Kirsty Wark will step down as lead presenter of Newsnight after the next election, the BBC has announced.
Wark, who celebrated her 30th anniversary with the programme on Thursday, will continue presenting for the BBC on documentaries as well as on programmes such as The Reunion and Start the Week on Radio 4.
“It is an enormous privilege to be involved in such a rigorous, creative programme with a wonderful, talented bunch of colleagues,” Wark said in a statement. “There’s not a day when I don’t look forward to coming to the office, and every day I learn something from the team about all manner of things, from aspects of American foreign policy to how to make a great mojito.”
Wark said she spoke with the BBC director general, Tim Davie, and the Newsnight editor Stewart Maclean last year about her desire to leave after the next election.
“Generations of Newsnight viewers have benefited from Kirsty’s authority, her razor-sharp insight and her journalistic flair,” Davie said. “She sets the standard for engaging yet authoritative presenting. I speak on behalf of the whole BBC when I thank her for the past 30 years.”
Here at Newsnight we’re celebrating the 30th anniversary of @KirstyWark’s first programme as presenter, with a classy cake to mark the moment.
— Stewart Maclean (@stewartmaclean) October 19, 2023
Working with Kirsty is an absolute joy - she’s one of the longest serving presenters in news and definitely one of the nicest pic.twitter.com/92fHYizITK
Former colleagues praised Wark on X, formerly known as Twitter. Matthew Harris, the editor of LBC’s Tonight with Andrew Marr, called her a “brilliant and formidable journalist with boundless compassion and warmth”.
He said: “She is truly one of the kindest most supportive colleagues you could ever wish for. It was a dream come true to work with her and she didn’t disappoint.”
Lewis Goodall, presenter of The News Agents podcast, called Wark one of the very best TV presenters in history and “a trailblazer at that”. He said that when he worked with Wark on Newsnight, she was “fizzing with ideas every day, putting colleagues 35 years younger to shame”.
Ailbhe Rea, the host of Politico Europe’s Westminster Insider podcast, said: “The first time I did Newsnight, Kirsty Wark gave me a little wink before we went on air. Such a lovely lady and broadcasting legend.”
After joining Newsnight in 1993, Wark reported and presented from Scotland after the 1996 Dunblane massacre, and in the US she interviewed victims of the Cleveland kidnapper Ariel Castro. In her 30 years with the programme, she has covered eight UK prime ministers.
Wark said that after her departure she would be focusing on finishing her third novel. “When the time comes [to leave], it will be a massive wrench,” Wark said. “[But] there are exciting times ahead.”
