Stephen Sackur

Author, journalist and presenter

For the past 18 years Stephen Sackur has been the presenter of HARDtalk, BBC News' flagship current affairs interview programme. Over the past 18 years Stephen has interviewed many high-profile guests including Mikhail Gorbachev, Hugo Chavez, Shimon Peres, and Emmanuel Macron. In November 2010, Stephen was awarded the ‘International TV Personality of the Year Award’ by the Association of International Broadcasters. 

Before taking over HARDtalk, Stephen was a BBC foreign correspondent based in Cairo, Jerusalem, Washington DC and Brussels. 

While in the US, he interviewed Presidents Bill Clinton and George W. Bush, covered the US Presidential Election in 2000, the Lewinsky scandal and Clinton impeachment trial. He led the BBC's coverage of the 9/11 attack on America from Washington. 

Stephen is a graduate of Cambridge and Harvard Universities and has honorary doctorates from Warwick University and the Geneva School of International Diplomacy. His book 'On the Basra Road' was published in 1991. He is currently writing another book to be published by Headline Press in 2026