This article will answer every question you have about Andrew Neil. Below are some of the frequently asked questions about him.
- What does Andrew do for a living?
- Who are Andrew’s parents and siblings?
- What are Andrew’s interests and hobbies?
- Is Andrew married or does he have a girlfriend/ boyfriend?
- Does Andrew have any children?
- Where is Andrew now?
- How tall is Andrew?
- How much money does Andrew earn?
- What is Andrew’s net worth?
N/B: Please read the entire post to have all your questions answered.
Who is Andrew Neil?
Andrew Ferguson Neil is a well-known Scottish journalist and broadcaster who is a chairman of The Spectator. From 1983 to 1994, he was editor of The Sunday Times. Formerly he presented BBC political programs and was chairman of GB News. In 1973, Neil entered journalism as a correspondent for The Economist.
In 1983, he was appointed editor of The Sunday Times by Rupert Murdoch. He held the position until 1994. After this, he became a contributor to the Daily Mail. Andrew was formerly chief executive and editor-in-chief of Press Holdings Media Group. He became founding chairman of Sky TV in 1988, also part of Murdoch’s News Corporation.
For 25 years, he has worked for BBC fronting various programs including; Sunday Politics and This Week on BBC One and Daily Politics, Politics Live, and The Andrew Neil Show on BBC Two. He has been chairman of Press Holdings since 2008, whose titles include The Spectator and ITP Media Group. After his departure from BBC, he became the founding chairman of GB News and a presenter on the channel but in September 2021, he resigned.
How Old is Andrew Neil?
He is 72 years old as of March 2022. Having been born on May 21, 1949, in Paisley, Renfrewshire, Scotland. Andrew shares his birthdate with celebrities such as; Notorious B.I.G. (1972-1997 Kevin Quinn, Areana Lopez, Jack Payne, Tom Daley, and many more.
Andrew Neil Family
Who are Andrew Neil’s Parents?
He was born to James Neil (Father) and Mary Neil (Mother)
Does Andrew Neil have Siblings?
He had an elder brother by the name of Jim Neil (born on April 19, 1939, but died on December 17, 2009.)
Andrew Neil Education
He received his high school education at Paisley Grammar School. After high school, he enrolled at the University of Glasgow.
Andrew Neil Marital Status
He is married to the love of his life Susan Nilsson. They married on August 8, 2015. His wife is currently the director of communications of engineering and environmental consultancy, Waterman Group PLC.
Andrew Neil Kids
He does not have kids of his own. But in 2006, he had 14 godchildren.
Andrew Neil Career
Press Career
After his graduation, he briefly worked as a sports correspondent for the Paisley Daily Express, before working for the Conservative Party. Neil joined The Economist in 1973, as a correspondent and was later promoted as editor of the publication’s section on Britain.
A Career at The Sunday Times
From 1983 to 1994, Andrew was editor of The Sunday Times. He made his first editorial on October 9, 1983. The Sunday Times strongly supported the stationing of American cruise missiles in bases in Britain after the Soviet Union installed SS-20s in Eastern Europe. It also criticized the vitality Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament. Andrew also wrote editorials supporting the United States invasion of Grenada because it would restore democracy there despite opposition from Hugo Young.
He printed extracts from Germaine Greer’s Sex and Destiny and from Francis Pym’s anti-Thatcher autobiography. Also a study of the “Patels of Britain” is a celebration of the success of Britain’s Asian community. Andrew regards the newspaper’s revelation of details of Israel’s nuclear weapons program in 1986. By using photographs and testimony from former Israeli nuclear technician Mordechai Vanunu as his greatest scoop as an editor. During the editorship, the newspaper lost a written case over claims that it had made concerning a witness Carmen Proetta. Who was interviewed after her appearance in the Death on the Rock documentary on the Gibraltar shootings?
Career Continuation
One of The Sunday Times journalists was involved Rosie Waterhouse, and not long she resigned. The Sunday Times on July 20, 1986, printed a front-page article titled ‘Queen dismayed by “uncaring” Thatcher’. The Labour-controlled Strathclyde Regional Authority in 197, wanted to close Neil’s old school, Paisley Grammar School. To try and save his old school, Andrew contacted Margaret Thatcher’s policy adviser Brian Griffiths. After Thatcher was informed about Strathclyde’s plan, she issued a new regulation that gave the Scottish secretary power to save schools where 80% of the parents were opposed to the local authority’s closure plan. Thereby saving Paisley Grammar.
In 1988, while at The Sunday Times, Neil met the former Miss India, Pamella Bordes in a nightclub. In an editorial of July 1988 “Morals for the majority”, Andrew claimed that in Britain there were emerging pockets of social decay and unsocial behavior. Andrew having been impressed with Charles Murray’s study of the American welfare state Losing Ground in 1989, invited Charles to Britain to study Britain’s emerging underclass. Under Andrew’s editorship, The Sunday Times opposed the poll tax.
Career Continuation
In his autobiographies, he claimed that his opposition to the poll tax crystallized when he discovered that his cleaner would be paying more poll tax than himself at a time his income tax had been reduced to 40% from 60%. The Sunday Times was the only Murdoch-owned newspaper to support Michael Heseltine against Thatcher during the 1990 Conservative Party leadership election.
Andrew blamed Thatcher for high inflation, “misplaced chauvinism” over Europe, and the poll tax, concluding that she had become an “electoral liability” and must therefore be replaced by Heseltine. Neil criticized some minor members of the Royal Family in an editorial of February 1991, for their behavior while the country was at war in the Gulf. In 1992, he obtained for The Sunday Times serialization rights for Andrew Morton’s book Diana: Her True Story. The book reveals the breakdown of Princess Diana’s marriage as her chronic eating disorder and her suicide attempts.
