Kamal Ahmed (born 15 November 1967) is a British

journalist A journalist is an individual that collects/gathers information in form of text, audio, or pictures, processes them into a news-worthy form, and disseminates it to the public. The act or process mainly done by the journalist is called journalism ...

, who was Editorial Director of

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 ...

. He was Economics Editor at the BBC until November 2018, and Business Editor from March 2014, until

Simon Jack Simon Jack (born 10 May 1971) is an English business journalist and news correspondent. He is currently the Business Editor for BBC News, known for appearing on '' BBC Breakfast'' until September 2011 and on BBC Radio 4's ''Today''. He has also p ...

was appointed as his successor in February 2016. Ahmed was formerly the political editor of ''

The Observer ''The Observer'' is a British newspaper published on Sundays. It is a sister paper to ''The Guardian'' and ''The Guardian Weekly'', whose parent company Guardian Media Group Limited acquired it in 1993. First published in 1791, it is the w ...

'', business editor of ''

The Sunday Telegraph ''The Sunday Telegraph'' is a British broadsheet newspaper, founded in February 1961 and published by the Telegraph Media Group, a division of Press Holdings. It is the sister paper of ''The Daily Telegraph ''The Daily Telegraph'', kn ...

'' and Director of Communications at the

Equality and Human Rights Commission The Equality and Human Rights Commission (EHRC) is a non-departmental public body in Great Britain, established by the Equality Act 2006 with effect from 1 October 2007. The Commission has responsibility for the promotion and enforcement of eq ...

Early life and education

Ahmed is the son of an English mother from Rotherham and a Sudanese father who was a research scientist in

ophthalmology Ophthalmology ( ) is a surgical subspecialty within medicine that deals with the diagnosis and treatment of eye disorders. An ophthalmologist is a physician who undergoes subspecialty training in medical and surgical eye care. Following a medic ...

. He grew up in Ealing. From 1980 to 1986, Ahmed was educated at

Drayton Manor High School Drayton Manor High School, formerly Drayton Manor Grammar School, is an Academy (English school), academy school located in Hanwell, west London, England. The school was granted academy status in August 2011. Its emblem is a phoenix rising from ...

, a state comprehensive school in

Hanwell Hanwell () is a town in the London Borough of Ealing, in the historic County of Middlesex, England. It is about 1.5 miles west of Ealing Broadway and had a population of 28,768 as of 2011. It is the westernmost location of the London post t ...

in the

London Borough of Ealing The London Borough of Ealing () is a London borough in West London. It comprises seven major towns: Acton (W3), Ealing (W5, W13, NW10), Greenford (UB6), Hanwell (W7), Northolt (UB5), Perivale (UB6) and Southall (UB1, UB2). With a population of 3 ...

in West London, followed by the

University of Leeds , mottoeng = And knowledge will be increased , established = 1831 – Leeds School of Medicine1874 – Yorkshire College of Science1884 - Yorkshire College1887 – affiliated to the federal Victoria University1904 – University of Leeds , ...

, from which he graduated in 1990 with a degree in political studies. He then trained in journalism at the City University Department of Journalism.

Career

Ahmed worked on local newspapers in Scotland before joining ''

Scotland on Sunday ''Scotland on Sunday'' is a Scottish Sunday newspaper, published in Edinburgh by JPIMedia and consequently assuming the role of Sunday sister to its daily stablemate ''The Scotsman''. It was originally printed in broadsheet format but in 2013 ...

'' in 1993. He later moved 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 ...

'' and became executive news editor and political editor at ''

'' newspaper. Ahmed was later criticised by fellow journalist

Nick Davies Nicholas Davies (born 28 March 1953) is an award-winning British investigative journalist, writer, and documentary maker. Davies has written extensively as a freelancer, as well as for ''The Guardian'' and ''The Observer'', and been named Re ...

for maintaining an inappropriately close relationship with

Downing Street Downing Street is a street in Westminster in London that houses the official residences and offices of the Prime Minister of the United Kingdom and the Chancellor of the Exchequer. Situated off Whitehall, it is long, and a few minutes' walk ...

while serving as political editor, and for publishing numerous articles that "contained significant falsehood or distortion". Ahmed described Davies' claims as untrue and "hearsay". After leaving the newspaper, he then became group Director of Communications at the

, recruited by its then chairman

Trevor Phillips Sir Mark Trevor Phillips (born 31 December 1953) is a British writer, broadcaster and former politician who served as Chair of the London Assembly from 2000 to 2001 and from 2002 to 2003. He presented '' Trevor Phillips on Sunday'', a Sunday ...

