Anna Ford

Anna Ford (born 2 October 1943) is a British retired journalist, television presenter and newsreader. She first worked as a researcher, news reporter and later newsreader for Granada Television, ITN, and the BBC. Ford helped launch the British breakfast television broadcaster TV-am. She retired from broadcast news presenting in April 2006 and was a non-executive director of Sainsbury's until the end of 2012. Ford now lives in her home town of Tewkesbury, Gloucestershire.

Early life Ford was born in Tewkesbury, Gloucestershire, to parents who were both West End actors. Her father, John, had declined an offer from Samuel Goldwyn to work in Hollywood, and her mother, Jean (née Winstanley; sister of MP and broadcaster Michael Winstanley, Baron Winstanley) had worked with Alec Guinness. Her father later became ordained as an Anglican priest and took Ford and her four brothers to live at Eskdale in the Lake District. She went to primary school at St Ursula's School, Wigton, then to The Nelson Thomlinson Grammar School, Wigton, where she was a contemporary of Melvyn Bragg. After her father became the parish priest at St Martin's Church in Brampton she moved to the White House Grammar School. She also attended Minehead Grammar School in Somerset and lived in nearby Wootton Courtenay.

Ford received a BA degree in economics from the Victoria University of Manchester and was president of the university's students' union from 1966 to 1967.

Career Ford worked as a teacher for four years, including teaching Provisional Irish Republican Army prisoners at Her Majesty's Prison Maze in Northern Ireland for two years. She joined the BBC in January 1977, but only after several months as security clearance from MI5 was required because she was then living with a former communist. This led to her BBC personnel file being marked with a "Christmas tree" symbol. Ford subsequently worked on Man Alive and Tomorrow's World.

In February 1978, Ford moved to ITN, and briefly faced legal threats from the BBC for breaking her contract. Future colleague Reginald Bosanquet said at the time: "I have never been averse to working with ladies ... I do not know Anna but I have heard that she is a very competent and professional lady", Her tenure at TV-am was short lived in part due to fierce competition from the BBC's casually styled Breakfast Time. The loss of viewers resulted in a relaunch which was perceived as "dumbing-down" of the station, and only three months after the station's launch, Ford was dismissed from TV-am partly due to her on-air support for chairman Peter Jay (who had already resigned) and partly because she refused to stand down from Good Morning Britain when the ratings slumped.

Ford re-joined the BBC in summer 1986, firstly to cover for Wogan in June, and other minor roles. From January 1987 Anna was given her own programme "Network" in which member of the public were able discusses issues with BBC management. In October 1987, Ford became a television presenter for the government-sponsored training scheme Open College. She became part of the presentation team for both BBC One's Six O'Clock News from February 1989 and the BBC Radio 4 Today in 1993. From 1999, she fronted the relaunched One O'Clock News.

On 30 October 2005, Ford announced she would retire from broadcasting in April 2006 to pursue other interests while she "still has the interest and energy". She also talked about ageism, stating:

Ford presented her last One O'Clock News on 27 April 2006, signing off by introducing a compilation of clips of her career. On 2 May 2006, J Sainsbury plc, the UK supermarket group, announced Ford was joining the company as a non-executive director. She is the Chair of Sainsbury's board's Corporate Responsibility Committee.

Academia On 17 December 2001, Ford was installed as Chancellor of the Victoria University of Manchester. When the Victoria University of Manchester merged with the University of Manchester Institute of Science and Technology (UMIST) on 1 October 2004 to create the new University of Manchester, she became its Co-Chancellor along with Sir Terry Leahy (the former Chancellor of UMIST). She completed her term and Tom Bloxham succeeded her as sole Chancellor on 1 August 2008.

On 22 April 2006, Ford received an honorary doctorate from the University of St Andrews, nominated by Sir Menzies Campbell.

Other work Ford is one of many guest hosts to have taken the chair for the satirical news quiz Have I Got News for You.

Personal life Ford had an early marriage to Alan Bittles (1970–div), although this was dissolved before her television career began. In the late 1970s, she was briefly engaged to Jon Snow, a colleague at ITN. She married the magazine editor and cartoonist Mark Boxer in 1981;

She was briefly engaged in 2000 to former astronaut David Scott, the seventh man to walk on the Moon. Ford became the subject of news stories in August 2001, when she lost a high-profile court case. She claimed unsuccessfully that photographs of her in a bikini with Scott, taken by a press photographer in Majorca with a powerful zoom lens and published in the British media, constituted an invasion of her privacy. Amis rejected her allegations in a reply, but accepted that he had been remiss in his duties as godfather.

Filmography Year Title Role Notes1982 Who Dares Wins Newscaster #1