An End of the Murdoch connection
In 1994, Neil was replaced as Sunday Times editor. According to him, he claims that Murdoch had become envious of his celebrity. Many years later in November 2017, Kenneth Clarke (former Conservative cabinet minister ) said that Andrew had been removed because his article about corruption in the Malaysian government of Mahathir Mohamad conflicted with Murdoch’s desire to acquire a television franchise in the country. In 1994, his departure from his role as Sunday Times editor was officially reported. Andrew said, “during my time, the Sunday Times has been at the center of every major controversy in Britain”.
A Post-News Corp Career
Andrew became a contributor to the Daily Mail. And in 1996, became editor-in-chief of the Barclays brothers’ Press Holdings group of newspapers. Owner of The Scotsmanship, Sunday Business (later just The Business), and The European. In December 2005, Press Holdings sold The Scotsman, ending Neil’s relationship with the newspaper. He has not enjoyed the great success of the newspapers as The European closed shortly after he took over. In February 2008, The Business closed down. In July 2008, he exchanged his role as chief executive of Press Holdings for chairman. He is chairman of the Press Holdings title The Spectator. Since 2006, he has been chair of the Dubai-based publishing company ITP Media Group.
A Broadcasting Career
Andrew’s regular interview series for Channel 4, Is This Your Life? (made by Open Media) was nominated for a BAFTA award for “Best Talk Show”. In the course of the series, he interviewed a wide variety of personalities, from Albert Reynolds and Morris Cerullo to Jimmy Savile and Max Clifford. He acted as a television newsreader in two films: Dirty Weekend (1993) and Parting Shots (1999), both directed by Michael Winner.
A Career at Sky
Neil became founding chairman of Sky TV in 1988 and part of Murdoch’s News Corporation. He and Murdoch, in February 1989, stood side by side at Sky’s new headquarters in Isleworth to witness the launch of the service. The sky was not an instant success as they suffered competition from British Satelite Broadcasting (BSB) and shortage of Satelite dishes was an early problem. In November 1990, the failure of BSB led to a fusion. A few programs acquired by BSB were screened on Sky One and BSB’s satellites were sold. The new company was called British Sky Broadcasting (BSkyB). For a decade, BSkyB would not make a profit but by July 2010, it was one of the most profitable television companies in Europe.
A Career at BBC
Neil while at The Sunday Times, he contributed to both BBC radio and television. While he was editor, he commented on various controversies provoked by the paper. In early 2003, following the revamp of the BBC’s political programming, Neil presented the live political programs, This Week on BBC One and Daily Politics on BBC Two. Daily Politics ended in 2018 and was replaced by Politics Live in which Andrew presented until he left the corporation.
On the BBC News channel from 2007 to 2010, he presented the weekly one-on-one political interview program Straight Talk with Andrew Neil. Between years 2012 and 2017, he presented Sunday Politics, and following host Jeremy Paxman’s departure in 2014, he occasionally guest presented Newsnight on BBC Two. He played an important role in the BBC general election coverage in both 2010 and 2015. He also has interviewed various celebrities on the River Thames for the 2010 election and political figures in the studio for the 2015 election.
Career Continuation
Andrew also with Katty Kay provided commentary on foreign elections including the overnight coverage of the US presidential election in 2016. Neil as a BBC presenter, earned £200,000 to £249,999 in the financial year 2016-17. On Politics Live on BBC Two, he interviewed Ben Shapiro in May 2019. BBC announced in August 2019, that Andrew would host a prime-time political program that would run through autumn 2019 on BBC Two called The Andrew Neil Show.
However, due to the COVID-19 pandemic, it was canceled in March 2020 and then canceled as the BBC went through with budget cuts. Following the run-up to the 2019 general election, he interviewed all the leaders of the main political parties except for Johnson. The BBC announced on July 15, 2020, that Neil was in talks about an interview show on BBC One. His final appearance was with Katty Kay when he presented coverage of the 2020 US presidential election.
A Career at GB News
Andrew announced his exit from BBC on September 25, 2020, to become chairman of GB News a news channel launched on June 13, 2021. In addition to being a chairman, he presented Andrew Neil, a prime-time evening program on the channel. After two weeks of the channel’s launch after having hosted 8 episodes of his show, Neil announced he would be taking a break. He spent months on vacations. He was expected to return in early September. But on September 13, 2021, he resigned from GB News as chairman and lead presenter and announced he would enter a new role as a guest contributor. On September 22nd he said he would not return to Gb News.
A Career return to Channel 4
It was reported that Andrew was in talks with Channel 4 in January 2022. About presenting a weekly politics show to be launched in 2022. Channel 4 aired a documentary Boris Johnson: Has He Run Out of Road? on January 30. In this documentary, Neil explored the future of Boris Johnson’s premiership following repeated allegations of parties held in Downing Street during the COVID-19 lockdown. Channel 4 announced on February 21, that Neil would host a show beginning in May, which would also be accompanied by a weekly podcast.
Andrew Neil Height and Measurements
Adding up to his well-built body is a height of 5ft 9inches (1.75m). His weight is not documented on the internet.
Andrew Neil Salary and Net Worth
As a BBC presenter, he earned £ 200,000 to £249,000 in the financial year 2016-17. According to the internet, his net worth is $120 million.
