View source for Andrew Neil

{{short description|Scottish journalist and broadcaster (born 1949)}}
{{about|the journalist and broadcaster|the Scottish footballer|Andy Neil (footballer)|the English cricketer|Andrew Neal}}
{{use British English|date=August 2018}}
{{use dmy dates|date=April 2021}}
{{Infobox person
| name               = Andrew Neil
| honorific_suffix   = {{post-nominals|country=GBR|size=100%|FRSA|}}
| image              = Andrew Neil at a Financial Times 2016 summer party.jpg
| alt                = Neil in profile
| caption            = Neil in 2016
| birth_name         = Andrew Ferguson Neil
| birth_date         = {{birth date and age|1949|5|21|df=y}}
| birth_place        = [[Paisley, Renfrewshire|Paisley]], [[Renfrewshire]], Scotland
| alma_mater         = [[University of Glasgow]] ([[Master of Arts (Scotland)|MA]])
| occupation         = {{hlist|Journalist|broadcaster}}
| spouse             = {{marriage|Susan Nilsson|8 August 2015}}
| credits            = {{Plainlist|
* ''[[This Week (2003 TV programme)|This Week]]'' (2003–2019)
* ''[[Daily Politics]]'' (2003–2018)
* ''[[Sunday Politics]]'' (2012–2017)
* ''[[The Economist]]'' 
* ''[[The Spectator]]''
* [[Apollo (magazine)|''Apollo'' magazine]]
* ''[[Politics Live]]'' (2018–2020)
* ''[[The Andrew Neil Show (2019 TV programme)|The Andrew Neil Show]]'' on BBC (2019–2020) 
* ''[[The Andrew Neil Show (2022 TV programme)|The Andrew Neil Show]]'' on Channel 4 (2022–2023)
}}
|module = {{infobox officeholder|embed=yes
| office             = [[Rector of the University of St Andrews|Lord Rector of the <br/> University of St Andrews]]
| term_start         = November 1999
| term_end           = October 2002
| predecessor        = [[Donald Findlay]]
| successor          = [[Clement Freud|Sir Clement Freud]]}}
}}
'''Andrew Ferguson Neil''' {{post-nominals|country=GBR|size=100%|FRSA|}} (born 21 May 1949) is a Scottish journalist and broadcaster. He has presented various political programmes on the [[BBC]] and on [[Channel 4]]. Born in [[Paisley, Renfrewshire|Paisley]], [[Renfrewshire]], Neil attended [[Paisley Grammar School]], before studying at the [[University of Glasgow]]. He entered journalism in 1973 as a correspondent for ''[[The Economist]]''.

Neil was appointed editor of ''[[The Sunday Times]]'' by [[Rupert Murdoch]] in 1983, and held this position until 1994. After that, he became a contributor to the ''[[Daily Mail]]''. He was chief executive and editor-in-chief of [[Press Holdings|Press Holdings Media Group]]. In 1988, he became founding chairman of [[Sky Television (1984–1990)|Sky TV]], also part of Murdoch's [[News Corporation]]. He worked for the BBC for 25 years until 2020, fronting various programmes, including ''[[Sunday Politics]]'' and ''[[This Week (2003 TV programme)|This Week]]'' on [[BBC One]] and ''[[Daily Politics]]'', ''[[Politics Live]]'' and ''[[The Andrew Neil Show (2019 TV programme)|The Andrew Neil Show]]'' on [[BBC Two]]. From 2008 until 2024<ref name=croft>{{Cite web |date=2024-09-10 |title=Andrew Neil steps down as Spectator chair after £100m sale to GB News investor |url=https://www.independent.co.uk/news/media/andrew-neil-spectator-chair-gb-news-paul-marshall-b2610191.html |access-date=2024-10-31 |website=The Independent |language=en| first=Alex| last=Croft}}</ref> he was the chairman of Press Holdings, whose titles include ''The Spectator'', and [[ITP Media Group]]. Following his departure from the BBC, he became founding chairman of [[GB News]] and a presenter on the channel, but resigned in September 2021. He later joined Channel 4 in 2022 as presenter of ''[[The Andrew Neil Show (2022 TV programme)|The Andrew Neil Show]]'', which shared the same name as his former BBC Two programme. In June 2024 he additionally began hosting a daily broadcast for [[Times Radio]] providing political analysis, commentary, interviews and debates.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Tobitt |first=Charlotte |date=2024-05-31 |title=Andrew Neil to start at Times Radio one month ahead of election |url=https://pressgazette.co.uk/the-wire/media-jobs-uk-news/matt-chorley-leaves-the-times-for-bbc-5-live/ |access-date=2024-06-13 |website=Press Gazette |language=en-US}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |last=Collins |first=Steve |date=2024-05-21 |title=Andrew Neil joins Times Radio to host daily show |url=https://radiotoday.co.uk/2024/05/andrew-neil-joins-times-radio-to-host-daily-show/ |access-date=2024-06-13 |website=[[RadioToday]]}}</ref>

