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Lewis Goodall

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Lewis Goodall
Born (1989-07-01) 1 July 1989 (age 35)
Birmingham, England
Alma materSt John's College, Oxford
Occupation(s)Journalist, television reporter, author
Employer(s)BBC
Sky News
LBC
Spouse
Tone Langengen
​
(m. 2023)​

Lewis Goodall (born 1 July 1989) is a British journalist, broadcaster and author. He worked as a journalist for Granada Studios before becoming a political correspondent for Sky News. He later became policy editor of the BBC's flagship current affairs programme Newsnight.

In 2022, frustrated with their editorial policy, he quit the BBC alongside colleagues Emily Maitlis (Newsnight) and Jon Sopel (Politics Show) to launch The News Agents podcast.[1] His first book "Left for Dead?: The Strange Death and Rebirth of the Labour Party" was published in September 2018.

Early life

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Goodall was born on 1 July 1989.[2] He was raised on a council estate in Longbridge; he attended Turves Green Boys' School and completed his A Levels at Cadbury Sixth Form College. His mother gave birth to him at the age of 17. His father was a welder at the nearby Rover Company factory.[3] He studied at St John's College, Oxford, graduating in 2010 with a degree in history and politics.[4]

While at Oxford, he spent time in the United States as an intern to the Democrat House Representative Diana DeGette.[5] He later became an Entente Cordiale scholar, spending time learning French in Paris[6] and Mandarin Chinese at Beijing Normal University.[7] He was the first in his family to go to university.[8] Goodall was a volunteer for a member of the Labour Party whilst at school.[9][10]

Career

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Granada and the BBC

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After graduation, Goodall worked for Granada Studios as a question writer for the quiz show University Challenge.[4] He then worked for the centre-left think tank the Institute for Public Policy Research.[11] At the IPPR, he was the main researcher for the "Northern Economic Futures Commission" think tank.[12] He began his career in journalism as a producer and reporter at the BBC in 2012, where he was a producer on the Daily Politics. He later become Economics and Business Analyst for BBC News.[13]

In 2014, he joined BBC Newsnight as a political researcher, briefing presenters for major interviews before becoming an occasional reporter for the programme as well as wider BBC output, including Victoria Derbyshire and BBC Radio Four.[4] In 2015, Goodall reported from both the Charlie Hebdo shooting and November 2015 Paris attacks. Goodall conducted the last interview with Labour Party politician Denis Healey before the latter’s death in October 2015.[4]

Sky News

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Goodall left the BBC in 2016 to join Sky News as a political correspondent. He became known for his coverage of the Brexit crisis and the strife within the Labour Party, and in 2019 was named a MHP Communications '30 under 30' young journalists to watch.[14] That year, he presented a documentary on the rise of Nigel Farage and the Brexit Party.[15] He became known for his election and data analysis and became a main presenter on Sky's election programmes in 2017 and 2019. His first book, an analysis of New Labour and Jeremy Corbyn titled Left for Dead?: The Strange Death and Rebirth of the Labour Party was published in 2018.[16][17]

Return to Newsnight

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He returned to the BBC in January 2020 as Newsnight's policy editor.[18][19] He went on to become one of the most prominent faces of the BBC's reporting on the COVID-19 pandemic, especially its impact on schools, care homes and the death rate. In August 2020, he reported extensively on the A-level grading scandal,[11] credited with changing government policy over which grades would be given to students in that year's exams, for which he was nominated for an Orwell Prize in 2021.[11] In 2022, he reported from the western Ukrainian border on the outbreak of the Russo-Ukrainian War and the resultant refugee crisis in eastern Poland.[20] That year, he presented a Radio Four documentary "What is a Tory?" on the evolution of Conservative political thought.[21] Goodall featured in the BBC's election night coverage and was called a "rising star" of the corporation.[22]

Goodall later stated that the BBC had not protected his editorial freedom from criticism by former Conservative Party communications chief, Robbie Gibb, who was appointed to the BBC board in May 2021 and should not have had direct editorial involvement. Editors had instead warned him to "be careful: Robbie is watching you." This in part led to his decision later to leave the BBC.[23]

The News Agents

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In June 2022, Goodall announced he was leaving the BBC to join media company Global Media & Entertainment to make a daily podcast (The News Agents with Emily Maitlis and Jon Sopel).[22] He stated on Twitter he would be remaining at Newsnight for "a while yet".[24] The News Agents was launched on 30 August 2022,[25] and was named "Best Daily Podcast" in 2023. He also became presenter of a Friday politics show for LBC. He was named as the sole presenter of the investigative documentary series “News Agents Investigates” in the same year. In spring 2024 he was named as the presenter of LBC's flagship Sunday political show, Sunday with Lewis Goodall. In November 2024 he made a return to Sky, as an election night presenter for their US election coverage.

