Sophy Ridge (born 17 October 1984) is an English broadcast journalist who has worked for

Sky News Sky News is a British free-to-air television news channel, live stream news network and news 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 ...

since 2011. Born in London, Ridge studied English Literature at

St Edmund Hall, Oxford St Edmund Hall (also known as The Hall and Teddy Hall) is a constituent college of the University of Oxford. The college claims to be "the oldest surviving academic society to house and educate undergraduates in any university" and was the las ...

, before working for the tabloid newspaper ''

News of the World The ''News of the World'' was a weekly national "Tabloid journalism#Red tops, red top" Tabloid (newspaper format), tabloid newspaper published every Sunday in the United Kingdom from 1843 to 2011. It was at one time the world's highest-selling ...

''. She left the newspaper to join Sky News as a political correspondent in 2011. Six years later, she started hosting her own politics show on the channel, '' Sophy Ridge on Sunday''.

Early life

Ridge was born on 17 October 1984 in

Richmond upon Thames The London Borough of Richmond upon Thames () in south-west Greater London, London, England, forms part of Outer London and is the only London boroughs, London borough on both sides of the River Thames. It was created in 1965 when three smaller ...

, London. Both her parents are teachers. Ridge has one younger brother. Her secondary education was at the selective grammar Tiffin Girls' School in London. During her time there, she did work experience at the local newspaper, the ''

Richmond and Twickenham Times The ''Richmond and Twickenham Times'' is a weekly local newspaper that was established in 1873 and is published on Fridays. It covers the London Borough of Richmond upon Thames in south-west London and surrounding areas. History The ''Richmon ...

''. She continued her education at

, and obtained a second-class BA degree in English Literature. During her final year of university she did a period of work experience at the tabloid newspaper ''

'', which led to a position on their graduate training programme.

Career

After graduation in 2006, Ridge was a trainee reporter at the tabloid newspaper ''News of the World''. After completion of her training programmes she initially worked as a consumer affairs correspondent in 2009. She then gained a job as a political correspondent on

in 2011. During her time there she covered a broad range of political stories and travelled with the British Prime Minister to

Afghanistan Afghanistan, officially the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan, is a landlocked country located at the crossroads of Central Asia and South Asia. It is bordered by Pakistan to the Durand Line, east and south, Iran to the Afghanistan–Iran borde ...

, New York and

Brazil Brazil, officially the Federative Republic of Brazil, is the largest country in South America. It is the world's List of countries and dependencies by area, fifth-largest country by area and the List of countries and dependencies by population ...

. She was based in

Colorado Colorado is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States. It is one of the Mountain states, sharing the Four Corners region with Arizona, New Mexico, and Utah. It is also bordered by Wyoming to the north, Nebraska to the northeast, Kansas ...

for the channel's coverage of the US elections and was known for her round the clock broadcasting at the annual

party conference The terms party conference ( UK English), political convention ( US and Canadian English), and party congress usually refer to a general meeting of a political party. The conference is attended by certain delegates who represent the party memb ...

s. Ridge covered the 2015 general election as a senior political correspondent for Sky News, reporting on the Labour Party's campaign and conducting interviews with party members. Her exclusives during this time included

Ed Miliband Edward Samuel Miliband (born 24 December 1969) is a British politician who has served as Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero since July 2024. He has been Member of Parliament (United Kingdom), Member of Parliament (MP) for D ...

's resignation as leader of the Labour Party following the result of that general election and

Jeremy Corbyn Jeremy Bernard Corbyn (; born 26 May 1949) is a British politician who has been Member of Parliament (United Kingdom), Member of Parliament (MP) for Islington North (UK Parliament constituency), Islington North since 1983. Now an Independent ...

's victory in the subsequent Labour Party leadership election. In 2017 Ridge became the host of her own show, ''Sophy Ridge on Sunday''. In the same year Ridge released her first book ''The Women Who Shaped Politics'', a non-fiction book which discussed women's contribution to British politics. She also started writing columns in the

tabloid newspaper A tabloid is a newspaper format characterized by its compact size, smaller than a broadsheet. The term originates from the 19th century, when the London-based pharmaceutical company GlaxoSmithKline, Burroughs Wellcome & Co. used the term to de ...

'' Metro''. In 2022, she launched ''The Take with Sophy Ridge'', a 30-minute discussion show based on the interviews that had featured in that week's edition. She continued to present both programmes until July 2023 when it was announced that, from September 2023, she would present a new weeknight political programme for Sky News called ''Politics Hub''. In March 2025, Ridge won the award for Network Presenter of the Year at the 2025 Royal Television Society Journalism Awards.

Awards

Ridge won the MHP Communications 30 to Watch award in 2012, and was shortlisted as Young Journalist of the Year in the Royal Television Society Awards in 2013. In 2016, she won an award for Broadcast Journalist of the Year at the Words by Women awards.

Personal life

Ridge married Ben Griffiths, a journalist for the ''

Daily Mirror The ''Daily Mirror'' is a British national daily Tabloid journalism, tabloid newspaper. Founded in 1903, it is part of Mirror Group Newspapers (MGN), which is owned by parent company Reach plc. From 1985 to 1987, and from 1997 to 2002, the tit ...

'', in 2014. They have two children.

References

External links

Sky profile
{{DEFAULTSORT:Ridge, Sophy 1984 births Living people Alumni of St Edmund Hall, Oxford British women journalists English feminists News of the World people People educated at the Tiffin Girls' School People from the London Borough of Richmond upon Thames Sky News newsreaders and journalists British women television journalists