Peter Heaton-Jones
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Peter Heaton-Jones, (b. 2 August 1963), is a British/Australian journalist, broadcaster and political campaigner who has held senior positions in the media and politics in both the UK and Australia.
In the media, he is best-known for presenting news programmes on BBC national and local radio, and was the former head of marketing for ABC radio. In politics, he was a Conservative Party candidate in the 2008 UK local elections in Swindon, Wiltshire, and is currently the party's media and campaigns director and a Parish Councillor.
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[edit] Early career
Peter Heaton-Jones began his broadcasting career after graduating from the University of London. He worked initially in commercial radio before joining the BBC in 1986, becoming a high-profile news presenter at BBC Essex and anchoring the Breakfast and Drivetime programmes.
He joined the national news & current affairs network BBC Radio 5 Live when it opened in 1994. He was best-known as presenter of Morning Reports and Up All Night, as well as producing programmes for television anchors Nicholas Witchell, Alastair Stewart and Diana Madill.
During this period he also worked at BBC Southern Counties Radio, and undertook various media training and advisory roles.
[edit] Later career
In 1997, Peter Heaton-Jones moved to Australia to join the Australian Broadcasting Corporation in Sydney. He became head of marketing for radio stations ABC NewsRadio, Radio National and ABC Classic FM, but left after three years as a result of the reorganisation instigated by controversial Managing Director Jonathan Shier.
He returned to the UK in 2000 and joined BBC Radio Swindon, gaining a high profile in the region as presenter of the Breakfast Show and Morning Show from 2000 to 2006. He was also a newspaper columnist for the Swindon Advertiser.
He left full-time broadcasting in August 2006, apart from a guest role presenting the launch programme and first week of Breakfast shows at community radio station Swindon 105.5 in March 2008.
[edit] Politics
Peter Heaton-Jones specialised as a political journalist, including the presentation of BBC election coverage nationally and locally from 1986 onwards. In 2006 he conducted a face-to-face interview with then-British Prime Minister Tony Blair.
After leaving the BBC he joined the British Conservative Party and wrote articles and policy documents.
In 2006, Peter Heaton-Jones returned to Australia and worked on the election campaign of Rob Stokes, the Liberal Party candidate in the New South Wales Electoral district of Pittwater. The campaign succeeded, with Stokes regaining the seat for the Liberals from incumbent Independent Member of Parliament Alex McTaggart. After the election, Peter Heaton-Jones was appointed Stokes' policy advisor and press secretary in the New South Wales Parliament.
In 2007 he returned to live in the UK, and stood as the Conservative Party candidate in the 2008 local elections in a strongly pro-Labour area of Swindon Borough Council. After the election, Peter Heaton-Jones became the Party's media and campaigns director. In 2009 he became a Councillor on Haydon Wick Parish Council, representing part of the Abbey Meads borough ward.
