Andreas Whittam Smith, the co-founder of the Independent newspaper and a former president of the British Board of Film Classification, has died aged 88.
Whittam Smith was also the first editor of the Independent and served as first church estates commissioner, the senior lay member of the Church of England, from 2002 to 2017.
A family spokesperson said: “It is with great sadness that we announce the passing of Andreas Whittam Smith, co-founder of the Independent newspaper, on 29 November 2025, aged 88.
“He was surrounded by his family until the end and will be dearly missed.
“He is survived by his wife, Valerie; two sons, Benedict and Mark; and three grandsons.”
Much of Whittam Smith’s early career was spent in financial journalism, working at the Stock Exchange Gazette, the Financial Times and the Times. He went on to hold senior roles at the Daily Telegraph, the Guardian, the Investors Chronicle and the Stock Exchange Gazette.
In 1986, together with Stephen Glover and Matthew Symonds – journalists he had worked with at the Daily Telegraph – he launched the Independent, serving as its first editor until 1994.
In 1998, he was appointed president of the British Board of Film Classification. There, according to the Independent, his achievements included allowing A Clockwork Orange and The Exorcist to be released on home video. He suggested that, one day, film classifications would disappear altogether.
Whittam Smith was made a Commander of the Order of the British Empire in 2023 for services to the film industry, and was knighted in 2015 “for public service, particularly to the Church of England”.
In July 2017, he was awarded the Canterbury Cross for services to the Church of England by the then archbishop of Canterbury, Justin Welby.
Whittam Smith was born in Cheshire in June 1937. In 1940, his family moved to Birkenhead when his father, a vicar, took over a Wirral dockland parish. He was educated at Birkenhead school and studied philosophy, politics and economics at Keble College, Oxford. After national service, he worked at a stockbroking firm before making the move into journalism.
Amol Rajan, the BBC journalist and another former editor of the Independent, posted on Instagram that he was “so sad” to hear of Whittam Smith’s death, calling him a “radical” and “pioneer”.
“During boozy lunches, he was cerebral, ethereal, tough, kind,” he said. “Elsewhere, he was a financial regulator, film censor, and knight.
“Andreas profoundly transformed British journalism for the better, and forever. With his passing, a titan – and the golden era he personified – has ventured to the great newsroom in the sky.”
He added: “The Independent was the zeitgeist made print … It always zigged where others zagged.”
The Independent’s editor-in-chief, Geordie Greig, said staff past and present were “deeply saddened” to hear of Whittam Smith’s death.
“His zeal for journalism caught the imagination of the whole nation and established a global brand which has never stopped fighting for journalism that wasn’t beholden to entrenched political or economic interests,” he said.