Goodall writes for the New Statesman and other print and online outlets.[26]

Personal life

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He married Tone Langengen, the Tony Blair Institute for Global Change's senior climate and energy policy advisor, in August 2023.[27][28]

References

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  1. ^ Waterson, Jim. "Lewis Goodall joins exodus from BBC amid impartiality drive". The Guardian, 20 June 2022. Retrieved 9 March 2024
  2. ^ Goodall, Lewis [@lewis_goodall] (1 July 2019). "I celebrated my 30th birthday in the only way appropriate: I went to the Ronald Reagan Presidential Library" (Tweet). Retrieved 13 January 2021 – via Twitter.
  3. ^ 49 | Lewis Goodall & Megan Goodall | Relatively, 28 June 2022, retrieved 8 March 2024
  4. ^ a b c d "Lewis Goodall". greeneheaton.co.uk. Retrieved 20 August 2020.
  5. ^ "Book Lewis Goodall - Contact speaker agent". JLA. Retrieved 8 March 2024.
  6. ^ "Author". HarperCollins Canada. Retrieved 8 March 2024.
  7. ^ "Mary Greenham NewsPresenters - Lewis Goodall Agent". www.marygreenham.co.uk. Retrieved 8 March 2024.
  8. ^ Goodall, Lewis (19 August 2020). "The schools scandal". New Statesman. Retrieved 21 June 2022.
  9. ^ Evans, Joe (21 August 2020). "BBC Newsnight editor accused of 'off the scale' bias after New Statesman cover story". The Week UK. Retrieved 21 June 2022.
  10. ^ "Lewis Goodall". The Guardian. Archived from the original on 24 April 2015. Retrieved 21 June 2022.
  11. ^ a b c Singh, Anita (20 August 2020). "BBC impartiality row: Newsnight policy editor accused of 'off the scale' bias". The Telegraph. Retrieved 20 August 2020.
  12. ^ "If the Chancellor is serious about "rebalancing" the UK economy we need serious investment in regions outside of the greater South East". British Politics and Policy at LSE. 21 March 2012. Retrieved 8 March 2024.
  13. ^ "UK v rest of G7: How's our driving?". BBC News. 9 May 2013. Retrieved 8 March 2024.
  14. ^ Gladdis, Keith (28 March 2023). "'Golden age of journalism ahead' says 30ToWatch journalism awards chair John Ryley". Press Gazette. Retrieved 8 March 2024.
  15. ^ Special report: Farage - A New Populism?, retrieved 8 March 2024
  16. ^ Maguire, Patrick (19 September 2018). "Lewis Goodall's Left for Dead? asks if Labour can win again". New Statesman.
  17. ^ Bennett, Asa (28 September 2018). "Left for Dead? review: a rip-roaring history of New Labour's rise and fall". The Telegraph.
  18. ^ Mayhew, Freddy (2 September 2019). "Sky's Lewis Goodall to join BBC Newsnight as policy editor". Press Gazette.
  19. ^ Goodall, Lewis (25 January 2020). "Surge in Labour membership amid leadership race". BBC News. Retrieved 21 June 2022.
  20. ^ On the Polish-Ukrainian border as tens of thousands flee - BBC Newsnight, retrieved 8 March 2024
  21. ^ "BBC Radio 4 - What's a Tory?". BBC. Retrieved 8 March 2024.
  22. ^ a b Waterson, Jim (20 June 2022). "Lewis Goodall joins exodus from BBC amid impartiality drive". The Guardian. Retrieved 20 June 2022.
  23. ^ Thorpe, Vanessa (21 July 2024). "BBC failed to defend me during Tory witch-hunt, says Lewis Goodall". The Observer. Retrieved 21 July 2024.
  24. ^ Goodall, Lewis [@lewis_goodall] (20 June 2022). "Should say I'm sticking around at Newsnight for a while yet!" (Tweet). Retrieved 21 June 2022 – via Twitter.
  25. ^ "Details of Emily Maitlis & Jon Sopel's new Global podcast revealed". Radio Today. 22 August 2022. Retrieved 22 August 2022.
  26. ^ "Writers". New Statesman.
  27. ^ Prince, Rosa (14 August 2023). "Health of the nation — and a postcard from Barry". Politico. Retrieved 2 September 2023.
  28. ^ "Tone Langengen". Tony Blair Institute for Global Change. Retrieved 2 September 2023.
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