Adam Boulton | |
---|---|
Born | Thomas Adam Babington Boulton 15 February 1959 [1] |
Education | Christ Church, Oxford Johns Hopkins University |
Title | Political Editor of Sky News (1989–2014) Sky News Editor-at large (2014–2021) Regular panelist on TalkTV (2022–) |
Spouse |
Thomas Adam Babington Boulton (born 15 February 1959) is a British journalist and broadcaster who is regular panelist on TalkTV. He was formerly editor-at-large of Sky News, and presenter of All Out Politics and Week In Review. He is also the former political editor of Sky News. He is based at Sky News' Westminster studios in Central London. He was previously the political editor of TV-am, an ITV early-morning broadcasting franchise holder. He held the post of Sky's political editor since being asked to establish its politics team for the launch of the channel in 1989. He is the former presenter of Sky News' Sunday Live with Adam Boulton , and presented a regular weekday news and political programme on Sky News, entitled Boulton and Co from 2011 to 2014.
Born in 1959, Boulton is the son of pioneering anaesthetist Dr Thomas Babington Boulton OBE (1925–2016) and Helen (née Brown). [2] [3] [4] He comes from a family of bank managers and clerks, with a medical tradition on his mother's side. [5] He was educated at Tower House School, a preparatory school in south-west London, at St Andrew's School, Pangbourne, a preparatory school in Berkshire, and at Westminster School, a boarding school for boys in Westminster in Central London, where he took A-levels in English, Mathematics, Physics and Chemistry. He then studied at Christ Church, Oxford, and Johns Hopkins University, where he gained degrees in English and International Relations. [6] [7]
In 2013 Boulton received an Honorary Doctorate of Business from Plymouth University. [8]
Boulton had early roles at IPS News and the BBC. [9] Before joining Sky News, he worked as a journalist in the parliamentary lobby. He was then political editor for TV-am, where his colleague was Kay Burley who later joined Sky News. It was during the 1987 general election that he was punched by Denis Healey after Anne Diamond asked Healey about his wife using private healthcare; the incident was witnessed by gossip columnist Nigel Dempster. [10]
Boulton was asked to establish the politics team for the launch of Sky News in 1989. [9] He thereby began a long tenure as political editor of the news channel.
Boulton won the Royal Television Society's supreme Judge's Award and was elected the 2007 chairman of the parliamentary lobby. On 15 June 2008 he became the first British television reporter to conduct a joint interview of US President George W. Bush and his wife Laura. Boulton was based in Washington, D.C. from January 2009, covering the first 100 days of Barack Obama's presidency for Sky News.
On 22 April 2010, during the UK general election campaign, Boulton hosted Sky News' leaders' debate live from Bristol, the second in a series of three televised debates between Gordon Brown, David Cameron and Nick Clegg produced, in turn, and on consecutive Thursdays, by ITV News, Sky News and the BBC.
On 10 May 2010, while covering events on the aftermath of the general election, Boulton lost his composure with former 10 Downing Street Director of Communications Alastair Campbell, defending his impartiality in a live on-air interview after Campbell accused Boulton of political bias in favour of the Conservatives. Boulton shouted at Campbell: "Don't tell me what I think". [11] At the time both Labour and the Conservatives were trying to broker a deal with the Liberal Democrats aimed at forming a coalition government. A similar disagreement occurred later on that evening in an exchange with Ben Bradshaw. [12] The media regulator Ofcom received several hundred complaints about the Campbell incident from viewers. [13] During the campaign he had been asked to calm down by Peter Mandelson when he questioned him about possible spending cuts that the Financial Times believed would have to be made following the election. [14] He was also accused of bias for the way he questioned Liberal Democrat leader Nick Clegg, it was claimed in contravention of the pre-established rules, during the leaders' debate hosted by Sky News. Ofcom rejected the complaints. [15] On 20 January 2011 Boulton once again interviewed Alastair Campbell on Sky News, ahead of Tony Blair's appearance in front of the Iraq Inquiry. Both apologised about the incident and shook hands at the end of the interview.
