Huw Edwards

At 63 years old, Huw Edwards has this physical status:

Huw Edwards (born 18 August 1961) is a Welsh journalist, host, and newsreader.

Edwards, the corporation's lead presenter on major breaking news, appears on BBC News at Ten, the corporation's most viewed news show. He also covers live news on BBC News at Six, BBC News at Six, and Daily Politics, as rescue or as the BBC's chief host.

Edwards outlined the BBC's coverage of big national events, including Prince William and Catherine Middleton's wedding, the Queen's Diamond Jubilee, and Prince Harry and Meghan Markle's wedding. On December 12 and 13, he succeeded David Dimbleby as the host of BBC election night coverage and was the lead presenter for the 2019 general election coverage.

Early life and education

Huw Edwards was born in Bridgend, Wales, on August 18th, 1961, to a Welsh-speaking family, and was brought up in Llangennech, near Llanelli, from the age of four. Hywel Teifi Edwards, his father, was a Plaid Cymru and Welsh language scholar, author and scholar, who was Research Professor of Welsh-language Literature at University College, Swansea. Aerona Protheroe, Edward Edwards' mother, worked at Ysgol Gyfun y Strade in Llanelli for 30 years. Meinir is his brother. He was educated at Llanelli Boys' Grammar School and graduated with a first-class honours degree in French from Cardiff's University College in 1983. He began postgraduate studies at Cardiff University in Medieval, France, before going to work as a reporter for local radio station Swansea Sound and then joining the BBC.

Personal life

Edwards is married to Vicky Flind, a television producer whose credits include directing This Week and Peston. The couple have five children and live in Dulwich, London. Edwards is a devoted Christian and attends weekly services. Edwards was granted a PhD by the University of Wales Trinity Saint David in 2018 on Welsh Chapels in London and Llanelli. Since 2002, he has had bouts of depression.

Source

Career

Edwards spent a brief period on work at Swansea Sound's commercial radio station before joining the BBC as a news trainee in 1984. He became the Parliamentary Correspondent for BBC Wales in 1986.

Edwards appeared on BBC Six O'Clock News from May 1999 to January 2003. This was the most watched news show in the United Kingdom during this period.

Edwards became the corporation's top presenter of the Ten O'Clock News on BBC One in January 2003. In addition to David Dimbleby, he also hosts various special programs, including the Festival of Remembrance, Trooping the Colour, and the State Opening of Parliament. He was a member of the BBC commentary staff at the 2008 Beijing Olympics, 2012 London Olympics, and 2014 Commonwealth Games. He has appeared on many election specials, including coverage of the 2007 National Assembly for Wales elections for BBC Wales, as well as BBC Wales' coverage of the US elections, 2008 results, and Barack Obama's inauguration. He was previously Chief Political Correspondent for BBC News and spent more than 14 years covering politics from Westminster on a variety of BBC shows.

Edwards has appeared or appeared on a number of other BBC News programmes, including Breakfast News, One O'Clock News, Newsnight, and Panorama. Edwards has been a contributor to the newly launched BBC News at Five on the 24-hour BBC News channel since April 2006. He appeared on BBC news on Prince William and Catherine Middleton's Wedding on April 29, 2011. At peak in the United Kingdom, 20 million viewers watched the broadcasts, and the team received the BAFTA Award for Best Coverage of a Live Event. He appeared on BBC news of Elizabeth II's Diamond Jubilee in June 2012. On BBC One, BBC News Channel, and BBC World News, Nelson Mandela's funeral coverage began just a few hours on BBC News in December 2013. Edwards' 2014 local elections took over BBC Local Elections, taking over David Dimbleby's coverage.

Edwards spoke to Dimbleby of the BBC in 2015. He broadcasted the BBC coverage of Prince Harry and Meghan Markle's wedding in May 2018. Following Prince Philip's death in April 2021, he gave the rolling coverage on BBC One, BBC Two, BBC News Channel, and BBC World News following his death, as well as funeral coverage on the 17th of April.

