John Adrian Pienaar (born 2 October 1956) is a British journalist who currently works for

Times Radio Times Radio is a British digital radio station owned by News UK. It is jointly operated by Wireless Group (which News UK acquired in 2016), ''The Times'' and ''The Sunday Times''. As of September 2022, the station broadcasts to a weekly audienc ...

, previously rising to prominence as deputy political editor for

BBC News BBC News is an operational business division of the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) responsible for the gathering and broadcasting of news and current affairs in the UK and around the world. The department is the world's largest broadca ...

Early life

Pienaar was born in

Middlesex Middlesex (; abbreviation: Middx) is a Historic counties of England, historic county in South East England, southeast England. Its area is almost entirely within the wider urbanised area of London and mostly within the Ceremonial counties of ...

. His parents, Eric and Johanna Pienaar, were both born in South Africa. He was educated at

Bromley Technical High School Ravens Wood School, formerly Bromley Technical High School, located in Keston, London Borough of Bromley, England, is an all-boys school. The sixth form accepts both boys and girls. In 2018 the school had 1,537 pupils. The school is a designate ...

, in

Keston Keston is a village in Greater London, England, located within the London Borough of Bromley, Greater London. Prior to 1965 it was withing the historic county of Kent. It is part suburban, part rural in nature and lies on the edge of Hayes Com ...

Bromley Bromley is a large town in Greater London, England, within the London Borough of Bromley. It is south-east of Charing Cross, and had an estimated population of 87,889 as of 2011. Originally part of Kent, Bromley became a market town, char ...

, London, as one of just two black boys at his local technical college. He then obtained his NCTJ training at

Highbury College Highbury College is a further education college in Portsmouth, Hampshire, England. It offers vocational and academic education and training, including apprenticeships, A-levels and foundation degrees. The college is a member of the Collab G ...

Portsmouth Portsmouth ( ) is a port and city in the ceremonial county of Hampshire in southern England. The city of Portsmouth has been a unitary authority since 1 April 1997 and is administered by Portsmouth City Council. Portsmouth is the most dens ...

Career

Pienaar began his career in journalism at the ''

South London Press The ''South London Press, London Weekly News and Mercury (formerly South London Press)'' is a weekly newspaper currently based in Catford, South London. The newspaper covers the latest news, sports and features within the south, central and west ...

'', before becoming an

Old Bailey The Central Criminal Court of England and Wales, commonly referred to as the Old Bailey after the street on which it stands, is a criminal court building in central London, one of several that house the Crown Court of England and Wales. The s ...

correspondent. He was then a political correspondent at ''

The Independent ''The Independent'' is a British online newspaper. It was established in 1986 as a national morning printed paper. Nicknamed the ''Indy'', it began as a broadsheet and changed to tabloid format in 2003. The last printed edition was publis ...

'', the

Press Association PA Media (formerly the Press Association) is a multimedia news agency, and the national news agency of the United Kingdom and Ireland. It is part of PA Media Group Limited, a private company with 26 shareholders, most of whom are national and re ...

, and from 1992 the

BBC #REDIRECT BBC #REDIRECT BBC #REDIRECT BBC Here i going to introduce about the best teacher of my life b BALAJI sir. He is the precious gift that I got befor 2yrs . How has helped and thought all the concept and made my success in the 10th board ex ...

, on a range of TV and radio news and current affairs programmes. In 2002, he became chief political correspondent at

Radio 5 Live BBC Radio 5 Live is a British national radio station owned and operated by the BBC that broadcasts mainly news, sport, discussion, interviews and phone-ins. It is the principal BBC radio station covering sport in the United Kingdom, broadcast ...

, and presented a Sunday morning programme, ''Pienaar's Politics''. He also hosted ''Question Time Extra Time'' (a radio supplement to

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, p ...

's ''

Question Time A question time in a parliament occurs when members of the parliament ask questions of government ministers (including the prime minister), which they are obliged to answer. It usually occurs daily while parliament is sitting, though it can be ca ...

'') alongside

Stephen Nolan Stephen Raymond Nolan (born 20 August 1973) is a Northern Irish radio and television presenter for BBC Northern Ireland and BBC Radio 5 ''Live'', and is the highest earning broadcaster that the BBC employ in the Province. Early life Born in ...

and served as a stand-in host on

BBC Two BBC Two is a British free-to-air public broadcast television network owned and operated by the BBC. It covers a wide range of subject matter, with a remit "to broadcast programmes of depth and substance" in contrast to the more mainstream an ...

's ''

Daily Politics ''Daily Politics'' was a BBC Television programme which aired between 6 January, 2003 and 24 July, 2018, presented by Andrew Neil and Jo Coburn. ''Daily Politics'' took an in-depth review of the daily events in both Westminster and other areas a ...

''. From 2015 to 2020 he was BBC News' deputy political editor. Pienaar started presenting the drivetime programme on the new

station in June 2020.

Personal life

Pienaar married Denise Walsh in 1980 and they had a son and a daughter. They divorced and Pienaar married Penny Davies, with whom he has two daughters. He is a fan of

Crystal Palace Football Club Crystal Palace Football Club is a professional Association football, football club based in Selhurst in the London Borough of Croydon, Borough of Croydon, South London, England, who compete in the Premier League, the highest level of English ...

References

External links

* 1956 births Living people People from Middlesex BBC newsreaders and journalists Alumni of the University of Bradford British political commentators BBC Radio 5 Live presenters British social commentators Black British journalists English people of South African descent {{UK-journalist-stub