Boulton left the role of Sky News' political editor before the 2014 Scottish independence referendum [16] to become its Editor-at-large. [17] He had been political editor for 25 years and five general elections. [9] His successor in the role was Faisal Islam and then Beth Rigby, who succeeded Mr Islam in 2019 when he left for the BBC. [16]
Since 2017, Boulton has presented All Out Politics on Sky News, from 9 am to 11 am, Monday to Friday. He also maintains a blog on the Sky News website and presents Week in Review. Additionally, he presents a review of Prime Minister's Questions on a Wednesday evening, with regular guests to discuss the performance of ministers involved in the House of Commons earlier in the day and more seriously, the legislation and ideas that they present to the House.
He has written for newspapers and magazines including The Times , Sunday Times , Guardian , Spectator , New Statesman and Independent . He has been a guest of programmes such as Newsnight , Bremner, Bird and Fortune and Have I Got News for You . He has interviewed every British Prime Minister from David Cameron back to Sir Alec Douglas-Home.
On 10 November 2021, Boulton announced he would be leaving Sky News at the end of the year. [18] In an interview with The Times, he explained: "It looks like the direction which Sky News wants to go over the next few years is not one that's a particularly good fit for me. Sky News head John Ryley believes the future of news is digital, is on the platform for phones and is very strongly based around data journalism. At that point you do start thinking". [19]
In April 2022, Boulton has become a regular panellist on the TalkTV (British TV channel) programme 'The News Desk with Tom Newton Dunn'.
Boulton presents a Sunday Morning Show between 10am -1pm for Times Radio alongside Kate McCann
Boulton continues to be a freelance Political Contributor for Sky News, GB News and Talk TV (British TV Channel)
On 2 March 2023 at the University of Keele, Boulton addressed members of the Keele World Affairs group on the topic of "Governments and the Media".
Boulton divorced his first wife, The Hon. Kerena Anne Boulton, after his affair with Tony Blair's spin doctor Anji Hunter became front page tabloid news in 2002. [20] Kerena is the sister of the 4th Baron Melchett (Peter Melchett), the former Labour minister and environmentalist; she is the eldest daughter of the 3rd Baron Melchett, the first Chairman of the British Steel Corporation (BSC), and his wife Sonia Melchett, the writer and socialite. Boulton married Hunter at St James's Church, Piccadilly, on 22 July 2006.[ citation needed ] Both have children from their previous marriages.
He claims not to have voted for any party since becoming a journalist. [9]
Sky News is a British free-to-air television news channel and organisation. Sky News is distributed via an English-language radio news service, and through online channels. It is owned by Sky Group, a division of Comcast. In 2019, Sky News was named Royal Television Society News Channel of the Year, the 12th time it has held the award. The channel and its live streaming world news is available on its website, TV platforms, and online platforms such as YouTube and Apple TV, and various mobile devices and digital media players.
Alastair John Campbell is a British journalist, author, strategist, broadcaster and activist, known for his political roles during Tony Blair's leadership of the Labour Party. Campbell worked as Blair's spokesman and campaign director in opposition (1994–1997), then as Downing Street Press Secretary, and as the Prime Minister's Official Spokesperson (1997–2000). He then became Downing Street's director of communications and spokesman for the Labour Party (2000–2003). He returned as campaign director for the 2005 general election in Blair's third win.
News Corp UK & Ireland Limited is a British newspaper publisher, and a wholly owned subsidiary of the American mass media conglomerate News Corp. It is the current publisher of The Times, The Sunday Times, and The Sun newspapers; its former publications include the Today, News of the World, and The London Paper newspapers. It was established in February 1981 under the name News International plc. In June 2002, the company name was changed to News International Limited, and on 31 May 2011, to NI Group Limited, and on 26 June 2013 to News UK.
The Office of Communications, commonly known as Ofcom, is the government-approved regulatory and competition authority for the broadcasting, telecommunications and postal industries of the United Kingdom.
Piers Stefan Pughe-Morgan is an English broadcaster, journalist, writer, and television personality. He began his career in 1988 at the tabloid The Sun. In 1994, aged 29, he was appointed editor of the News of the World by Rupert Murdoch, which made him the youngest editor of a British national newspaper in more than half a century. From 1995, Morgan edited the Daily Mirror, but was fired in 2004. He was the editorial director of First News from 2006 to 2007. In 2014, Morgan became the first editor-at-large of the MailOnline website's US operation.
