Steve Richards


Steve Richards is a British TV presenter and political columnist, who has written columns for the Guardian, Independent, New Statesman and Spectator. He regularly presents Radio 4's Week in Westminster and hosts a one-man show, Rock N Roll Politics.

Early life

Richards was educated at Christ's College, formerly a state grammar school, in Finchley, North London, and graduated in History at the University of York in 1981 before securing a place on a journalism course at the London College of Printing.

Journalism career

Richards worked in local radio and regional TV in Newcastle, before becoming a BBC political correspondent in 1990. In 1996, he became Political Editor for the New Statesman while continuing to present on radio and TV. In 2000, he became a political columnist at The Independent and Independent on Sunday.
Richards presented GMTV's The Sunday Programme, BBC Two's Despatch Box and BBC Radio 4's Week in Westminster.
In early 2017, he presented a series of television talks on modern Prime Ministers entitled Leadership Reflections, with episodes about Harold Wilson, Margaret Thatcher, Tony Blair, Gordon Brown and David Cameron, broadcast on BBC Parliament.
In late 2017, Richards presented another series of reflections, this time on major political "Turning Points". There are six episodes and they are about the following topics: the 1979 general election; the rise of the SDP; the death of John Smith; the financial crash of 2008; the Brexit referendum; and the 2017 general election. They were first broadcast on BBC Parliament from 7–12 November.
In 2018, he presented another series of episodes for BBC Parliament, entitled Reflections: The Prime Ministers We Never Had, which profiled Rab Butler, Denis Healey, Tony Benn, Roy Jenkins, Neil Kinnock, Michael Heseltine, Kenneth Clarke, Michael Portillo, and David Miliband and Ed Miliband.

Personal life

Richards lives in North London with his partner and two children.