Robin Francis Leigh Oakley (born 20 August 1941) is a British journalist. From 1992 to 2000 he was political editor at the

BBC The British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) is a British public service broadcaster headquartered at Broadcasting House in London, England. Originally established in 1922 as the British Broadcasting Company, it evolved into its current sta ...

and from 2000 to 2008 he was European political editor at

CNN International Cable News Network International or CNN International (CNNi, simply branded on-air as CNN) is an international television channel and website, owned by CNN Worldwide. CNN International carries news-related programming worldwide; it cooperates ...

. He is from

Kidderminster Kidderminster is a market town and civil parish in Worcestershire, England, south-west of Birmingham and north of Worcester, England, Worcester. Located north of the River Stour, Worcestershire, River Stour and east of the River Severn, in th ...

in Worcestershire.

Early life

Oakley was educated at Wellington College, Berkshire, and

Brasenose College, Oxford Brasenose College (BNC) is one of the Colleges of the University of Oxford, constituent colleges of the University of Oxford in the United Kingdom. It began as Brasenose Hall in the 13th century, before being founded as a college in 1509. The l ...

Career

He started his career on the ''

Liverpool Daily Post The ''Liverpool Post'' was a newspaper published by Reach plc, Trinity Mirror in Liverpool, Merseyside, England. The newspaper and its website ceased publication on 19 December 2013. Until 13 January 2012 it was a daily morning newspaper, wi ...

'' where he became political editor. He was then the Crossbencher columnist and assistant editor on '' The Sunday Express'' and was assistant editor of the ''Daily Mail'' from 1981 to 1986. Between 1986 and 1992, he was a columnist and political editor for ''

The Times ''The Times'' is a British Newspaper#Daily, daily Newspaper#National, national newspaper based in London. It began in 1785 under the title ''The Daily Universal Register'', adopting its modern name on 1 January 1788. ''The Times'' and its si ...

''. He then moved to the BBC, where he was political editor between 1992 and 2000. During this period he regularly presented political news items on BBC television news. His predecessor as BBC political editor was John Cole. Oakley was succeeded as political editor in summer 2000 by Andrew Marr, despite having intended to remain at the BBC to cover the upcoming general election. After leaving the BBC, Oakley became

's European political editor. He is also an expert in

horse racing Horse racing is an equestrian performance activity, typically involving two or more horses ridden by jockeys (or sometimes driven without riders) over a set distance for competition. It is one of the most ancient of all sports, as its bas ...

, and has written the Turf column in ''

The Spectator ''The Spectator'' is a weekly British political and cultural news magazine. It was first published in July 1828, making it the oldest surviving magazine in the world. ''The Spectator'' is politically conservative, and its principal subject a ...

'' since 1994, as well as being the racing correspondent of the ''

Financial Times The ''Financial Times'' (''FT'') is a British daily newspaper printed in broadsheet and also published digitally that focuses on business and economic Current affairs (news format), current affairs. Based in London, the paper is owned by a Jap ...

'' for several years.

Author

His 2000 book ''Valley of The Racehorse'' is about the racing community in the Lambourn valley. His 2001 book ''Inside Track'' is based on his experiences as a political journalist.

Honours

He was awarded an

Order of the British Empire The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is a British order of chivalry, rewarding valuable service in a wide range of useful activities. It comprises five classes of awards across both civil and military divisions, the most senior two o ...

in 2001 for his services to political journalism.

Bibliography

* * * cite book author=Oakley, Robin title Frankincense and More year=2010 ISBN 978-1-905156-79-5 * cite book author=Oakley, Robin title The Cheltenham Festival a centenary history year=2011 ISBN 978 1 845136369 * cite book author=Oakley, Robin title Britain and Ireland's Top 100 Racehorses Of All Time year=2012 ISBN 978-190685-042-5 * cite book author=Oakley, Robin title Clive Brittain The Smiling Pioneer year=2012 ISBN 978-1-908216-22-9 * cite book author=Oakley, Robin title Tales From The Turf Reflections from a Life in Horseracing year=2013 ISBN 978-190685-066-1 * cite book author= Oakley,Robin (with Edward Gillespie) title Sixty Years of Jump Racing year From Arkle to McCoy year=2017 ISBN 978-1-4729-3509-0 *

References

External links

* Alumni of Brasenose College, Oxford BBC newsreaders and journalists British political journalists Officers of the Order of the British Empire People educated at Wellington College, Berkshire 1941 births Living people CNN people People from Kidderminster {{UK-journalist-stub