==Early life==
Neil was born on 21 May 1949<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.theguardian.com/media/2002/jul/28/sundaytimes.comment|title=The Observer profile: Andrew Neil|date=27 July 2002|website=The Guardian}}</ref> in [[Paisley, Renfrewshire]], to Mary and James Neil.<ref>{{Citation|title=Neil, Andrew Ferguson|date=1 December 2007|url=http://www.ukwhoswho.com/view/10.1093/ww/9780199540884.001.0001/ww-9780199540884-e-29278|work=Who's Who|publisher=Oxford University Press|language=en|doi=10.1093/ww/9780199540884.013.u29278|isbn=978-0-19-954088-4|access-date=6 December 2019|url-access=subscription}}</ref> His mother worked in cotton mills during [[World War II]] and his father ran the wartime Cairo fire brigade, worked as an electrician and was a major in the [[Army Reserve (United Kingdom)|Territorial Army]] in Renfrewshire.<ref name="Riddell" /><ref name="indo">{{cite news|url=https://www.independent.co.uk/news/people/profiles/andrew-neil-i-am-a-better-journalist-than-i-am-a-businessman-6289841.html|title=Andrew Neil: 'I am a better journalist than I am a businessman'|access-date=1 May 2015|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150430123444/http://www.independent.co.uk/news/people/profiles/andrew-neil-i-am-a-better-journalist-than-i-am-a-businessman-6289841.html|archive-date=30 April 2015}}</ref><ref>Wilby, Peter (2019)  More than a spectator: the rise of Andrew Neil, The New Statesman, 17 April</ref> He grew up in the [[Glenburn, Paisley|Glenburn]] area and attended the local Langcraigs Primary School. At 11, Neil passed the qualifying examination and obtained entrance to the selective [[Paisley Grammar School]].<ref>BBC Documentary – Posh and Posher: Why Public School Boys Run Britain.  First broadcast – BBC2 January 26, 2011 at 21:00 http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b00y37gk#broadcasts {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110227000606/http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b00y37gk#broadcasts |date=27 February 2011 }}</ref>

After school, Neil attended the [[University of Glasgow]],<ref name="bbcprofile" /> where he edited the student newspaper, the ''[[Glasgow University Guardian]]'', and dabbled in student television. He was a member of the [[Glasgow University Dialectic Society|Dialectic Society]] and the [[Glasgow University Conservative Association|Conservative Club]], and participated in [[Glasgow University Union]] inter-varsity debates. In 1971, he was chairman of the [[Federation of Conservative Students]]. He graduated in 1971, with an [[Master of Arts (Scotland)|MA]] with honours in political economy and political science.<ref name="bbcprofile" /><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.biogs.com/famous/neil.html|title=Andrew Neil biography from Biogs|website=Biogs|access-date=2 February 2011|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110514091826/http://www.biogs.com/famous/neil.html|archive-date=14 May 2011|url-status=live}}</ref> He had been tutored by [[Vince Cable]] and had a focus on [[American history]].<ref>[http://www.spectator.co.uk/coffeehouse/5346501/why-vince-cable-is-not-too-sexy-for-his-party.thtml Why Vince Cable is not too sexy for his party] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100704132224/http://www.spectator.co.uk/coffeehouse/5346501/why-vince-cable-is-not-too-sexy-for-his-party.thtml |date=4 July 2010 }} ''The Spectator'', 19 September 2009</ref><ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.theguardian.com/media/2016/feb/24/huw-edwards-general-election-david-dimbleby|title=Huw Edwards to take over BBC general election role from David Dimbleby|last=Martinson|first=Jane|date=24 February 2016|work=The Guardian|access-date=20 April 2017|issn=0261-3077|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170531075705/https://www.theguardian.com/media/2016/feb/24/huw-edwards-general-election-david-dimbleby|archive-date=31 May 2017|url-status=live}}</ref>

==Press career==
After his graduation, Neil briefly worked as a sports correspondent for a local newspaper, the ''[[Paisley Daily Express]]'', before working for the [[Conservative Party (UK)|Conservative Party]]. In 1973, he joined ''[[The Economist]]'' as a correspondent and was later promoted as editor of the publication's section on Britain.