. In 2009, Ahmed was appointed business editor for ''

'', undertaking a course at the

London Business School London Business School (LBS) is a business school and a constituent college of the federal University of London. LBS was founded in 1964 and awards post-graduate degrees (Master's degrees in management and finance, MBA and PhD). Its motto is " ...

before replacing Mark Kleinman, who left for

Sky News Sky News is a British free-to-air television news channel and organisation. Sky News is distributed via an English-language radio news service, and through online channels. It is owned by Sky Group, a division of Comcast. John Ryley is the hea ...

. In 2013 he became executive business editor, with a role across the ''Sunday'' and ''Daily Telegraph'' print editions. On 20 December 2013, it was announced that Ahmed would replace

Robert Peston Robert James Kenneth Peston (born 25 April 1960) is an English journalist, presenter, and author. He is the political editor of ITV News and host of the weekly political discussion show ''Peston'' (previously ''Peston on Sunday''). From 2006 u ...

as the business editor of BBC News, and on 24 March 2014 he assumed the post. On 3 December 2015, after Peston's departure to ITV, it was announced that Ahmed would replace him as the BBC economics editor, with his successor as business editor of BBC News would be announced early in 2016. On 30 July 2018, Ahmed was announced as BBC News's Editorial Director, with

Faisal Islam Faisal Islam ( bn, ফয়সাল ইসলাম; born 29 May 1977) is a British political and economics journalist who is the economics editor of BBC News and the occasional presenter of ''Newsnight''. He was the political editor of Sky N ...

replacing him in his previous role. In November 2020 at a virtual ceremony, Ahmed was announced as one of the

United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Europe, off the north-western coast of the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotland, Wales and North ...

's most influential people of African or African Caribbean heritage by being included in the

2021 File:2021 collage V2.png, From top left, clockwise: the James Webb Space Telescope was launched in 2021; Protesters in Yangon, Myanmar following the 2021 Myanmar coup d'état, coup d'état; A civil demonstration against the October–November 2021 ...

edition of the annual ''

Powerlist The ''Powerlist'' is a list of the 100 most influential people of African or African Caribbean heritage in the United Kingdom. The list is updated annually and has been published in book format by Powerful Media since 2007. The ''Powerlist'' is ...

''. In February 2021, the BBC announced that Ahmed, including seven others, had been made redundant. "I would like to thank them for their outstanding contribution to BBC News to date and we are exploring future options for them," said

Fran Unsworth Francesca Mary Unsworth (born 29 December 1957) is a British journalist and media executive. Since January 2018 she has been Director, News & Current Affairs for BBC News. She was appointed in succession to James Harding. Before then she ser ...

, Director of News, in an email to BBC staff. "Change is never easy but it is important to have this new structure in place." This now means they have no

BAME A number of different systems of classification of ethnicity in the United Kingdom exist. These schemata have been the subject of debate, including about the nature of ethnicity, how or whether it can be categorised, and the relationship betwe ...

representation on the News board. In May 2021, it was reported that Ahmed joined former Dow Jones CEO

William Lewis (journalist) William Lewis (born 2 April 1969) is a British media executive and was formerly chief executive of Dow Jones and Company and publisher of ''The Wall Street Journal''. Earlier in his career he was known as a journalist and then editor. While Ed ...

in founding the News Movement, a digital news company aiming to counter misinformation. Ahmed will serve as its Editor-in-Chief.

Personal life

Ahmed has two children from his first marriage to Gemma Curtin. He later married the journalist and novelist

Elizabeth Day Elizabeth Day (born 10 November 1978) is an English novelist, journalist and broadcaster. She was a feature writer for ''The Observer'' from 2007 to 2016, and wrote for '' You'' magazine. Day has written six books, and is also the host of the po ...

in December 2011. The couple separated in February 2015 and are now divorced.

References

External links

*
BBC News - Kamal Ahmed's BBC 'Business Blog'BBC News - Kamal Ahmed articles

Twitter - Kamal Ahmed, BBC Business EditorColumn @ ''Daily Telegraph
'
Journalisted - Kamal Ahmed
{{DEFAULTSORT:Ahmed, Kamal 1967 births Living people People educated at Drayton Manor High School Alumni of City, University of London Alumni of the University of Leeds BBC newsreaders and journalists Black British television personalities British male journalists English people of Sudanese descent People from Ealing