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Jon Sopel
Sopel during an outside broadcast for BBC News in March 2008
Born
Jonathan B. Sopel

(1959-05-22) 22 May 1959 (age 65)
London, England
EducationChrist's College, Finchley
Alma materUniversity of Southampton
Occupation(s)News editor, television producer, newsreader
Notable credit(s)BBC News
Politics Show
Global
BBC World News
TitleFormer North America editor of BBC News
SpouseLinda Twissell
Children2

Jonathan B. Sopel[1] (born 22 May 1959) is a British journalist, television presenter and podcaster. He was formerly BBC News's North America editor; chief political correspondent for the domestic news channel BBC News; a presenter on the Politics Show on BBC One and the BBC News channel; and from 2013 to 2014, the main presenter of Global on BBC World News. Since 2022, he has been presenting the Global daily news podcast The News Agents.

Early life

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Born in 1959 to Jewish parents Myer and Miriam Sopel, his family moved from Stepney to North London when he was eleven.[2] He was educated at Christ's College, Finchley before graduating with a 2:1 honours degree in Politics and Sociology from University of Southampton.[3] Sopel was the president of the Students' Union, for the National Organisation of Labour Students during 1982 and 1983.[4]

Broadcasting career

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Sopel was a freelance writer and broadcaster before joining the BBC in 1983 as a reporter and producer for BBC Radio Solent. He went on to become the chief political correspondent for BBC News 24 and later spent three years as the BBC's Paris correspondent. Stories he covered while he was in Paris included the French ban on the importation of British beef, the millennium celebrations in Paris, the oil spill in Brittany, the French presidency of the EU in 2000 and the Concorde crash in July 2000. During the 2003 invasion of Iraq, Sopel was the BBC's correspondent in Kuwait City. In 2005, Sopel joined The Politics Show on BBC One replacing Jeremy Vine as the programme's main presenter. It broadcast every Sunday at noon and Sopel interviewed key politicians and advisers, including Prime Minister Tony Blair, opposition leader David Cameron, Jack Straw, Gordon Brown and US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice. The show ended in December 2011 and was replaced by Sunday Politics in January 2012.[5]

Sopel has co-presented the BBC News channel on weekday afternoons between 2 pm and 5 pm – alongside Louise Minchin each Tuesday to Thursday and alongside Emily Maitlis on Mondays – following his appointment as a presenter on the channel in 2003. During major political stories, such as elections, Sopel reported on location for the BBC News Channel and BBC News at One. He made occasional appearances on BBC One news bulletins as a relief anchor. In his 16 years with the BBC, he has appeared on PM on Radio Four, Breakfast News, BBC News at One, BBC News at Six and BBC News at Ten as well as fronting BBC Two's annual coverage of the UK political party conferences, Conference Live. He has also been an occasional stand-in presenter for Newsnight, and has made past appearances on Breakfast, HARDtalk and The Daily Politics. In October 2012, it was announced that Sopel would present the new programme Global with Jon Sopel, airing 15:00 to 16:30 GMT every Monday to Thursday on BBC World News.[6]

In January 2014, Sopel had a rare interview with the Emir of Dubai, Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum. At the end of the following April, Sopel was appointed the BBC's North America editor, after his predecessor Mark Mardell became a presenter for BBC Radio 4.[7] In 2019, BuzzFeed News revealed that Sopel gave a paid confidential speech to Philip Morris International (the maker of Marlboro cigarettes) at a staff conference in Miami.[8][9][10] This was criticised by British lung cancer charities.[11]

In 2020, Sopel began presenting the BBC podcast Americast alongside Newsnight presenter Emily Maitlis and chief North America reporter Anthony Zurcher. The podcast originally focused on the 2020 election, containing analysis as well as an array of interviews from across the political scene. Americast received positive reviews and performed well on the iTunes chart, at times becoming the UK's most listened to podcast of any genre.[12][13] The series was originally meant to end after the 2020 election, but has continued due to its popularity. An edited version of the podcast is broadcast on BBC Radio 4. In October 2021, Sopel announced his departure as North America editor,[14] saying he was taking a "long break" to write a book.[15] In November 2021, his successor was announced as Sarah Smith.[16] In February 2022, Sopel announced he would be leaving the BBC after an exclusive signing with LBC to launch a new podcast and joint radio show with fellow presenter Emily Maitlis.[17] The News Agents, featuring Sopel, Maitlis and Lewis Goodall was launched in August 2022.[18]

Personal life

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Sopel is an ambassador for The Prince's Trust. He met his wife, Linda Twissell, while working at Radio Solent; the couple have a son and daughter. In October 2010, Sopel required surgery to his hip when he crashed his motor scooter.[19]

