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Anna Ford (born 2 October 1943) is an English former journalist, television presenter and newsreader. She first worked as a researcher, news reporter and later newsreader for Granada Television, ITN, and the

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. Ford helped launch the British breakfast television broadcaster

TV-am TV-am was a TV company that broadcast the ITV franchise for breakfast television in the United Kingdom from 1 February 1983 until 31 December 1992. The station was the UK's first national operator of a commercial breakfast television franchis ...

. She retired from broadcast news presenting in April 2006 and was a non-executive director of

Sainsbury's J Sainsbury plc, trading as Sainsbury's, is the second largest chain of supermarkets in the United Kingdom, with a 14.6% share of UK supermarket sales. Founded in 1869 by John James Sainsbury with a shop in Drury Lane, London, the company ...

until the end of 2012. Ford now lives in her home town of Tewkesbury, Gloucestershire.

Early life

Ford was born in

Tewkesbury Tewkesbury ( ) is a medieval market town and civil parish in the north of Gloucestershire, England. The town has significant history in the Wars of the Roses and grew since the building of Tewkesbury Abbey. It stands at the confluence of the Ri ...

Gloucestershire Gloucestershire ( abbreviated Glos) is a county in South West England. The county comprises part of the Cotswold Hills, part of the flat fertile valley of the River Severn and the entire Forest of Dean. The county town is the city of Gl ...

, to parents who were both West End actors. Her father, John, had declined an offer from

Samuel Goldwyn Samuel Goldwyn (born Szmuel Gelbfisz; yi, שמואל געלבפֿיש; August 27, 1882 (claimed) January 31, 1974), also known as Samuel Goldfish, was a Polish-born American film producer. He was best known for being the founding contributor an ...

to work in Hollywood, and her mother, Jean (née Winstanley; sister of MP and broadcaster

Michael Winstanley, Baron Winstanley Michael Platt Winstanley, Baron Winstanley (27 August 1918 – 18 July 1993) was the Liberal Member of Parliament (MP) for Cheadle from 1966 to 1970 and, after boundary changes, for Hazel Grove, a newly created seat comprising half his former ...

) had worked with Alec Guinness.Bill Hagert
"Anna Ford: Try a little tenderness"
''British Journalism Review'', 18:3, 2007, pp. 9–16 Her father later became ordained as an Anglican priest and took Ford and her four brothers to live at Eskdale in the Lake District. She went to primary school at St Ursula's School,

Wigton Wigton is a market town in the Allerdale borough of Cumbria, England. Historically in Cumberland, it lies just outside the Lake District in the borough of Allerdale. Wigton is at the centre of the Solway Plain, between the Caldbeck Fells an ...

, then to Wigton Grammar School. After her father became the parish priest at St Martin's Church in

Brampton Brampton ( or ) is a city in the Canadian province of Ontario. Brampton is a city in the Greater Toronto Area (GTA) and is a lower-tier municipality within Peel Region. The city has a population of 656,480 as of the 2021 Census, making it ...

she moved to the White House Grammar School. Ford received a BA degree in economics from the

Victoria University of Manchester The Victoria University of Manchester, usually referred to as simply the University of Manchester, was a university in Manchester, England. It was founded in 1851 as Owens College. In 1880, the college joined the federal Victoria University. Afte ...

and was president of the university's students' union from 1966 to 1967.

Career

Ford worked as a teacher for four years, including teaching

Provisional Irish Republican Army The Irish Republican Army (IRA; ), also known as the Provisional Irish Republican Army, and informally as the Provos, was an Irish republican paramilitary organisation that sought to end British rule in Northern Ireland, facilitate Irish reu ...

prisoners at the Her Majesty's Prison Maze in

Northern Ireland Northern Ireland ( ga, Tuaisceart Éireann ; sco, label= Ulster-Scots, Norlin Airlann) is a part of the United Kingdom, situated in the north-east of the island of Ireland, that is variously described as a country, province or region. Nort ...

for two years. She was later an

Open University The Open University (OU) is a British public research university and the largest university in the United Kingdom by number of students. The majority of the OU's undergraduate students are based in the United Kingdom and principally study off- ...

social studies tutor in Belfast for two years. Ford was thirty by the time she joined Granada Television as a researcher in 1974. Initially, she was told she was too old to be a newsreader, but became a reporter and newsreader on ''

Granada Reports ITV News ''Granada Reports'' is a British television news service broadcast and produced by ITV Granada. Overview ''Granada Reports'' is produced and broadcast from studios in the Orange Tower at MediaCityUK in Salford Quays. Before this, the ...

