Robert Peston
Boards are now making capital, hiring and investment decisions inside a UK political economy that no longer behaves predictably. Fiscal policy, regulation, party direction and public mood can move on a single set of numbers or a single by-election. Leadership teams need a clear, named read on what is actually happening in Westminster and the Treasury, not commentary stitched together from headlines.
Robert Peston is ITV’s Political Editor and a former BBC Business and Economics Editor who helps senior leaders read UK politics, public finances and economic policy with the judgement of a journalist who has covered every major British economic story of the last two decades.
Full Profile
Why organisations work with Robert Peston
- He is one of a very small group of UK journalists who have held the top political and economic editorial roles at both the BBC and ITV, and senior banking and political roles at the Financial Times. Few speakers can map Westminster and the City from the inside in the same conversation.
- He broke the Northern Rock liquidity story in September 2007; the scoop Press Gazette ranks among the greatest in British journalism. Boards get a speaker who has personally reported the front edge of the UK financial crisis, not a commentator describing it.
- His co-authored 2024 book, How To Run Britain, sets out a specific reform programme for the UK economy and state. He arrives with a published thesis, not a generic talk.
- He brings a current, weekly read on the government, the opposition and the markets, drawn from his ITV programme Peston and the podcast The Rest Is Money. Briefings are framed for what leadership teams need to decide next quarter, not for general interest.
- He founded Speakers for Schools, now Futures For All, which has placed thousands of senior speakers into UK state schools. Organisations working with him are working with a journalist who has built an institution.
Biography highlights
- ITV Political Editor and presenter of Peston on ITV.
- Former BBC Business Editor, 2006 to 2014, and BBC Economics Editor, 2014 to 2015.
- Former Financial Times Political Editor, Banking Editor and founder of the FT investigations unit.
- Co-host with Steph McGovern of The Rest Is Money, a leading UK business and economics podcast.
- Author of seven books, including Who Runs Britain?, WTF?, The Whistleblower and How To Run Britain (with Kishan Koria, 2024).
- Founder of Speakers for Schools, rebranded Futures For All in 2025.
- Royal Television Society Journalist of the Year, Specialist Journalist of the Year and twice winner of Scoop of the Year; Wincott Prize winner for financial journalism.
Biography
The Northern Rock emergency loan from the Bank of England was reported on the BBC on 13 September 2007. The reporter on the story was Robert Peston, then Business Editor of the BBC, and Press Gazette later listed the scoop as one of the greatest in British journalism. It is the moment that defined a career already deep inside UK banking and government.
Peston’s editorial track record is unusually broad for a UK journalist. He has held the top business and economics roles at the BBC, the Political Editor and Banking Editor roles at the Financial Times, and now the Political Editor role at ITV, where he also presents the weekly programme Peston. With Steph McGovern, he co-hosts The Rest Is Money, one of the most-listened-to business podcasts in the UK.
The published work matters. Seven books, including Who Runs Britain?, How Do We Fix This Mess?, WTF? and the 2024 reform programme, How To Run Britain, written with Kishan Koria, set out a clear and specific argument about how the British government, banking and public finances need to change. He is one of the few national broadcast journalists who has paired live reporting with a substantive policy thesis.
Outside journalism, he founded Speakers for Schools, now Futures For All, which has placed senior business, political and cultural figures into thousands of UK state-school talks since 2010. The Royal Television Society named him Journalist of the Year and Specialist Journalist of the Year for his coverage of the credit crunch; he has also won the Wincott Prize for financial journalism. He is among the very few UK speakers who can describe the British political economy from inside the BBC, ITV, the FT and the Treasury press lobby.
Key speaking topics
- UK political and economic outlook
- Westminster, government and policy direction
- Banking, financial regulation and financial crisis
- Public finances, tax and fiscal policy
- Inequality and the social contract in Britain
- Geopolitics and UK exposure
- Leadership in political and institutional reform
Ideal for
- Boards and executive teams setting UK capital allocation, hiring and investment plans
- Banking, asset management and insurance leadership audiences
- Public affairs, policy and government relations leads
- Annual conferences seeking a senior, named UK political and economic read
Audience outcomes
- A current, named read on the UK government, the opposition and the likely policy direction
- A clear view of where banking, fiscal and regulatory risk sits for UK-exposed organisations
- An informed sense of the political and social pressures shaping the British economy
- Direct answers to leadership questions through Q and A with a working political editor