Biography
Kate Silverton is a highly accomplished, versatile journalist and a rising star of the BBC’s next generation of exciting talent. She is currently an anchor for BBC news, presents prime time TV and has her own radio show on BBC Radio Five Live.
As an experienced conference facilitator and awards host, Kate brings a professional, charming and engaging presence to any event.
From being tear-gassed in Bethlehem and broadcasting from the frontline in Basra to figure-heading the BBC's coverage of the Oscars and the Glastonbury festival, Kate is as much at home in the war zones of the Middle East and Africa as she is rubbing shoulders with celebrities in the glitz and glamour of Los Angeles.
In the process she has established herself as the new face of BBC news, regularly presenting the One O' Clock news and BBC Breakfast. Kate was chosen to co-host BBC One’s New Year Live celebrations to welcome 2009 from HMS Belfast.
Kate is in demand to present BBC prime time documentaries, fronting Big Cat Live last year, a pioneering live broadcast and featuring in My Family at War, which traced the steps of her great grandfather.
Other prime time work includes “Ten Things You Didn’t Know About Sleep” and “The Speaker”, where Kate mentors aspiring young presenters.
She has also presented the prime time BBC One feature “Ultimate Wild Water”; winning huge acclaim for overcoming her fear of open water to tackle some of Britain’s most notorious waters by kayak.
Last year, Kate tackled the Top Gear race track in extremely wet conditions and made a guest appearance on Have I Got News For You.
Kate also introduced live coverage to celebrate 90 years of the Royal Air Force and provided the commentary for the Windsor Tattoo in the presence of Her Majesty the Queen.
Having previously worked as a corporate financier in the City, Kate made the move into journalism and won the BT Journalist of the Year Award in 1998.
Kate has developed a reputation for being warm, engaging and eclectic whilst also being hugely focused and highly professional.
It is this integrity and broad experience in both business and journalism that has enabled her to interview major political, military and show business figures, whilst also chairing conferences and debates for some of Britain’s biggest organisations such as BT, Royal Bank of Scotland, KPMG, The Royal Navy and Transport for London.
Kate graduated from the University of Durham with a BSc in Psychology. Before that she studied Arabic and Middle Eastern history for a year, fuelled by an interest in Middle East politics. This interest developed following a stay on a Kibbutz in Israel and travels with Bedouin tribesmen in Egypt.
Kate has been a keen traveller since her first expedition with Operation Raleigh (now Raleigh International) to Zimbabwe in 1990. She has subsequently travelled extensively throughout Africa and the Middle East, most recently visiting Lesotho, Uganda and Oman. These experiences, immersing herself within hugely disparate cultures around the globe, have continued to prove the driving force for her reporting from some of the most troubled and beleaguered areas of the world.
Kate is passionate about supporting charities; she has competed in the London Triathlon for SPARKS in 2005 and 2006, swan 5k for Marie Curie Cancer Care in 2007 and visited Lesotho for UNICEF’s Born Free campaign. Most recently she climbed the Three Peaks for Sport Relief.
Choosing a Speaker
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