''.Anna Ford: Hardy perennial
BBC News – 3 August 2001 She joined the BBC in January 1977, but only after several months as security clearance from

MI5 The Security Service, also known as MI5 ( Military Intelligence, Section 5), is the United Kingdom's domestic counter-intelligence and security agency and is part of its intelligence machinery alongside the Secret Intelligence Service (MI6), G ...

was required because she was then living with a former communist. This led to her BBC personnel file being marked with a "Christmas tree" symbol. Ford subsequently worked on '' Man Alive'' and ''

Tomorrow's World ''Tomorrow's World'' is a former British television series about contemporary developments in science and technology. First transmitted on 7 July 1965 on BBC1, it ran for 38 years until it was cancelled at the beginning of 2003. The ''Tomorro ...

''. In February 1978, Ford moved to ITN, and was faced with quickly abandoned legal threats from the BBC for breaking her contract."1978: Ford makes her ITN debut"
BBC On This Day, 13 February Future colleague

Reginald Bosanquet Reginald Tindal Kennedy Bosanquet (9 August 1932 – 27 May 1984) was a British journalist and broadcaster who was an anchor of '' News at Ten'' for ITN from 1967 to 1979.Eddie Dyj"Bosanquet, Reginald (1932–1984)" BFI screenonline Early ...

said at the time: "I have never been averse to working with ladies ... I do not know Anna but I have heard that she is a very competent and professional lady." Ford remains fond of his memory, and they formed a good professional relationship. Ford began presenting ITV's '' News at One'' in March and later the 5:45 pm bulletin, but within two months had become the first female newscaster on '' News at Ten''. In 1979, Ford appeared in a skit along with John Cleese and

Terry Jones Terence Graham Parry Jones (1 February 1942 – 21 January 2020) was a Welsh comedian, director, historian, actor, writer and member of the Monty Python comedy team. After graduating from Oxford University with a degree in English, Jones and ...

of the Monty Python troupe as part of "The Amnesty International Comedy Gala", a comedy programme performed at Her Majesty's Theatre, Haymarket, London. The film version is called "The Secret Policeman's Ball". In 1981, she left ITN to join the presenting team of the soon-to-launch

. ITN were bidding for the breakfast franchise themselves and had positioned Ford as the lead anchor in their bid, unaware that she was involved with another bidder. When her subterfuge was exposed, ITN immediately terminated her contract and publicly criticized her dishonesty and disloyalty.Leapman, Michael. ''Treachery: The Power Struggle at TV-am''. Unwin Hyman 1984. Her tenure at TV-am was short lived in part due to fierce competition from the BBC's casually styled ''Breakfast Time''. The loss of viewers resulted in a relaunch which was perceived as "dumbing-down" of the station, and only three months after the station's launch, Ford was dismissed from TV-am partly due to her on-air support for chairman Peter Jay (who had already resigned) and partly because she refused to stand down from '' Good Morning Britain'' when the ratings slumped. Ford was involved in an incident at a party in which she threw her wine over

Jonathan Aitken Jonathan William Patrick Aitken (born 30 August 1942) is a British author, Church of England priest, former prisoner and former Conservative Party politician. Beginning his career in journalism, he was elected to Parliament in 1974 (serving un ...

to express her outrage over his involvement in her sacking from the channel. Ford rejoined the BBC in 1988, becoming part of the presentation team for both

BBC One BBC One is a British free-to-air public broadcast television network owned and operated by the BBC. It is the corporation's flagship network and is known for broadcasting mainstream programming, which includes BBC News television bulletins, ...

's '' Six O'Clock News'' and the

BBC Radio 4 BBC Radio 4 is a British national radio station owned and operated by the BBC that replaced the BBC Home Service in 1967. It broadcasts a wide variety of spoken-word programmes, including news, drama, comedy, science and history from the BBC' ...

Today Today (archaically to-day) may refer to: * Day of the present, the time that is perceived directly, often called ''now'' * Current era, present * The current calendar date Arts, entertainment, and media Films * ''Today'' (1930 film), a 1930 ...

'' in 1993. From 1999, she fronted the relaunched '' One O'Clock News''. On 30 October 2005, Ford announced she would retire from broadcasting in April 2006 to pursue other interests while she "still has the interest and energy". She also talked about

ageism Ageism, also spelled agism, is discrimination against individuals or groups on the basis of their age. The term was coined in 1969 by Robert Neil Butler to describe discrimination against seniors, and patterned on sexism and racism. Butler d ...

