Jeremy Paxman

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Birthday:

11 May 1950, Leeds, Yorkshire, England, UK

Birth Name:

Jeremy Dixon Paxman

Height:

191 cm

Jeremy Paxman is arguably Britain's most respected political journalist, renowned for his tough, rigorous interviewing of public figures. He was born in Leeds and educated at a prestigious private school, Malvern College. He graduated from Cambridge University with a degree in English. He joined the BBC as a trainee in 1972 and began working on BBC radio. He worked as a foreign correspondent for BBC television news and read the Six O'clock News. In 1989, Paxman took on what has become the defining job in his career, presenting Newsnight (1980). Although Newsnight had been on the air for nine years previously, and has been presented by other presenters since, Paxman and Newsnight have become synonymous for most people, and he remains with the series to this day. Show less «

[a question he repeated a dozen times to Conservative Home Secretary Michael Howard during a "Newsnight" (1980) interview, which never recei...Show more »

[a question he repeated a dozen times to Conservative Home Secretary Michael Howard during a "Newsnight" (1980) interview, which never received an answer] Did you threaten to overrule him? Show less «

I find it odd that people take me seriously.

[on the television licence fee] The idea of a tax on the ownership of a television belongs in the 1950s. Why not tax people for owning a was...Show more »

[on the television licence fee] The idea of a tax on the ownership of a television belongs in the 1950s. Why not tax people for owning a washing machine to fund the manufacture of Persil? Show less «

Watching TV is the most popular leisure activity in Britain. I find that very depressing. I think that the basic problem is that we are all ...Show more »

Watching TV is the most popular leisure activity in Britain. I find that very depressing. I think that the basic problem is that we are all a bunch of barbarians really. At work people are expected to be at the beck and call of employers all the time. You have blackberries and other things, and they just don't leave you alone. People have less time just to drop into an art gallery. Show less «

George Entwistle's departure is a great shame. He has been brought low by cowards and incompetents. The real problem here is the BBC's decis...Show more »

George Entwistle's departure is a great shame. He has been brought low by cowards and incompetents. The real problem here is the BBC's decision, in the wake of the Hutton Inquiry, to play safe by appointing biddable people. They then compounded the problem by enforcing a series of cuts on programme budgets, while bloating the management. That is how you arrive at the current mess on Newsnight (1980). I very much doubt the problem is unique to that programme. I had hoped that George might stay to sort this out. It is a great pity that a talented man has been sacrificed, while time-servers prosper. Show less «

[to Conservative minister Chloe Smith] Do you ever think you're incompetent?

[to Conservative minister Chloe Smith] Do you ever wake up in the morning and think my God, what am I going to be told today?

[on the Liberal Democrats' policy to end tuition fees at the 2010 general election] The most blatant lie in recent political history.

[on Channel 4 News (1982)] The home of crackpot conspiracy theories.

[on Twitter] As far as I can see, this is an activity for people who've got nothing going on between their ears or nothing going on in their...Show more »

[on Twitter] As far as I can see, this is an activity for people who've got nothing going on between their ears or nothing going on in their lives. Show less «

[To Nigel Farage] This is a lot of airy-fairy, eye-catching nonsense.

[on the BBC] An organisation almost everyone says they love in principle but which fewer and fewer of us seem keen to pay for in practice.