Andrew Neil leaves the BBC to launch GB News channel

Andrew Neil will leave the BBC to help launch a 24-hour news channel to rival the corporation.

Mr Neil, who has been one of the BBC's top political interviewers and presented shows including Daily Politics and The Andrew Neil Show, will be the face and chairman of GB News.

The new channel, which is expected to be right-leaning, will aim to reach people who feel “underserved and unheard by their media,” Mr Neil said.

As well as being appointed chairman, broadcaster and former Sunday Times editor Mr Neil, 71, will host a flagship evening programme in primetime, leading the programming line-up.

He said: “GB News is the most exciting thing to happen in British television news for more than 20 years.

“We will champion robust, balanced debate and a range of perspectives on the issues that affect everyone in the UK, not just those living in the London area.”

Mr Neil added: “We’ve seen a huge gap in the market for a new form of television news."

“GB News is aimed at the vast number of British people who feel underserved and unheard by their media.”

The BBC thanked Mr Neil and said: "From his early broadcasting days on Despatch Box in the 1990s to his recent forensic and agenda-setting political interviews, be has proved a formidable and hugely talented broadcaster.

"For years, he was at the heart of the irreverent and much-loved This Week and played a key role in the Daily and Sunday Politics, Politics Live and the BBC's general election coverage.

"We wish Andrew every success in his new role; we're sorry the US election coverage will be his last BBC presentation work for the foreseeable future but he will always be welcome at the BBC."

At a time when the BBC and commercial media companies are cutting jobs, GB News said it hopes to create at least 120 positions.

They include more than 100 journalists in England, Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland with the channel, in which global media and entertainment company Discovery, Inc is the lead investor.

GB News will feature more than 6,500 hours of content a year, made exclusively for the channel, which has secured broadcasting licences from Ofcom.

It has been founded by media executives Andrew Cole and Mark Schneider.

They said: “Andrew Neil epitomises what GB News is all about. He’s an exceptional journalist, brilliant interviewer and fearlessly independent.”

They plan for the channel to reach 96 per cent of British television households via Freeview, Sky and Virgin Media.

GB News will broadcast seven days a week across the UK and Ireland and will be available globally on GB News digital platforms.

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