Gavin Esler

Born: Scotland, 1953

Gavin Esler is currently one of the three main presenters on BBC 2's flagship political analysis programme, Newsnight. He joined the programme in January 2003 taking over from former presenter Jeremy Vine who took over from veteran Radio 2 presenter Jimmy Young. Born in Scotland, Esler completed a BA in English and American literature and a further MA in Irish literature. He first cut his teeth into the world of journalism on the Belfast Telegraph in 1976. Following this Esler joined the BBC in 1977 as Northern Ireland reporter, he extended this role upon joining Newsnight in 1982. Esler was then made Washington correspondent and later chief North America correspondent for the BBC, in charge of shaping coverage across the whole continent for the corporation and was accredited with covering both the Bush sr and later Clinton administrations. He delivered coverage for the BBC's rolling news service BBC News 24 (which he was involved in from its outset) on the Clinton/Lewinsky scandals. His report on the military build up in the Aleutian islands as part of the Reagan administration's New Maritime Strategy earned him a Royal Television award. Esler's journalistic credentials extend further across the globe however, he has reported for news and documentary programmes across Europe, Russia, China and North and South America. Esler is the author of three novels - Loyalties, Deep Blue and The Blood Brother. He has also written a book on American discontent, The United States of Anger, published in October 1997 (Penguin). He writes a regular column for 'The Scotsman', 'The Independent' and other publications. He is married with two children and his hobbies include camping, hiking and skiing.