Nicolo Ferrari is a conservative British radio host, television presenter and broadcast journalist. He is best known as the host of the weekday breakfast show on the London-based radio station LBC. He also has a regular column in the Sunday Express and was previously a regular guest on The Alan Titchmarsh Show. He regularly appears on ITV's programme This Morning and has presented the Sky News debate show The Pledge since 2016.
Islam Channel is a UK-based, free-to-air, English language, Islamic-focused satellite television channel and online media platform funded by advertising and donations. It was founded in 2004 by Mohamed Ali Harrath, a Tunisian activist and businessman; his son, Mohamed Harrath, is now its chief executive officer. It was reported in 2008 that UK government research found that 59% of British Muslims watched the channel. It broadcasts across Europe, the Middle East and Africa, and is streamed live on the internet. Islam Channel began broadcasting in March 2004 on Sky Digital channel 836, but subsequently moved to channel 813, then 806, now 737. In April 2010, it launched on Freesat channel 693. In 2015, Islam Channel Urdu was launched. In 2017, both channels launched on Virgin Media; Islam Channel can be watched on 838 and Islam Channel Urdu on 839. In 2018, Islam Channel Urdu was subsequently moved to channel 851, then 766, now 755. On 18 October 2022, Islam Channel Bangla was launched on Sky 784.
The political editor of a newspaper or broadcaster is the senior political reporter who covers politics and related matters for the newspaper or station. They may have a large team of political correspondents working under them.
Kay Elizabeth Burley is an English broadcaster. She is a presenter on Sky News and hosts Kay Burley, the breakfast slot on the channel. She has also worked for BBC Local Radio, Tyne Tees Television, and TV-am.
The Celebrity Big Brother racism controversy was a series of events related to incidents of racist behaviour by contestants on the fifth series of the British reality television show Celebrity Big Brother, broadcast on British television station Channel 4 in January 2007. The controversy centred on comments made by British contestants Jade Goody, Jackiey Budden, Danielle Lloyd, and Jo O'Meara, concerning Indian contestant Shilpa Shetty. The screening of these comments on UK television resulted in national and international media coverage, responses from the UK and Indian governments, and the show's suspension during the 2008 season.
Jeff Randall Live is a business programme broadcast on Sky News in the United Kingdom at 19:00 from Monday to Thursday. It began on 24 September 2007 as a weekly show, and was hosted by the business journalist Jeff Randall. The show featured interviews with some of the UK's leading business, financial and political figures, with guests including the billionaire tycoon Philip Green, and former Chancellor Alistair Darling.
YouView is a hybrid television platform in the United Kingdom developed by YouView TV Ltd, a partnership of four broadcasters, the BBC, ITV, Channel 4 and Channel 5; and three telecommunications operators, Arqiva, BT Group and TalkTalk Group.
The British media company Sky UK has incurred criticism over the years, much of it centred on overcharging, anti-competitive practices, and the business practices and undue political influence of its one-time majority owner News Corporation.
London Live is a local television channel in London, England, which airs local news, current affairs, sports, arts, events, and entertainment. The channel launched in 2014 to serve the London area under the legislation for local television, and broadcasts on Freeview and Sky. The owner of London Live is Russian oligarch Evgeny Lebedev, who is also the chairman and owner of both Evening Standard Ltd and Independent Print Ltd.
This is a list of events that took place in 2015 related to British television.
Ian King is a British business journalist who presents Business Live with Ian King, the eponymous daily business programme on Sky News.
GB News is a British free-to-air opinion-orientated news television and radio channel. The channel is available on Freeview, Freesat, Sky, YouView, Virgin Media and via the internet on Samsung TV Plus and YouTube. An audio simulcast of the station is also available on DAB+ radio.
This is a timeline of the history of Sky News, a British free-to-air television news channel and organisation.
TalkTV is a British free-to-air opinion-oriented television and radio channel owned and operated by News UK. The channel is available on Freeview, Freesat, Sky, Virgin Media and via the internet on YouTube. It launched on 25 April 2022.
This is a timeline of the history of GB News, a free-to-air television and radio news channel in the United Kingdom.
Boul