Paul Kenyon is a BAFTA-winning journalist and author who made his name confronting criminals in his own prime time TV show on BBC1, before becoming a correspondent for BBC Panorama.
Early life
Kenyon grew up in Bury, Lancashire and Penn, Buckinghamshire. He attended the Royal Grammar School, High Wycombe and then Bury Grammar School where he played 1st XV rugby and captained the athletics team. He was raised as a Unitarian, but his family would sometimes attend Quaker meeting houses. Kenyon was an obsessive follower of The Clash. At a gig in Blackburn he once sang on stage beside Joe Strummer before being dragged away and beaten by security.
Career
Kenyon was Parliamentary Research Assistant to Lib Dem MP Simon Hughes from 1987-1988. He then worked as a reporter at a succession of Independent Radio Stations; Viking Radio in Hull, Red Rose in Preston, Piccadilly in Manchester, before becoming a producer at BBC Greater London Radio where he was a contemporary of Chris Evans, Danny Baker and Tommy Vance. After a spell as a political reporter for the BBC at Millbank, Kenyon became BBC South’s Political Correspondent in 1993, and their Home Affairs Correspondent in 1994. It was during that time he became interested in investigative filmmaking and was given his own mini-series called "Open to Question" where he exposed criminals and confronted them on camera. In 1996 Kenyon became a BBC News correspondent based at TV Centre in Shepherd’s Bush, but after a year was offered his own investigative series again, this time on BBC 2, called "Raising the Roof". It continued for two series, until Kenyon was offered his own prime time series on BBC1 – "Kenyon Confronts" which ran from 2001-2003. The show used secret filming and dramatic confrontations to expose criminals. Kenyon famously stopped a sham wedding just as the couple were making their vows, and faked his own funeral in Haiti during an investigation into insurance fraud. Kenyon then moved to BBC Panorama where his work began to encompass human rights, international conflicts and, in particular, Africa. In 2009 he was named Specialist Journalist of the Year by the Royal Television Society for a series of Panorama programmes on the dangerous migration route out of sub-Saharan Africa into Europe. At the same time he attacked tabloid newspapers for their "willful misreporting" of migration issues. In 2011 he covered the war in Libya, confronting Gaddafi’s son, Saadi, about the shooting of unarmed protestors, for which he won "Best Current Affairs Documentary – Middle East" from the Association of International Broadcasters. Back home, in 2012 Kenyon was awarded a BAFTA for a Panorama exposing the abuse of patients at a care home in Bristol; "Undercover Care; The Abuse Exposed." In March 2014, Kenyon witnessed Russia’s annexation of Crimea, and reported for Panorama from the fighting in Eastern Ukraine. Kenyon’s first book, "I am Justice; a journey out of Africa" was published in 2009. The BBC’s Fergal Keane described it as "a beautiful book which carries the agony and hope of Africa in every page." Kenyon was also a contributing author to the 2011 book "Investigative Journalism; Dead or Alive." In 2018, he published the book 'Dictatorland: The Men Who Stole Africa', chosen by the Financial Times as one of the books of the year 2018. After making a programme which exposed the abuse of patients in Indian drug trials, Kenyon accepted an invitation to become patron of The Aware Foundation which helps educate underprivileged children in India, a role he shares with John Wright, the former coach of the Indian cricket team.
Family
Kenyon is married to Flavia Kenyon, the only Romanian-speaking criminal barrister in the UK. His father, Neville Kenyon, stood in the 1997 General Election for the Liberal Democrats in Bury North; he was defeated by the Labour candidate, David Chaytor, who became the first MP to be sentenced following the Parliamentary expenses scandal of 2009. Kenyon Snr later became President of the Unitarian General Assembly. His mother Betty Kenyon was awarded the British Empire Medal for services to charity in 2017. She is a retired teacher and the daughter of Vincent Ashworth, the pioneer of Bury Black Puddings.