===''The Sunday Times''===
Neil was editor of ''[[The Sunday Times]]'' from 1983 to 1994. His hiring was controversial: it was argued he was appointed by [[Rupert Murdoch]] over more experienced colleagues, such as [[Hugo Young]] and [[Brian MacArthur]].<ref>Roy Greenslade ''Press Gang: How Newspapers Make Profits From Propaganda'', London: Macmillan/Pan, 2003 [2004], p.387. Greenslade uses the word "many", but cites only Paul Foot's essay "The Slow Death of Investigative Journalism" (in Stephen Glover (ed.) ''Secrets of the Press: Journalists on Journalism'' (Allen Lane, 1999), pp. 79–89, 85, as evidence.</ref>

Neil told Murdoch before he was appointed editor that ''The Sunday Times'' was intellectually stuck in a 1960s time warp and that it needed to "shake off its [[collectivist]] mind-set to become the champion of a market-led revolution that would shake the British [[The Establishment|Establishment]] to its bones and transform the economy and society".<ref name="Neil">Andrew Neil, ''Full Disclosure'' (London: Pan, 1997), p. 32.</ref> Neil later said that although he shared some of Murdoch's right-wing views, "on many matters Rupert was well to the right of me politically. He was a [[monetarist]]. I was not. Nor did I share his [[Social conservatism|conservative social outlook]]".<ref name="Neil"/> 

In his first editorial, on 9 October 1983, Neil advised [[Margaret Thatcher]]'s government to "move to the right on industrial policy (trust-bust, deregulate, privatise wherever it produces more competition and efficiency) and centre-left in economic strategy (a few billion extra in capital spending would have little impact on interest rates or inflation but could give a lift to a shaky economic recovery)".<ref>Neil, ''Full Disclosure'', pp. 65–66.</ref>

''The Sunday Times'' strongly supported the stationing of American [[cruise missile]]s in bases in Britain after the Soviet Union installed [[RSD-10 Pioneer|SS-20s]] in Eastern Europe, and it criticised the resurgent [[Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament]].<ref>Neil, ''Full Disclosure'', pp. 67–69, 75.</ref> Neil also wrote editorials supporting the [[United States invasion of Grenada]] because it would restore democracy there, despite opposition from Hugo Young. Neil replied to Young that he wanted the editorial stance of ''The Sunday Times'' to be "neo-Keynesian in economic policy, radical right in industrial policy, liberal on social matters and European and [[Atlanticist]] on foreign policy".<ref>Neil, ''Full Disclosure'', pp. 70–71.</ref> 

In Neil's first year as the paper's editor, ''The Sunday Times'' had revealed the date of the deployment of cruise missiles, exposed how [[Mark Thatcher]] had channelled the gains from his consultancy business into a bank account and reported on [[Robert Mugabe]]'s atrocities in [[Matabeleland]].<ref>Neil, ''Full Disclosure'', pp. 79–80.</ref> Neil also printed extracts from [[Germaine Greer]]'s ''Sex and Destiny'' and from [[Francis Pym]]'s anti-Thatcher autobiography, as well as a study of the "Patels of Britain", a celebration of the success of [[British Asian|Britain's Asian]] community.<ref>Neil, ''Full Disclosure'', p. 80.</ref>

