Justin Webb Keynote Speaker

One of the BBC’s leading broadcasters, Justin Webb joined Radio 4’s Today Programme in September 2009.

Between 2001 and 2009 he was based in Washington DC. As the BBC’s North America Editor, he led the BBC’s coverage of the 2008 US Presidential elections, and Barack Obama’s first moves as America’s 44th President. Justin was the first non-American journalist to interview President Obama in the White House.

Justin is the author of several books. In 2011, he published Notes on Them and Us: From the Mayflower to Obama – the British, the Americans and the essential relationship (Short Books Ltd). Here, he argues that there is a fault line in the long-standing marriage between these two great nations; a cultural divide that separates us. For Justin, recognising this divide, even celebrating it, is the key to a rich future collaboration. His latest book, Cheers, America: How an Englishman Learned to Love America (Atria Books), was published in 2013.

Justin joined the BBC as a graduate trainee in 1984 working for BBC Radio Ulster, before becoming a foreign affairs correspondent, reporting on the Gulf War, the collapse of the Soviet Union and the first democratic elections in South Africa. From 1998 to 2001 Justin worked as the BBC’s Europe Correspondent, reporting on the politics surrounding Britain’s decision on whether to join the single currency and the enlargement of the European Union.

As a leading news anchor, Justin has interviewed many senior politicians including former UK Prime Minister John Major and UK Prime Minister Tony Blair.