Adam Boulton
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| Adam Boulton | |
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 Adam Boulton in March 2008 |
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| Born | 15 February 1959 Reading, Berkshire |
| Education | Oxford University Johns Hopkins University |
| Occupation | Journalist |
| Spouse(s) | Anji Hunter |
| Notable credit(s) | Political Editor Sky News, |
Adam Boulton (born 15 February 1959 in Reading, Berkshire) is political editor of the British television channel Sky News, a post he has held since being asked to establish the politics team for the launch of the channel in 1989.
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[edit] Biography
Boulton attended Westminster School[1] and has Masters degrees from the University of Oxford and Johns Hopkins University.[2][3]
[edit] Career
Before joining Sky News, Boulton worked as a journalist in the parliamentary "lobby." He was then political editor for TV-am, where his colleague Kay Burley also worked for TV-am and she too 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.[4]
Boulton presents Boulton & Co from 1pm to 2pm Monday to Friday on the channel and also maintains a blog on the Sky News website. While he does not have a regular weekday show of his own, he does frequently appear during the week to report on breaking political stories. He has interviewed every British Prime Minister from Gordon Brown back to Sir Alec Douglas-Home, international stars and influential figures. On 15 June 2008 he became the first British television reporter to conduct a joint interview of U.S. President George W. Bush and his wife Laura.
He also presents PMQs, 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 is a winner of the Royal Television Society's supreme Judge's Award and was elected 2007 Chairman of the Parliamentary Lobby.
Boulton was based in Washington, D.C. from January 2009, covering the First 100 days of Barack Obama's Presidency of the United States 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 2010 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".[5] At the time both Labour and the Conservatives were trying to broker a deal with the Liberal Democrats aimed at forming a coalition government. An extremely similar disagreement occurred later on that evening in an exchange with Ben Bradshaw.[6] The media regulator Ofcom received several hundred complaints about the Campbell incident from viewers.[7] 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.[8] 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 Leader's debate hosted by Sky News. Ofcom rejected the complaints [9] On the 20th 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.
[edit] Personal life
Boulton divorced his first wife after his affair with Tony Blair's spin doctor Anji Hunter became front page tabloid news in 2002.[10] Both have children from their previous marriages. The couple married at St James's Church, Piccadilly on the 22 July 2006, in a wedding attended by Blair and a number of current and former ministers, including David Blunkett, Tessa Jowell and Peter Hain, as well as Mick Hucknall and BP boss Lord Browne.[11]
[edit] Bibliography
- Tony's Ten Years: Memories of the Blair Administration (2008) Simon & Schuster
- Hung Together: The 2010 Election and the Coalition Government with Joey Jones (2010) Simon & Schuster
[edit] References
- ^ Pierce, Andrew (23 April 2010). "Paralysed by rift in Tory war cabinet". Daily Mail (London). http://www.dailymail.co.uk/debate/article-1268157/General-Election-2010-Paralysed-rift-Tory-war-cabinet.html.
- ^ [1]
- ^ [2]
- ^ "Sky's political editor on the channel's relaunch". London: The Independent. 2006-04-06. http://www.independent.co.uk/news/media/adam-boulton-skys-political-editor-on-the-channels-relaunch-475349.html. Retrieved 2010-05-10.
- ^ "Video of heated exchange between Boulton and Campbell". 10 May 2010. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1gkHwU4DRA8. Retrieved 10 May 2010.
- ^ "Adam Boulton arguing with Ben Bradshaw". 10 May 2010. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5NWAkxKQLQs&feature=player_embedded. Retrieved 10 May 2010.
- ^ Sweney, Mark (12 May 2010). "Adam Boulton and Kay Burley: almost 1,500 complaints to Ofcom". The Guardian (London: Guardian Media Group). http://www.guardian.co.uk/media/2010/may/12/sky-news-adam-boulton. Retrieved 13 May 2010.
- ^ "Labour Party election campaign coverage". Sky News (BSkyB). 27 April 2010. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=59MnCwsoCTw. Retrieved 13 May 2010.
- ^ Sweney, Mark (5 July 2010). "Ofcom rejects complaints over Sky News election coverage". The Guardian (London). http://www.guardian.co.uk/media/2010/jul/05/ofcom-sky-news-adam-boulton?utm_source=twitterfeed&utm_medium=twitter.
- ^ Chittenden, Maurice; Elliott, John (2006-07-23). "Adam and Anji's power wedding". London: The Sunday Times. http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/uk/article691417.ece. Retrieved 2011-05-07.
- ^ James Tapper (23 July 2006). "Two weddings and a downpour". Mail on Sunday (London: Associated Newspapers Ltd). http://www.dailymail.co.uk/pages/live/articles/showbiz/showbiznews.html?in_article_id=397127&in_page_id=1773. Retrieved 2011-05-07.
[edit] External links
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