29 Facts About Guto Harri

Guto Harri is a Welsh broadcaster, writer and strategic communications consultant.

Guto Harri worked at News International from 2012 to 2015, Liberty Global from 2016 to 2017, Hanover Communications from 2018 to 2020, and Hawthorn Advisors from 2020 to 2022.

In May 2021, Harri joined GB News as a presenter; he was suspended and subsequently resigned in July 2021 after he took the knee on air.

In February 2022, Guto Harri was appointed Downing Street Director of Communications by Prime Minister Johnson, following the resignation of Jack Doyle, and left the post in September 2022.

Guto Harri was born in Cardiff to writer and psychiatrist Harri Pritchard-Jones and Lenna.

Guto Harri then undertook a postgraduate course in broadcast journalism at Cardiff University.

Guto Harri started his career in Welsh-language radio before moving into network radio and television.

Guto Harri remained a regular contributor on the S4C news programme Newyddion as well as on a number of historical documentaries for S4C.

Guto Harri later presented a number of BBC Wales' main election programmes.

Guto Harri 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.

Guto Harri covered the collapse of communism in Romania, Czechoslovakia and East Germany before reporting on the Gulf War from Saudi Arabia, Jordan and northern Iraq.

Guto Harri became the BBC's chief political correspondent in November 2002 and presented the weekly interview programme, One To One.

Guto Harri 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.

Guto Harri was appointed as a trustee of S4C in 2014, and he was a member of the S4C Authority from 2014 to 2018.

In May 2021, it was announced that Guto Harri would be joining GB News as co-host of a weekly news and discussion programme.

On 13 July 2021, Guto Harri took the knee on GB News to show support for the England football team's kneeling for anti-racism; following backlash from viewers, GB News suspended him indefinitely for failing to maintain the editorial standards expected by the network.

Guto Harri joined News UK in May 2012 as a director of communications and corporate affairs, but left in December 2015, remarking that he was leaving with the "job done" after the fallout over phone hacking at the company.

Guto Harri then joined Virgin Media owner Liberty Global in February 2016 as their managing director of external communications.

In May 2018, Guto Harri took a part-time role with London PR firm Hanover Communications as a vice president, for GQ magazine as a contributing political editor, and for Hydro Industries, a water treatment company based in Llanelli where he is a director.

Guto Harri was a board director of Hawthorn Advisors, a communications consultancy based in London and co-founded by Conservative Party co-chair Ben Elliot in 2013.

Guto Harri personally met with top executives from Huawei, including the company's vice-president, in 2020.

Guto Harri was critical of Boris Johnson over alleged parties in Downing Street and Westminster during COVID-19 lockdowns, although he has argued that people were losing their "sense of perspective" over the controversy.

Guto Harri left his Director of Communications post on 6 September 2022, the same day that Johnson resigned as Prime Minister.

Guto Harri married his wife, Shireen, in 2000 and has three children.

In 2005, Guto Harri published an advert in the Western Mail seeking a Welsh-speaking nanny for their two children while he worked for the BBC in New York, in which he argued for the importance of the language in bringing up his children.

Guto Harri is a non-executive board member for the Hay Festival.

Guto Harri was previously a trustee for UK-based cultural non-governmental organisation Visiting Arts.

Guto Harri is trained and serves as a volunteer crew member on the River Thames for the Royal National Lifeboat Institution.

Guto Harri holds an honorary doctorate from the University of South Wales.