Beth Rigby

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Beth Rigby
Born
Elizabeth Frances Rigby

19 February 1976 (1976-02-19) (age 45)[1]
Colchester, England
EducationBeaconsfield High School
Alma mater
Occupation
  • Political editor
  • Political correspondent
  • News reporter
Years active2000–present
EmployerSky News (2016-present)
Partner(s)Angelo Acanfora[1]
Children2

Elizabeth Frances Rigby (born 19 February 1976) is a British journalist. She has worked for Sky News since 2016 and became their political editor on 12 April 2019.[2] Rigby has previously worked as a newspaper journalist for the Financial Times and The Times.[3]

Early life and education[]

Rigby was born in Colchester, England. She grew up in Buckinghamshire, and attended Beaconsfield High School, a girls' grammar school. Her father was a businessman and her mother was a headteacher.[4] Rigby graduated with a first in social and political science from Fitzwilliam College, Cambridge.[4][5] She went on to gain a master's degree in economics and development studies from the Institute of Latin American Studies at the University of London.[4]

Career[]

After graduation, Rigby spent a period of time teaching English in Portugal[6] before joining the Financial Times as a graduate trainee in 1998.[7] Her roles at the newspaper included hedge fund correspondent, retail correspondent and consumer industries editor before becoming chief political correspondent in 2010 and deputy political editor in January 2013.[3] She joined The Times in 2015 as media editor before moving to Sky News in 2016, initially as senior political correspondent before being promoted in July 2018 to deputy political editor.[3][8] In February 2019 she was appointed Political Editor and took up the post on 12 April 2019, replacing Faisal Islam who joined BBC News as economics editor.[2]

In December 2020, Rigby was criticised for breaching London's tier 2 coronavirus restrictions by attending a restaurant to celebrate the birthday of Sky presenter Kay Burley and was taken off air until March 2021.[9][10]

Personal life[]

She is married to Angelo Acanfora[1] and they have two children. Her husband worked as a graphic designer but became a stay-at-home dad in 2016.[6]

Her mother died of lung cancer at the age of 62, and her brother Alex died of thymic carcinoma at the age of 42.[4]

References[]

  1. ^ a b c "Rigby, Elizabeth Frances, (born 19 Feb. 1976), Political Editor, Sky News, since 2019 | WHO'S WHO & WHO WAS WHO". www.ukwhoswho.com. Oxford University Press. doi:10.1093/ww/9780199540884.013.U293262.
  2. ^ a b Mayhew, Freddy (4 February 2019). "Beth Rigby named next Sky News political editor". Press Gazette.
  3. ^ a b c Greenslade, Roy (22 July 2015). "FT's Beth Rigby is appointed media editor of the Times". The Guardian. Retrieved 5 February 2019.
  4. ^ a b c d "Sky's Beth Rigby: The woman shaking up Westminster". Royal Television Society. May 2019. Retrieved 2 September 2019.
  5. ^ "Congregation of the Regent House on 12 May 2001". University of Cambridge. Retrieved 2 September 2019.
  6. ^ a b Butter, Susannah (4 May 2019). "Beth Rigby says Laura Kuenssberg is like a racehorse – and she's more like a pit pony – 'she is willowy and tall, I'm short and stocky'". Belfast Telegraph. Retrieved 19 July 2019.
  7. ^ Aspinall, Georgia (21 June 2020). "Meet Beth Rigby: The Woman Holding Power To Account". Grazia. Retrieved 21 June 2020.
  8. ^ Mayhew, Freddy (31 July 2018). "Telegraph's Kate McCann joins Sky News politics team as Sky's Beth Rigby promoted to deputy political editor". Press Gazette. Retrieved 5 February 2019.
  9. ^ "Sky News presenter Kay Burley breaks Covid rules". The Independent. 8 December 2020. Retrieved 8 December 2020.
  10. ^ "Kay Burley: Sky News presenter apologises for Covid breach". BBC News. 8 December 2020. Retrieved 8 December 2020.
Media offices
Preceded by Political Editor of Sky News
2019–present 		Incumbent
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