Edwards admitted that he was considering his destiny in August 2021. Now that a big milestone, which is 60 years old, is here, it's normal for a man to ask, "Am I going to work in this job for another five years or do I want to do something different." "He told BBC Radio Cymru, "he says, '" he said. "Even if I still love the work, the nightly news business can be taxing." However, I don't think I'll be doing this for long. I believe that "in the first place, it's fair for the viewers to have a change."

Following an announcement from Buckingham Palace earlier this day, he declared the death of Queen Elizabeth II on September 8, 2022, delivering continuing news from around 14:00 BST. On September 19, he later extended the BBC's coverage of the Queen's funeral.

Edwards, who is primarily a news journalist, has produced a variety of television and radio shows, including documentaries on classical music, faith, and Welsh, of which he is a native speaker, and he has hosted numerous functions, including those at the BAFTA Cymru award ceremony. He has a keen interest in history and has published books on various historical topics, including Owain Glyndr, the South Wales Valleys, Gladstone and Disraeli, and a number of others that have been inspired by the Royal Commission's work on Wales' Ancient and Historical Monuments of Wales.

He spoke at Bread of Heaven with Huw Edwards, a documentary about the effects of faith in Wales that received the 2005 BAFTA Cymru for best documentary and nominations in four other categories.

The BBC Trust found that a documentary based on Welsh politics violated the organisation's editorial guidelines in September 2008. The Welsh Assembly was on display, with Edwards stating, "to achieve its full potential, it needs even more funding for the people of Wales" than it had so far; the more people participate, the better and healthier our democracy in Wales will be." Following a lawsuit, the governing body found that Edwards' words were not objective and evenhanded on the topic, saying, "it is not the job of BBC presenters to convince viewers to exercise their right to vote on particular occasions." It was also discovered that the documentary as a whole was biased against the Conservative Party.

Edwards' presentation The Prince and the Plotter about the Prince of Wales' investment and the role played by Mudiad Cymru earned him the "Best on Screen Presenter" at the BAFTA Cymru Awards in 2010.

The Story of Wales, a new historical documentary film made by BBC Wales in February 2012. Edwards appeared in a cameo role in the 23rd James Bond film Skyfall, as himself in a BBC News story on a fictionalized attack on the British intelligence service MI6.

In 2015, he gave a history of the Welsh colony in Patagonia, both in English and Welsh versions, to commemorate the colony's 150th anniversary of its establishment.

Edwards was a guest at Mary Berry's Christmas party in December 2018.

Edwards opened "Hoffi Coffi" cafe in the library in March 2011 to promote Academi Hywel Teifi's academic career at the university. As he unveiled a wall mural of a poem by Tudur Hallam, Professor of Welsh at the university and chair of the previous year's Eisteddfod, he paid a tribute to his father, who died in January 2010.

Edwards was named a Fellow of the University of Wales in 2003 and then appointed Honorary Professor of Journalism at Cardiff University in 2007. In 2005, he was named Patron of the National College of Music, and in October 2008, he was named President of the London Welsh Trust, which runs the London Welsh Centre. In April 2009, he was elected Vice President and then Pro Chancellor of Cardiff University for four years. He served as honorary President of London's Gwalia Male Choir from 2005-2016 and is a vice president of the National Churches Trust.

Edwards has written an article chastising the usage of the Welsh word in some England-based newspapers. In 2020, he responded to remarks made by scientist Michael Pepper in which it was stated that his late colleague John Meurig Thomas wrote notes in Welsh solely to discourage others from reading them; Edwards pointed out that Welsh speakers do not "use our native words in our daily lives, even to thwart others." In 2021, he chastised former journalist Max Hastings for claiming that the Welsh language was "marginal value" and that Wales would not flourish as a member of the English shamrocket, and that it would not prosper as a nation dependent on English largesse.

Edwards was awarded a Fellowship of the Royal Welsh College of Music & Drama on July 5th, 2019.

He is also an amateur organist who has taught at a chapel in Llanelli, and he appears at the Jewin Welsh Presbyterian Chapel in London.

As a BBC presenter for many years, he earned £550,000 – £599,999. His salary was reduced voluntarily as a result of gender wage inequalities discovered within the BBC. Press Gazette announced that his new salary would be £520,000 – £529,999 as of July 2018. His salary was also reduced in 2019, with his new salary estimated at £465,000 as of May 2021.

Source