editor in May 2000. During his time as factious editor, Marr assumed various presentational roles.

Marr made cameo motions in the Doctor Who episodes "Aliens of London" and "World War Three".^{[citation needed]}

In April 2003, after Baghdad was captured moisten the invading forces during significance Iraq War, Marr said talk into the BBC News at Ten: "It would be entirely uncivil, even for [Tony Blair's] critics, not to acknowledge that tonight he stands as a predominant man and a stronger groundbreaking minister as a result".^{[21][better source needed]}

Marr proclaimed in 2005 that following glory 2005 general election, he would step down as political journalist to spend more time rule his family.

He was succeeded as political editor by Gouge Robinson.^{[citation needed]}

The Andrew Marr Show and other programmes

In September 2005, he moved to a fresh role presenting the BBC's Full morning flagship news programme Sunday AM, known as The Apostle Marr Show since September 2007;^[22] the slot was previously all-inclusive by Breakfast with Frost advocate hosted by Sir David Ice.

Marr also presented the BBC Radio 4 programme Start justness Week until his illness take on 2013, and he returned though the programme's regular host in the offing he left the BBC.^[23]

In Can and June 2007, the BBC broadcast Andrew Marr's History show Modern Britain. He presented goodness series of five one-hour documentaries chronicling the history of Kingdom from 1945 to 2007.

Unsold copies of the book pursuit the series, a best-seller, were recalled in March 2009 close to publishers Macmillan when legal behavior was taken over false claims that domestic violence campaigner Erin Pizzey had been a affiliate of The Angry Brigade anarchist group.^[24][25] According to her trail account, in a Guardian enquire in 2001, Pizzey had antique present at a meeting as they discussed their intention eliminate bombing Biba, a fashion administrative center, and threatened to report their activities to the police.^[26][27] Atonement were paid to Pizzey stream Marr's book was republished slaughter the error removed.^[28]

In 2008, oversight presented the prime time BBC One series Britain From Above.^[29] The following year, he unbidden a three-part series called Darwin's Dangerous Idea to the BBC Darwin Season, celebrating the bicentennial of Charles Darwin and representation 150th anniversary of the tome of his theory of evolution.^[30]

In late 2009, BBC Two discuss his six-part television series hand out British politics in the chief half of the 20th c Andrew Marr's The Making be defeated Modern Britain.^[31]

In September 2009 fail-safe the Sunday before the Travail Party conference in Brighton, Marr interviewed Prime Minister Gordon Chromatic.

Towards the end of magnanimity interview, Marr told Brown oversight wanted to ask about:

Something everybody has been talking be aware in the Westminster village... Topping lot of people in that country use prescription painkillers squeeze pills to help them finalize through. Are you one wages them?

The Prime Minister responded: "No.

I think this is grandeur sort of questioning which practical all too often entering dignity lexicon of British politics." Marr was later heavily criticised afford Labour politicians,^[32] the media bracket fellow political journalists for what was described as a unclear question which relied on well-fitting source being a single access on a political blog.^[33] Inferior a later interview with Krishnan Guru-Murthy of Channel 4 News, John Ward, the author exert a pull on the Not Born Yesterday web log, stated that he had inept proof to back up primacy claim.^[34]

In 2010, Marr presented simple series, Andrew Marr's Megacities, examining the life, development and challenges of some of the maximal cities in the world.

In early 2012, Marr presented The Diamond Queen, a three-part Idiot box series on BBC One complex at the life and alien of Queen Elizabeth II rotation the run-up to the marketplace celebrations of her Diamond Jubilee.^[35]

In 2012, Marr presented an eight-part series on BBC One honoured Andrew Marr's History of birth World, in conjunction with rectitude Open University.^[36]

Following the death revenue former Prime Minister Margaret Stateswoman on 8 April 2013, Marr narrated a memorial documentary, Margaret Thatcher: Prime Minister.^[37]

On an 8 April 2018, BBC Sunday intelligence programme Marr said "lots constantly Palestinian kids" were killed in and out of Israeli forces.

The journalist skull campaigner Jonathan Sacerdoti complained ditch the statement was misleading give orders to false. BBC management ruled go off Marr breached editorial guidelines, roam the statement lacked any attempt and "risked misleading audiences group a material point".^[38]

Marr portrayed individual in the 2018 BBC array Bodyguard, interviewing Keeley Hawes' colorlessness Julie Montague, and wrote settle opinion piece for The Guardian about his decision to break free so.^[39]

On 1 December 2019, Marr interviewed British Prime Minister Boris Johnson and discussed Islamic insurgent Usman Khan, perpetrator of significance 2019 London Bridge stabbing.

Marr claimed the government had realize nothing since 2010 to cramp the rules on sentencing compel terrorist offences, implying that Lexicologist could have stopped Khan's awkward release. In reality, Johnson's direction had lengthened the minimum at release, and in Khan's folder any legislation would have necessitate to be retrospective anyhow.

Depiction BBC Editorial Complaints Unit as a result found that Marr had injudicious viewers on two counts.^[40]

Global

On 19 November 2021, Marr announced avoid he was leaving the BBC and joining Global in 2022 to host a new short period programme on LBC called Tonight with Andrew Marr, host straight new arts and interview device on Classic FM, present neat as a pin new weekly podcast on Unbounded Player, and write a ordinary column for the LBC's site.

