24 Facts About Mark Byford

Mark Julian Byford was born on 13 June 1958 and was Deputy Director-General of the BBC and head of BBC journalism from 2004 to 2011.

Mark Byford chaired the BBC Journalism Board and was a member of the BBC Executive Board for thirteen years.

Mark Byford's responsibilities included BBC Sport, the nations and regions and editorial policy.

Mark Byford led the BBC-wide coverage of the general elections in 2005 and 2010; the Beijing Olympic Games in 2008; and the BBC coverage of the Queen Mother's Funeral in 2002 and the Royal Wedding in 2011.

Mark Byford established and chaired the Complaints Management Board, which oversaw the handling of complaints across the BBC.

Mark Byford was in overall charge of the BBC's planning for the London 2012 Olympic Games as chair of the London 2012 Steering Group.

On 12 October 2010 it was announced that Mark Byford had accepted voluntary redundancy.

Mark Byford stood down from the Executive Board in March 2011 and left the corporation in June 2011.

Mark Byford is currently a lay canon and member of the chapter at Winchester Cathedral.

Mark Byford is a governor at the University of Winchester; a trustee of the Winchester Hospice fundraising charity; and a trustee of Play to the Crowd, the charity that runs Winchester Theatre Royal and the Hat Fair.

Mark Byford was made a vice president of the RNLI in 2019 in recognition of his outstanding contribution to the charity whilst a trustee from 2012 to 2019, where he was chair of the audit and risk committee, and previously chair of the fundraising and communications committee.

Mark Byford spent his early years living around the West Riding of Yorkshire, where his father, Sir Lawrence Byford, served as a policeman.

Mark Byford was educated at Lincoln School which later became Lincoln Christ's Hospital Comprehensive School.

Mark Byford returned to West Yorkshire in 1976, studying law at the University of Leeds, where he was president of Devonshire Hall.

Mark Byford joined the BBC's board of management in 1996 as Director, Regional Broadcasting, responsible for the BBC's activities in the UK outside London.

Mark Byford was appointed by the Board of Governors as Acting Director-General, a role that he undertook for five months.

Mark Byford was a first board member of the joint industry radio research body, RAJAR, in the early 1990s and was a board member of BARB, the television audience research body.

Mark Byford was a trustee of the Children in Need charity from 1992 to 1996.

On 12 October 2010 it was announced Mark Byford was leaving the corporation after thirty-two years and the Deputy Director-General post closed as part of the BBC's cutbacks in senior management costs.

Mark Byford is married to Hilary Bleiker, whom he met whilst at Leeds University where she studied English, and they have five adult children, two sons and three daughters.

Mark Byford was awarded an honorary Doctor of Law degree by the University of Leeds in 2008.

Mark Byford has been a lay canon and member of chapter at Winchester Cathedral since 2017.

Mark Byford has been a governor of the University of Winchester since 2014; a trustee of the Winchester Hospice Fundraising Charity since 2018; and a trustee of Play to the Crowd, the charity that runs Winchester Theatre Royal and the Hat Fair, since 2018.

Mark Byford was made a vice president of the RNLI in 2019 in recognition of his outstanding contribution as a trustee from 2012 to 2019.