Norman Smith (journalist)

British journalist (born 1959)

Norman Smith

Born|  (1959-04-30) 30 April 1959 (age 65)

Kensington, London, England

Nationality| British
Education| Oundle School
Alma mater| St Peter's College, Oxford
Occupation| Journalist
Years active| 1986–2020
Notable credit(s)| Today
Yesterday in Parliament
BBC News
Victoria Derbyshire

Norman Stuart Smith (born 30 April 1959) is a British journalist. He became the chief political correspondent of BBC News in 2011,[1] and was its assistant political editor from 2014 to 2020.

## Education

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Smith was educated at Oundle School[2] and St Peter's College, Oxford, where he read history.[3]

## Career

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Smith began his career in regional newspapers in Birmingham and Bristol,[3] before joining the BBC as a local radio reporter in 1986. Smith became a parliamentary correspondent in 1993, presenting Today and Yesterday in Parliament on BBC Radio 4. He has reported for the BBC from the Palace of Westminster since 1999. In 2010, he became chief political correspondent for Radio 4.[4]

In July 2011, Smith was appointed to the position of chief political correspondent for the BBC News channel, replacing Laura Kuenssberg who departed to ITN,[4] before then being promoted to the position of assistant political editor in 2014.

Since 2015, Smith has been a relief presenter for Victoria Derbyshire on BBC Two and the BBC News Channel.

The BBC Radio 4 Today programme said a fond farewell to Smith at the end of July 2020. He said he wanted to spend more time with friends and family, and "walking his dog". BBC News at One also paid tribute to him as he contributed his final live link to the programme.[5] He left the BBC at a time BBC News was making budget cuts with forthcoming cuts in redundancy payments.[6]

## See also

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* List of former BBC newsreaders and journalists

## References

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1. ^ Clarkson, Stuart (19 July 2011). "BBC Radio 4's Norman Smith gets TV job". Radio Today.
2. ^ "November E-bulletin". Oundle School. Retrieved 3 April 2018.
3. ^ a b "Politics UK - Meet the team - Norman Smith". BBC World Service.
4. ^ a b Halliday, Josh (18 July 2011). "Smith To Replace Kuenssberg as BBC Chief Political Correspondent". The Guardian. London. Retrieved 6 September 2011.
5. ^ Butterworth, Benjamin (30 July 2020). "Norman Smith leaves the BBC after more than 30 years: 'I'm off for some much longer dog walks'". The Independent. Retrieved 3 October 2020.
6. ^ Bolton, Roger (6 November 2020). Mark Mardell interview. Feedback. BBC Radio 4. Retrieved 4 December 2020. "Roger Bolton: over the past few months some outstanding BBC journalists have left the corporation, they include the former china editor Carrie Gracie, Norman Smith assistant political editor, Mark Devonport the northern Ireland political editor, Ross Hawkins political correspondent, and James Hawkins diplomatic correspondent. BBC News is having to make budget cuts and a forthcoming cut in redundancy payments have concentrated minds: go early and get a better deal. Another exiter is Mark Mardell."

## External links

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* Norman Smith at IMDb
* Norman Smith on Twitter
* Norman Smith on Journalisted

Media offices

New title |  Chief Political Correspondent: BBC Radio 4
2010–2011  | Succeeded by

Gary O'Donoghue

Preceded by

Laura Kuenssberg

|  Chief Political Correspondent: BBC News
2011–2014  | Succeeded by

Vicki Young

New title |  Assistant Political Editor: BBC News
2014–2020  | Succeeded by

TBD

Portals:

* Biography
* Journalism
* Radio
* Television