Jo Coburn - Biography

Jo Coburn (born November 1968) is a British journalist and political correspondent for BBC News, previously with special responsibility for BBC Breakfast. She has also previously worked as BBC political correspondent for London, most notably during the 2000 London Mayoral election. She is currently an occasional relief presenter on the BBC News Channel and a regular presenter of The Daily Politics alongside Andrew Neil. She has presented on BBC Radio Four in the past. and can sometimes be heard on the weekend current affairs programme The World This Weekend. Jo started her career by accident, in community radio. She has worked for a number of local radio stations in the Thames Valley, including Mix 96 Aylesbury, Fox FM Oxford, and Star FM in Slough.

She is a fluent speaker of German.

Career

After working as a regional correspondent for BBC London for four years, Coburn joined BBC Breakfast in 2001 as a political correspondent. She had first come to prominence when she covered events surrounding the 2000 London Mayoral election, and she went on to cover the 2001 general election. During her time at BBC Breakfast she covered events surrounding the War in Afghanistan and the Iraq war, and returned from maternity leave in 2005 to report on that year's general election. She spent some time presenting on the BBC News Channel and three months as presenter of Radio Four's political events programme The World This Weekend. She also covered the 2007 French presidential election and the European Constitution. In 2008, she was part of press pack during British prime minister Gordon Brown's visits to both Afghanistan and to Beijing for the closing days of the 2008 Summer Olympic Games.

Daily Politics

Coburn joined the BBC Two weekday political programme The Daily Politics in 2008, presenting the show alongside Andrew Neil on Thursdays. From January 2010, she took on Anita Anand's role, presenting four days a week while Anand was away on maternity leave. Anand returned to the show in September 2010 meaning Coburn returned to presenting on the programme one day a week, this time on Fridays. On 5 May 2010 she joined Neil to present the final Daily Politics election debate, The Trust in Politics Debate, before the 2010 general election. The debate featured contributions from Harriet Harman, Sir George Young, Lynne Featherstone and Adam Price. In July 2011 Anand left the programme to present a new show on 5 Live meaning that Jo Coburn would become a full-time co-presenter from September along with Neil.

Personal life

She is married, has two children and lives in London.

External links

• Jo Coburn at bbc.co.uk
• Q&A Jo Coburn interview at TV Newsroom