Guto Harri

Guto Harri
Communications Director to the Mayor of London
In office 2008–2012
Mayor	Boris Johnson
Preceded by	Joy Johnson
Succeeded by	Will Walden
Personal details
Born	8 July 1966 Cardiff, Wales, UK
Political party	Conservative
Occupation	Journalist, political correspondent, public relations

Guto Harri (born 8 July 1966) is Managing Director of External Communications at Liberty Global. A former BBC Chief Political Correspondent, in May 2008 he was appointed as Communications Director for Mayor of London Boris Johnson's administration at London City Hall.^[1] He quit Johnson's team when Johnson was re-elected mayor in May 2012 and was confirmed in his role at newspaper publisher News International shortly afterwards. His first name is Welsh and is pronounced [ˈɡɪtɔ].

Background

Guto Harri was born in Cardiff to writer/physician Harri Pritchard-Jones and his wife Lenna (née Harries). A native Welsh speaker, he studied at the Tonyrefail and Bryntaf schools before attending Ysgol Gyfun Llanhari and Queen's College, Oxford, where he studied Politics, Philosophy and Economics (PPE).^[2] He then undertook a postgraduate course in Broadcast Journalism at the Centre for Journalism Studies, Cardiff University.

Career

He started his broadcasting career in Welsh-language radio before moving into national radio and television, working on the S4C news programme Newyddion and on a number of historical documentaries for S4C, as well as presenting BBC Wales' main election programmes. He was a regular presenter on BBC television and radio programmes such as The World at One, Westminster Live, Straight Talk, Despatch Box and The World This Weekend. He played a key role in covering the collapse of Communism in Romania, Czechoslovakia and East Germany before reporting on the Gulf War from Saudi Arabia, Jordan and northern Iraq. He became the BBC's Chief Political Correspondent in November 2002 and also presented the channel's weekly interview programme, One To One.

He moved briefly to Rome from July 2004 to January 2005 and then became North America business correspondent based in New York City until June 2007. After leaving the BBC at the end of 2007, he was approached to work for Conservative Party leader David Cameron, but joined London public relations agency Fleishman-Hillard as a Senior Policy Advisor, spending four weeks as an adviser to Zimbabwe opposition leader Morgan Tsvangirai.^[2] In May 2008 he was appointed Communications Director for Mayor of London Boris Johnson's administration at London City Hall.^[1] He joined News International (renamed later as News UK) in May 2012 as the Head of their PR team and left at the end of 2015. He joined Virgin Media owner Liberty Global in February 2015 as their managing director of external communications.^[3][4]

Family and personal life

He is married and has three children.^[5] Outside of work, he enjoys rowing, sailing, fishing and cooking.^[6] Harri is a trustee for S4C and non-executive board member for Hay-on-Wye book festival. ^[7]

References

1. "Ex-BBC man is Johnson spokesman". BBC News. 9 May 2008. Retrieved 9 May 2008.
2. "Boris Johnson signs BBC journalist Guto Harri as his chief spin doctor". Daily Mail. 9 May 2008. Retrieved 9 May 2008.
3. Mulholl, Hélène. "Boris Johnson's former aide takes PR job with News International". the Guardian. Retrieved 2016-01-05.
4. Sweney, Mark. "News UK PR chief Guto Harri to join Virgin Media owner Liberty Global". the Guardian. Retrieved 2016-01-05.
5. BBC Press Office biography
6. Neil Prior (21 May 2012). "Profile: Guto Harri goes from Boris Johnson to News International PR chief". BBC News.
7. https://uk.linkedin.com/in/guto-harri-21815313

External links

• Guto Harri at the Internet Movie Database
• Guto Harri calls Boris Johnson a "buffoon"
• Guto Harri linked to S4C role
• Profile at BBC Newswatch
• London Speaker Bureau biography