Robbie Gibb had one of the most important jobs in charge of the BBC’s political output, requiring strict impartiality. But the senior BBC executive has a Tory pedigree stretching back to the 1980s, when he helped run a young Conservative students organisation.
After graduating from Royal Holloway University, he pursued a first career as a television journalist, working as a BBC political researcher and later for the politics TV show On the Record in the 1990s.
By 1997, his brother, Nick Gibb, now a schools minister, had been elected as a Tory MP for Bognor Regis and Littlehampton. And soon afterwards, Gibb followed him into politics, becoming an official in Conservative Campaign Headquarters under the leadership of William Hague, acting as head of staff for then shadow chancellor, Francis Maude.
At the time, this wing of the party was associated with pushing for modernisation of the Conservatives and a radical break with the past, even before Theresa May gave her conference speech addressing the perception of the Tories as “the nasty party”.
However, Gibb’s spell in politics was relatively shortlived after he joined Maude in throwing his weight behind Michael Portillo’s failed leadership bid in 2001.
He subsequently took the unusual step of returning to journalism after a stint in politics, working for the BBC once more. His current LinkedIn profile makes no mention of his time in the Conservative party.
He took on a senior job as deputy editor of Newsnight, before taking charge of the Daily Politics programme presented by Andrew Neil, the chairman of the Spectator and former Sunday Times editor. As his star rose inside the broadcaster, he took over executive responsibility for the flagship Andrew Marr Show as well.
In in an interview with his old university’s website, he describes his editorship of a daily BBC political programme as “a labour of love” and his attachment to his BlackBerry making it hard for him to switch off at home.
“I’m woken every morning at 6:23am to Radio 4’s Today programme to get the very latest overnight developments in the main political stories,” he said at the time. “At 7:45am I call the office and confirm the running order for the Daily Politics before tweeting out our plans from my phone on the train (@robbiegibb).”
He is also known to be highly competitive, even at the petanque contest at his team’s annual summer party. “He just likes winning,” one insider said.
Among BBC colleagues, Gibb inspired loyalty and admiration. Rob Burley, editor of The Andrew Marr Show, said he was “very fair and good kind of boss, hugely passionate about working at the BBC and impartiality. All this stuff about it having been a problem that he’s done the job is ridiculous. Because in the job he has embodied fairness and impartiality. Of course people in political journalism have views, as everyone does, but they leave them behind at the door and Robbie is scrupulously fair, very flexible, very modern.”
Those who know Gibb, a fan of Leeds United and golf, also describe him as well-connected on the right across the Conservatives and Ukip, as well as being clubbable and good fun.
Arron Banks, the former Ukip donor, describes him in his book about the Brexit process as the a “put-upon bald-headed BBC executive... [who] once amused guests at a Westminster party by getting physical with a cardboard cutout of Margaret Thatcher”. It maybe an anecdote that Gibb will hope is not too frequently repeated.