Awards

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In 2007, Sopel was voted 'Political Journalist of the Year' by the Public Affairs Industry.[20] Sopel was awarded an Honorary Doctorate of Letters by the University of Southampton in 2011. In 2013, Sopel was shortlisted for 'National Presenter of the Year' at the Royal Television Society television journalism awards 2011/2012.[21] In 2016 Sopel was appointed Pro-Chancellor of the University of Southampton.[22]

Publications

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  • Tony Blair: The Moderniser. Michael Joseph. 1995. ISBN 978-0-553-50387-6.
  • If Only They Didn't Speak English: Notes from Trump's America. BBC Books. 2017. ISBN 978-1-78594-226-6.
  • A Year At The Circus: Inside Trump's White House. BBC Books. 2019. ISBN 978-1-78594-437-6.
  • UnPresidented: Politics, pandemics and the race that Trumped all others. BBC Books. 2021. ISBN 978-1-78594-440-6.
  • Strangeland: How Britain stopped making sense. Ebury Press. 2024. ISBN 978-1-52993-840-1.

References

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  1. ^ G.R.O. Births Index, Hammersmith April–June 1959, Volume 5c Page 1107
  2. ^ "Jon Sopel: Watching the White House". The Jewish Chronicle. Retrieved 28 November 2020.
  3. ^ Rubinstein, William D.; Jolles, Michael; Rubinstein, Hilary L. (22 February 2011). The Palgrave Dictionary of Anglo-Jewish History. Palgrave Macmillan. ISBN 978-1-4039-3910-4.
  4. ^ "BBC North America Editor Jon Sopel on the role Hampshire has played in his career". Hampshire Life. 3 January 2017.
  5. ^ Plunkett, John; Sweney, Mark (6 October 2011). "News to bear the brunt of BBC cuts that bite across the board". The Guardian. Retrieved 24 August 2014.
  6. ^ "Presenter Jon Sopel to join BBC World News". BBC Media Centre. Retrieved 16 December 2012.
  7. ^ Mark Sweney "BBC appoints Jon Sopel as North America editor", The Guardian, 29 April 2014
  8. ^ Stefano, Mark Di (13 April 2019). "One Of The BBC's Most Senior Journalists Gave An Off-The-Record Keynote Presentation To A Global Tobacco Giant". BuzzFeed. Retrieved 29 October 2020.
  9. ^ Waterson, Jim (29 October 2020). "BBC journalists told not to 'virtue signal' in social media crackdown". The Guardian. Retrieved 29 October 2020.
  10. ^ "BBC clamps down on staff social media and paid speeches". Yahoo! Sports. Agence France-Presse. 29 October 2020. Retrieved 29 October 2020.[permanent dead link‍]
  11. ^ Gregory, Andrew (14 April 2019). "Health charities fume at Jon Sopel's cigarette firm gig". The Sunday Times. Retrieved 29 October 2020. (subscription required)
  12. ^ Quirke, Antonia (3 August 2021). "The joy of BBC Sound's US podcast Americast". New Statesman. Retrieved 25 October 2021.
  13. ^ Maitlis, Emily [@maitlis] (24 October 2020). "We are currently at Number 2 on the #Applepodcasts charts" (Tweet). Retrieved 25 October 2021 – via Twitter.
  14. ^ Sopel, Jon [@BBCJonSopel] (19 October 2021). "I'm off.. After 7+ fab years in DC, 3 books, 3 presidents (one kept me busier than others) it's time to return to the UK and BBC mothership" (Tweet). Retrieved 25 October 2021 – via Twitter.
  15. ^ Kanter, Jake (22 October 2021). "Who would replace Laura Kuenssberg as BBC political editor?". The Times. Retrieved 25 October 2021.
  16. ^ Bedigan, Mike (17 November 2021). "Sarah Smith takes over as North America editor for the BBC". The Times. Retrieved 19 November 2021.
  17. ^ "Emily Maitlis and Jon Sopel to leave BBC to launch podcast and host LBC show". 22 February 2022. Retrieved 22 September 2022.
  18. ^ "Details of Emily Maitlis & Jon Sopel's new Global podcast revealed". 22 August 2022. Retrieved 22 August 2022.
  19. ^ "BBC newsreader Jon Sopel breaks hip in scooter crash". BBC News. 21 October 2010. Retrieved 21 October 2010.
  20. ^ coverage of UK and EU lobbying jobs and news[permanent dead link‍]. Public Affairs News. Retrieved 24 August 2014.
  21. ^ RTS Announces Winners for Television Journalism Awards 2012/2013 – Press Release | Royal Television Society Archived 29 October 2013 at the Wayback Machine. Rts.org.uk (20 February 2014). Retrieved 24 August 2014.
  22. ^ "University of Southampton appoints Jon Sopel as Pro-Chancellor". University of Southampton. Retrieved 19 August 2023.
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Media offices
New title Main Presenter of Global
2013–2014 		Succeeded by
Preceded by North America Editor: BBC News
2014–2021 		Succeeded by
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