Robbie Gibb

Sir Robert Paul Gibb (born September 1964), known as Robbie Gibb, is a British public relations professional and former political advisor and broadcast journalist.

He is the brother of Nick Gibb, the former Conservative Member of Parliament (MP) for Bognor Regis and Littlehampton. After graduating from Royal Holloway, University of London, he pursued a career as a journalist with his first role as a political researcher at the BBC. He then became chief of staff for Conservative MP Francis Maude in the late 1990s. Gibb returned to the BBC in 2002 as the deputy political editor of ''Newsnight'' and went on to edit various television programmes including ''Daily Politics'', ''The Andrew Marr Show'', and '' This Week''.

Gibb was Prime Minister Theresa May's Downing Street Director of Communications between 2017 and 2019. Gibb then became a senior advisor for the public relations consultancy Kekst CNC. He joined the BBC Board as a non-executive director in 2021.

Early life and education

Robert Paul Gibb was born in September 1964. He grew up in the West Yorkshire cities of Leeds and Wakefield. Gibb studied Economics and Public Administration at Royal Holloway, University of London. In his youth, Gibb and his brother Nick were recruited and trained by the National Alliance of Russian Solidarists, a right-wing Russian anticommunist organisation. They acted as "couriers" and pretended to be tourists in Moscow in order to smuggle letters from dissidents out of Russia.

Career

After graduation, Gibb joined the BBC as a political researcher including for the television programme '' On the Record''. He left this role, soon after his brother Nick had been elected as Conservative MP for Bognor Regis and Littlehampton, to become Conservative MP and shadow chancellor Francis Maude's chief of staff. He served in this role until 2000. Gibb then joined Maude in supporting Michael Portillo's unsuccessful campaign to become leader in the 2001 Conservative Party leadership election.

He returned to the BBC in 2002 as deputy editor of the news and current affairs television programme ''Newsnight''. Gibb left this role to become the organisation's political editor for various programmes including ''Daily Politics'', ''The Andrew Marr Show'', and '' This Week'' as well coverage of the Budget. He was also editor of live political events including ''The Great Debate'' during the 2016 EU referendum campaign. Gibb is a prominent supporter of Brexit.

In 2017, Gibb returned to politics by becoming Conservative Prime Minister Theresa May's Downing Street Director of Communications. He was succeeded by Lee Cain after Boris Johnson became prime minister in 2019.

He was appointed a Knight Bachelor in May's resignation honours on 10 September 2019 for political and public service. Gibb then became a senior advisor for global strategic communications consultancy Kekst CNC which is part of the French public relations firm Publicis Groupe.

In 2020, he led a successful consortium bid to buy ''The Jewish Chronicle''. The consortium's bid was backed by journalist Sir William Shawcross, former Labour MP John Woodcock, and journalist John Ware. Gibb has refused to say who funded the consortium bid, believed to be around £3.5 million. In his declaration of interest on the BBC website, Gibb stated that he owned a 100 per cent holding in Jewish Chronicle Media. Alan Rusbridger, writing in ''The Independent'', made the point that, "the BBC board’s own website commits them to 'submit themselves to whatever scrutiny is appropriate to their office'. They should restrict information 'only when the wider public interest clearly demands'." Rusbridger continued by saying that Gibb had "flatly ignored my questions about his role as the sole named director of the ''JC''. Nor will he tell anyone whose money is behind the paper he 'owns. According to former ''Chronicle'' journalist Lee Harpin, Gibb made a habit of popping into the office and checking what stories were topping the news list; Harpin was told the new owners wanted more views "well to the right of the Tory party". According to Harpin, Gibb interviewed candidates for a senior editor position and appointed Jake Wallis Simons.

Gibb departed as a director of the ''Chronicle'' on August 20, 2024, passing ownership to Jonathan Kandel, a fellow consortium member, and the ex-Labour peer Lord Austin of Dudley. The people ultimately responsible for the company’s debts remained unknown. Gibb retained sole directorship of "The JC Media and Culture Preservation Initiative", a community interest company sharing a correspondence address with ''The Jewish Chronicle''.

Gibb described himself as a "Thatcherite Conservative". He was an editorial advisor for GB News prior to its launch in 2021. Gibb also advised the government in 2021 on the publication of the Commission on Race and Ethnic Disparities report.

Gibb joined the BBC Board in May 2021 as the Member for England for a three-year term. His appointment was supported by Conservative Party political advisor Dougie Smith, who according to journalist Tim Shipman, "pressed for months" for him to become part of the Board. Smith and Gibb are close friends since their time as members of the Federation of Conservative Students. He is known as a "right-of-centre voice" on the board. According to the ''Financial Times'', he reportedly attempted to block Jess Brammar's appointment as BBC executive news editor in July 2021. He had allegedly sent a text message to Director, News & Current Affairs Fran Unsworth that urged her not to "make this appointment" as it would shatter the government's "fragile trust in the BBC". A source close to Gibb denied that he sent the message. Deputy Labour Party Leader Angela Rayner called for his resignation, saying it was "Tory cronyism at the heart of the BBC".

In August 2022, former BBC presenter Emily Maitlis stated that Gibb was an "active agent of the Conservative party" who played a significant role in determining the nature of the corporation's news output. A freedom of information request to the BBC for "mailcommunications where he ibbhas sought to reprimand after a broadcast or article he disagreed with, educate BBC staff on impartiality, or be informed of output before its publication" has been refused by the BBC on the grounds of cost. The refusal came in April 2023, three-and-a-half months after the initial request.

In September 2024, after ''The Jewish Chronicle'' was forced to apologise for publishing a string of fabricated stories about the Gaza war, Alan Rusbridger queried how Gibb could, as a member of the BBC's editorial guidelines and standard committee, sit on a panel and participate in an upcoming review of the impartiality of the BBC’s war coverage.

Personal life

Gibb is married to Liz and they have two daughters.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Gibb, Robbie
Living people
British political consultants
Conservative Party (UK) people
Knights Bachelor
British journalists
BBC newsreaders and journalists
1964 births
Place of birth missing (living people)
BBC Board members