1. Kirsteen Anne "Kirsty" Wark FRSE was born on 3 February 1955 and is a Scottish television presenter and journalist with a long career at the BBC.
36 Facts About Kirsty Wark
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Kirsty Wark's activities have included reporting on the Lockerbie bombings, hosting a book quiz and encouraging open discussion of menopause.
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Kirsty Wark's powerful, searching interview style and perceived closeness to Labour Party figures have provoked controversy.
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Kirsty Wark was named journalist of the year by BAFTA Scotland in 1993 and Best Television Presenter in 1997.
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Kirsty Wark spent the first few years of life in Castle Douglas, Kirkcudbrightshire, before moving to Kilmarnock, Ayrshire.
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Kirsty Wark's father served in the Second Battalion of the Glasgow Highlanders during the Second World War and was awarded a Military Cross for heroism during the Normandy Landings.
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Kirsty Wark studied history, specifically Scottish Studies, at the University of Edinburgh.
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Kirsty Wark joined the BBC in 1976 as a graduate researcher for BBC Radio Scotland, before promotion a year later as producer of Good Morning Scotland and current affairs programmes.
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Kirsty Wark switched to television in 1982, producing Reporting Scotland and the lunchtime political programme Agenda and current affairs series Current Account.
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Kirsty Wark then moved into presenting, fronting Reporting Scotland, Seven Days, Left, Right and Centre and Scottish Questions coverage for BBC Scotland, before moving to network television as part of the Breakfast Time presenting team.
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In 1990, Kirsty Wark demonstrated her distinctive line of questioning in an interview with Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher.
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Kirsty Wark was a presenter on BBC2 arts programme The Late Show and the heritage programme One Foot in the Past.
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Kirsty Wark has been a presenter on the BBC programme Newsnight from 1993 to 2024.
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Kirsty Wark hosted the 10th annual Glenfiddich Spirit of Scotland Awards on 30 November 2007 for STV.
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Kirsty Wark made a cameo appearance in the 2008 Doctor Who episode "The Poison Sky".
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Kirsty Wark replaced David Baddiel as host of the BBC Four programme The Book Quiz in 2008 and hosted a BBC Two quiz show, A Question of Genius, which ran from 2009 to 2010.
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Kirsty Wark participated in the 2011 series of Celebrity MasterChef where she reached the final and narrowly lost out to Phil Vickery.
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On 1 January 2012, Kirsty Wark appeared in a cameo role as herself in the revival of the BBC's Absolutely Fabulous.
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Kirsty Wark has been visible and vocal in the media about her experience of menopause and helped to raise awareness of this aspect of women's health more widely.
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Kirsty Wark has, on occasion, presented Start the Week on BBC Radio 4.
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In 2021, Kirsty Wark was one of the main presenters of the BBC's election results coverage, alongside Huw Edwards.
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Kirsty Wark presented from Edinburgh with the programme covering results from all the UK elections that took place on Thursday 6 May 2021, including the 2021 Scottish Parliament election and local council elections in England.
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On 19 October 2023 the BBC announced that Kirsty Wark would be standing down as presenter of Newsnight after the next general election.
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Kirsty Wark presented the show as normal but towards the end of the programme actor Alan Cumming and Nick Watt and others paid tributes to Wark, recognising her 30 years on the show.
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Kirsty Wark was named journalist of the year by BAFTA Scotland in 1993 and Best Television Presenter in 1997.
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Kirsty Wark was nominated for the prestigious Richard Dimbleby Award for Best Television Presenter in the BAFTAS 2000.
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Kirsty Wark was listed as one of the fifty best-dressed over 50s by The Guardian in March 2013.
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Kirsty Wark was elected a Fellow of the Royal Society of Edinburgh in March 2017.
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Kirsty Wark is regarded as being close to the Labour Party.
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In June 2007, Kirsty Wark clashed with Scottish First Minister Alex Salmond in an interview, over his response to a memorandum of understanding between the UK Government and Libya regarding prisoner exchanges.
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In October 2013, Kirsty Wark interviewed Guardian journalist Glenn Greenwald about his reporting of the NSA and GCHQ cyber-spying programs leaked by Edward Snowden.
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Kirsty Wark attracted further controversy in relation to Alex Salmond in 2020.
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In October 2023 Kirsty Wark was widely criticized when she interviewed Husam Zomlot, the head of the Palestinian Mission to the United Kingdom, a politician with no ties whatsoever to Hamas.
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Kirsty Wark has written two novels, The Legacy Of Elizabeth Pringle and The House By The Loch.
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Kirsty Wark married television producer Alan Clements was born on 1961 and on 30 September 1989, after meeting on the BBC Scotland programme Left, Right, and Centre.
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Kirsty Wark previously owned a holiday home in Alaro, Majorca, for 17 years but sold it in 2019.