Andreas Whittam Smith

Who is Andreas Whittam Smith?

Andreas Whittam Smith CBE is an English financial journalist, who was one of the founders of The Independent newspaper which began publication in October 1986 with Whittam Smith as editor. He is a former president of the British Board of Film Classification.

The son of an Anglican clergyman in the Diocese of Chester, he moved from Macclesfield to Birkenhead in 1940. He was educated at Birkenhead School, and Keble College, Oxford. Most of his career has been spent in the City in journalism, including as city editor of The Guardian and The Daily Telegraph, and as editor of the Investors Chronicle and Stock Exchange Gazette. He was a founder and first editor of The Independent newspaper from 1986 to 1993. He still contributes articles on a regular basis.

On 6 March 2002 The Queen approved Whittam Smith's appointment as First Church Estates Commissioner. He was chairman of the Financial Ombudsman Service from 2001 to 2003. He is also a director of Independent News and Media, Vice Chairman of Tunbridge Wells Equitable Friendly Society, and a vice-president of the National Council for One Parent Families. He was appointed president of the British Board of Film Classification in 1998, instigating liberalisation of film and video censorship, a post from which he resigned in 2002. Later that year he was made a Commander of the Order of the British Empire. He has been on the Board of Trustees of The Architecture Foundation. In 1988 he was awarded an Honorary Degree by the University of Bath.