, stating: Ford presented her last ''One O'Clock News'' on 27 April 2006, signing off by introducing a compilation of clips of her career. On 2 May 2006,

J Sainsbury plc J Sainsbury plc, trading as Sainsbury's, is the second largest chain of supermarkets in the United Kingdom, with a 14.6% share of UK supermarket sales. Founded in 1869 by John James Sainsbury with a shop in Drury Lane, London, the company ...

, the UK supermarket group, announced Ford was joining the company as a non-executive director. She is the Chair of Sainsbury's board's Corporate Responsibility Committee.

Academia

On 17 December 2001, Ford was installed as Chancellor of the Victoria University of Manchester. When the Victoria University of Manchester merged with the

University of Manchester Institute of Science and Technology The University of Manchester Institute of Science and Technology (UMIST) was a university based in the centre of the city of Manchester in England. It specialised in technical and scientific subjects and was a major centre for research. On 1 Oct ...

(UMIST) on 1 October 2004 to create the new

University of Manchester , mottoeng = Knowledge, Wisdom, Humanity , established = 2004 – University of Manchester Predecessor institutions: 1956 – UMIST (as university college; university 1994) 1904 – Victoria University of Manchester 1880 – Victoria Univ ...

, she became its Co-Chancellor along with Sir

Terry Leahy Sir Terence Patrick "Terry" Leahy (born 28 February 1956) is a British businessman, previously the CEO of Tesco, the largest British retailer and the third-largest retailer in the world measured by revenues. He now lives in Cuffley, Hertford ...

(the former Chancellor of UMIST). She completed her term and Tom Bloxham succeeded her as sole Chancellor on 1 August 2008. On 22 April 2006, Ford received an honorary doctorate from the

University of St Andrews (Aien aristeuein) , motto_lang = grc , mottoeng = Ever to ExcelorEver to be the Best , established = , type = Public research university Ancient university , endowment ...

, nominated by Sir Menzies Campbell.

Other work

Ford is one of many guest hosts to have taken the chair for the satirical news quiz '' Have I Got News for You''.

Personal life

Ford had an early marriage to Alan Bittles (1970–div), although this dissolved before her television career and, in the late 1970s, she was briefly engaged to Jon Snow, a colleague at ITN. She married the magazine editor and cartoonist

Mark Boxer Charles Mark Edward Boxer (19 May 1931 – 20 July 1988) was a British magazine editor and social observer, and a political cartoonist and graphic portrait artist working under the pen-name ‘Marc’. Education Boxer was educated at Berkhamste ...

in 1981; with him she had two daughters, Claire (b. 1982) and Kate (b. 1985), before he died of a brain tumour in 1988 at their home in Brentford, Greater London. She was briefly engaged in 2000, to former astronaut

David Scott David Randolph Scott (born June 6, 1932) is an American retired test pilot and NASA astronaut who was the seventh person to walk on the Moon. Selected as part of the third group of astronauts in 1963, Scott flew to space three times and ...

, the seventh man to walk on the moon. Ford became the subject of news stories in August 2001, when she lost a high-profile court case. She claimed unsuccessfully that photographs of her in a bikini with Scott, by a press photographer in Majorca, with a powerful zoom lens and published in the

British media There are several different types of mass media in the United Kingdom: television, radio, newspapers, magazines and websites. The United Kingdom is known for its large music industry, along with its new and upcoming artists. The country also has a ...

, constituted an invasion of her privacy. In a letter to ''

The Guardian ''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'', and changed its name in 1959. Along with its sister papers ''The Observer'' and ''The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardian'' is part of the Gu ...

'' in February 2010, Ford accused Martin Amis (a friend of her late husband Mark Boxer) of having neglected his duties as godfather to her daughter Claire and also having been disrespectful to Boxer at the time of his death.The root of Martin Amis's anger
''The Guardian'' – 20 February 2010 Amis rejected her allegations in a reply, but accepted that he had been remiss in his duties as godfather.

Filmography

References

External links

Biography from BBC News
*
Audio interview on ''Woman's Hour'' re her retirement

BBC Radio 3's "Private Passions" – musical play list

* ttp://www.museum.tv/archives/etv/F/htmlF/fordanna/fordanna.htm Biography at the Museum of Broadcast Communications
Open University profile
{{DEFAULTSORT:Ford, Anna 1943 births Academics of the Open University Alumni of the University of Manchester Living people People from Tewkesbury People from Wigton BBC newsreaders and journalists ITN newsreaders and journalists British broadcast news analysts BBC radio presenters Sainsbury's people People educated at the Nelson Thomlinson School Birdwatchers