Andrew Marr quits the BBC after 21 years - 'I'm keen to get my voice back'
Andrew Marr has quit his job at the BBC after 21 years working at the broadcaster.
The journalist and presenter said he was taking a new job at Global Media.
Marr said in a statement on Twitter: "Personal announcement. After 21 years, I have decided to move on from the BBC.
"l leave behind many happy memories and wonderful colleagues.
"But from the New Year I am moving to Global to write and present political and cultural shows, and to write for newspapers.
"I think British politics and public life are going to go through an even more turbulent decade, and as I’ve said, I am keen to get my own voice back.
"I have been doing the Andrew Marr show every Sunday morning for 16 years now and that is probably more than enough time for anybody!"
His departure comes just weeks after it emerged that the BBC's political editor Laura Kuenssberg is in talks to step down from her role.
Marr, 62, has hosted The Andrew Marr Show – previously called Sunday AM – on BBC One since 2005. He joined the BBC five years earlier as political editor.
He is the second key figure in the channel's news and politics shows to step down in the past year.
Politics Live presenter Andrew Neil stepped down in September 2020, shortly after The Andrew Neil show was dropped from programming, to head up GB News.
At the time the 71-year-old journalist said he was leaving "with a heavy heart" as no other opportunities had been offered that suited him.
GB News launched in June with Neil saying it would not "slavishly follow the existing news agenda", would cover "the stories that matter to you and those that have been neglected" and deliver "a huge range of voices that reflect the views and values of our United Kingdom".
However, by September he had resigned as chairman and lead presenter at the fledgling channel.
Earlier this year Marr revealed he had felt “seriously ill” after catching COVID-19 in June, despite being double jabbed.
“Two days after my first symptoms, I began to feel seriously ill, he revealed. "I had a high temperature, muscle ache, the shakes, a bad headache and flu-like cold symptoms."
In 2013, when he was 53, Marr suffered a life-threatening stroke, which he attributed to "heavily overworking" and an intensive session on a rowing machine.
The broadcaster has also written a series of historical books alongside his role as a political interviewer.
The BBC has so far not announced his replacement.
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