Andrew William Stevenson Marr (born 31 July 1959, Glasgow, Scotland) is a Scottish journalist
and political commentator. He edited
The Independent for two years, until May 1998, and was the political editor for the
BBC from 2000 until 2005. He then began hosting a political programme called
Sunday AM (now
The Andrew Marr Show) on Sunday mornings on
BBC One from September 2005 onwards. In 2007, he presented a political history of post-war Britain on
BBC Two, Andrew Marr's History of Modern Britain. Newspaper careerMarr joined
The Scotsman as a trainee and junior business reporter in 1981. He became a parliamentary correspondent for the newspaper in 1984, moving to London at this time, and then a political correspondent in 1986. During this period, Marr met the political journalist
Anthony Bevins, who became Marr's mentor and close friend. Bevins was responsible for Marr's first appointment at
The Independent as a member of the newspaper's launch staff.
Marr left shortly afterwards, and joined
The Economist, where he contributed the weekly "Bagehot" political column and ultimately became the magazine's political editor in 1988. Marr has remarked that his time at The Economist "changed me quite a lot" and "made me question a lot of my assumptions".
At the BBCMarr wrote as a columnist for The Daily Express and
The Observer, before gaining appointment as BBC political editor in May 2000, making him one of the best-known faces on
British television. Like his predecessor-but-
one John Cole and his famous herringbone overcoat, he soon developed a trademark style, characterised by much gesticulation, as sent up in the comedy impersonation programme
Dead Ringers where they use ridiculously long plastic arms when portraying him. He also became known for, and was widely praised for, his ability to contextualise Westminster gossip and intrigue, and explain to viewers and listeners how it would affect their lives. A great believer in the view that 'politics matters', Marr championed the democratic process and saw it as part of his role as Political Editor of the BBC to help make politics meaningful and relevant for many people for whom politics was traditionally dull and something that happened only in Westminster corridors with middle-aged men in suits.
During his time as political editor, Marr assumed various presentational roles, and announced in 2005 that following the
2005 General Election, he would step down as Political Editor to spend more time with his family. He was replaced as Political Editor by
Nick Robinson. In September 2005, he moved to a new role presenting the BBC's Sunday morning flagship news programme, Sunday AM, known as The Andrew Marr Show since September 2007, the slot was previously filled with
Breakfast with Frost and hosted by Sir David Frost). Marr also hosts the BBC Radio 4 programme Start the Week.
In May and June, 2007, the BBC broadcast
Andrew Marr's History of Modern Britain. He presented The five one-hour documentaries, and chronicled the history of Britain from 1945 to 2007. Simultaneously,
Macmillan published the book of the series, written by Marr, under the same title.
Marr has written several books on politics and journalism, notably The Day Britain Died (2000) — a state-of-the-nation reflection — and My Trade: A Short History of British Journalism (2004). The former was, in addition, a three-part television series; following Newsnight in the BBC2 schedules,
31 January 2000 – 2 February 2000. He has also written several articles for the British political magazine Prospect.Personal lifeMarr lives in
East Sheen with his wife, the political journalist
Jackie Ashley of The Guardian, whom he married in August 1987. She is a daughter of the Labour Life Peer, Lord Ashley of Stoke. The couple have three children.AwardsHe was named Columnist of the Year 1995 and Columnist of the Year in the
British Press Awards and received the Journalist Award in the Channel 4 Political Awards of 2001.
He was considered for honorary membership
of The Coterie for 2007. Marr was on the nominations list for the 2004 Richard Dimbleby Award at the Bafta Television Awards.