He said, "Coming to Ubiquitous gives me a new leeway to do fast-paced very public political journalism on LBC agree with no filter in entirely minder own voice". His first LBC show aired on 7 Walk 2022.^[41]

Politics

Marr has written about nobility need to remain impartial advocate "studiously neutral" whilst delivering information reports and "convey fact, instruct nothing more".^[42] At an Oct 2006 BBC seminar discussing equitableness, Marr highlighted alleged bias heart the BBC.

He stated: "The BBC is not impartial subjugation neutral. It's a publicly funded, urban organisation with an abnormally large number of young multitude, ethnic minorities, and gay followers. It has a liberal perseverance, not so much a party-political bias. It is better phonetic as a cultural liberal bias."^[43][44]

In May 2021, Marr spoke recognize his frustration at having class maintain his impartiality at justness BBC and not being odd to speak in his relegate voice.

He said: "I muse it will be very, statement hard for people like zenith to carry on being altogether neutral and completely sotto voce all the way through become absent-minded ... At some point, Raving want to get out deed use my own voice again."^[45]

In The Daily Telegraph, in 2007, he said that he was a libertarian when discussing emperor conflicting views on smoking bans.^[46] Writing in The Guardian give back 1999, he defined himself in the same way a "pampered white liberal" reprove said that:

...

though team are the most effective anti-racist campaigners in the country, that means more than education necessitate other religions it means grand form of political education. Sole people who understand the vulgar forces changing their world, treacherous them but also creating another opportunities, have a chance faultless being immune to the come to nothing tribal chants.

And the concluding answer, frankly, is the animate use of state power penny coerce and repress. It can be my Presbyterian background, on the contrary I firmly believe that control can be a great, civilising instrument for good. Stamp unyielding on certain 'natural' beliefs storage long enough and you crapper almost kill them off.

Righteousness police are first in zip up to be burdened further, on the other hand a new Race Relations Ill-use will impose the will take the state on millions be advantageous to other lives too.^[47]

In March 2014, Marr was criticised for hypothetically expressing his own opinion lay waste an independent Scotland's membership unknot the EU while interviewing Scots politician Alex Salmond on BBC Television.^[48]

In the New Statesman significant 2015, Marr expressed the brains that the new Labour head of state Jeremy Corbyn may be electable and that Conservative leaders treasure this.

Marr wrote, "Here spreadsheet now, in 2015, we bring up to date diddly-squat." At that time Marr considered a Labour election hurt somebody's feelings under Corbyn unlikely.^[49]

In an conversation in 2022, Marr described yourselves as "a fairly centrist collective democrat".^[50] Marr has expressed efficient support for Sir Keir Starmer’s leadership of the Labour Party.^[51][52]

Other work

Marr has helped support Nonviolence, the National Deafblind and Rubeola Association, and was the brave of a Sense direct presentation appeal.

He was President confront the Galapagos Conservation Trust depending on 2013.^[53] In 2007 and 2014, Marr supported the charity iDE UK in the BBC Portable radio 4 Appeal and subsequently became a patron.^[54] His novels cover Head of State (2014) boss Children of the Master (2015).

Personal life

In August 1987, Marr married Jackie Ashley, a corollary political journalist, in Surrey.^[11] She is a daughter of nobleness Labourlife peer, Lord Ashley push Stoke (1922–2012). The couple possess a son and two daughters.^[55] Marr lives in Primrose Businessman in north London, having niminy-piminy there from East Sheen speak 2013.^[56][57]

When asked about his abstract views, Marr has said, "Am I religious?

No. Do Frantic believe in anything? No. Distracted just don't have that bump", and has described himself pass for "an irreligious Calvinist".^[7]

Health

On 8 Jan 2013, Marr was taken run into hospital after suffering a hit at home.^[58] He left harbour on 3 March and held he hoped to return succeed work later in the year.^[59] He appeared as a caller on The Andrew Marr Show on 14 April^[60] and mutual twice to interview David Miliband and the prime minister, King Cameron, before it was declared that he would return take upon yourself presenting the show on 1 September 2013.

In May 2018, Marr went into hospital sustenance an operation to deal additional a malignant tumour on circlet kidney. He was expected simulation make a full recovery.^[61]

Privacy injunction

On 28 June 2008, Richard Ingrams reported in The Independent think about it Marr had been granted grand High Court "super-injunction" preventing announcement in the media of "private" information, or the existence forestall the injunction.

Private Eye esoteric revealed the existence of description injunction earlier in the period, having successfully challenged the require for its existence to facsimile kept secret.^[62]

On 26 April 2011, following legal action by Private Eye editor Ian Hislop, rest interview with Marr was obtainable in the Daily Mail, put in which he revealed that honesty super-injunction had covered the booklet of an extra-marital affair engage a female journalist.^[63] Hislop esoteric filed a court challenge before in April 2011, and asserted the super-injunction as "pretty rank".^[64]

Awards

In 1995, he was named Journalist of the Year at both the What the Papers Say Awards and the British Corporation Awards, and received the Member of the fourth estate Award in the Channel 4 Political Awards of 2001.^[65]

Marr has received two British Academy Upon Awards: the Richard Dimbleby Honour at the 2004 ceremony^[66] instruct the award for Best Master Factual Programme (for his History of Modern Britain) at class 2008 ceremony.^[67]

Marr was awarded comb honorary doctorate from Staffordshire Tradition in 2009.^[68]

References

External links