Neil regards the newspaper's revelation of details of [[nuclear weapons and Israel|Israel's nuclear weapons programme]] in 1986, by using photographs and testimony from former Israeli nuclear technician [[Mordechai Vanunu]], as his greatest scoop as an editor.<ref name="bbc-20040420">{{cite news |url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/middle_east/3640613.stm |title=Vanunu: Israel's nuclear telltale |publisher=BBC News |date=20 April 2004 |access-date=17 October 2012 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170908192717/http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/middle_east/3640613.stm |archive-date=8 September 2017 |url-status=live}}</ref> During his editorship, the newspaper lost a libel case over claims that it had made concerning a witness, [[Carmen Proetta]], who was interviewed after her appearance in the ''[[Death on the Rock]]'' documentary on the [[Operation Flavius|Gibraltar shootings]]. One of ''The Sunday Times'' journalists involved, Rosie Waterhouse, resigned not long afterwards.<ref>{{cite book|last1=Bonner|first1=Paul|last2=Aston|first2=Lesley|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=DR5_DAAAQBAJ&pg=PA75|title=Independent Television in Britain: ITV and IBA 1981–92: The Old Relationship Changes|location=Basingstoke & London|publisher=Palgrave Macmillan|year=1998|page=75|isbn=978-0-230-37324-2|access-date=9 September 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170909190852/https://books.google.co.uk/books?id=DR5_DAAAQBAJ&pg=PA75&lpg=PA75|archive-date=9 September 2017|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{cite book|last=Page|first=Bruce|title=The Murdoch Archipelago|location=London|publisher=Simon & Schuster|year=2011|pages=299–300}}</ref>

On 20 July 1986, ''The Sunday Times'' printed a front-page article (titled 'Queen dismayed by "uncaring" Thatcher') alleging that the Queen believed that [[Margaret Thatcher]]'s policies were "uncaring, confrontational and socially divisive".<ref>John Campbell, ''Margaret Thatcher, Volume Two: The Iron Lady'' (London: Jonathan Cape, 2003), p. 467.</ref><ref>Charles Moore, ''Margaret Thatcher: The Authorized Biography. Volume Two: Everything She Wants'' (London: Allen Lane, 2015), p. 575.</ref><ref>Neil, ''Full Disclosure'', p. 243.</ref> The main source of information was the Queen's press secretary, [[Michael Shea (diplomat)|Michael Shea]].<ref name="Moore">Moore, ''Margaret Thatcher: The Authorized Biography. Volume Two'', p. 576.</ref> When Buckingham Palace issued a statement rebutting the story, Neil was so angry at what he considered to be the Palace's double-dealing that he refused to print the statement in later editions of ''The Sunday Times''.<ref name="Moore"/>

In 1987, the Labour-controlled [[Strathclyde]] Regional Authority wanted to close down Neil's old school, Paisley Grammar School. After finding the secretary of state for Scotland, [[Malcolm Rifkind]], indifferent to the school's future, Neil contacted Margaret Thatcher's policy adviser, [[Brian Griffiths, Baron Griffiths of Fforestfach|Brian Griffiths]], to try and save the school. When Griffiths informed Thatcher of Strathclyde's plan to close it she issued a new regulation that gave the Scottish secretary the power to save schools where 80 per cent of the parents were opposed to the local authority's closure plan, thereby saving Paisley Grammar.<ref>Neil, ''Full Disclosure'', pp. 296–299.</ref><ref>[[Charles Moore (journalist)|Charles Moore]] claims that it was [[Michael Forsyth, Baron Forsyth of Drumlean|Michael Forsyth]] who alerted Griffiths. He adds that ''The Sunday Times'' under Neil "made much of the running with the story". ''Margaret Thatcher: The Authorized Biography. Volume Three: Herself Alone'' (London: Allen Lane, 2019), p. 69 + n. †.</ref>

While at ''The Sunday Times'' in 1988, Neil met the former [[Femina Miss India|Miss India]], [[Pamella Bordes]], in a nightclub, an inappropriate place for someone with Neil's job according to [[Peregrine Worsthorne]].<ref name="Greenspan">{{cite news|last=Greenspan|first=Edward|url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?nid=1356&dat=19900129&id=QQckAAAAIBAJ&pg=1458,6358153&hl=en|title=Sin, sex, news editors fill London front pages<!--|work=Toronto Globe and Mail-->|work=Ocala Star-Banner|page=43|date=29 January 1990|access-date=11 February 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160311233535/https://news.google.com/newspapers?nid=1356&dat=19900129&id=QQckAAAAIBAJ&sjid=DwcEAAAAIBAJ&pg=1458,6358153&hl=en|archive-date=11 March 2016|url-status=live}}</ref> The ''[[News of the World]]'' suggested Bordes was a [[call girl]].<ref name="Greenslade">{{cite book|last=Greenslade|first=Roy|title=Press Gang: How Newspapers Make Profits From Propaganda|publisher=Pan Macmillan|location=London, Basingstoke and Oxford|year=2004|pages=503–5}}</ref> <!-- Not knighted until 1991. -->Worsthorne argued in an editorial article "Playboys as Editors" in March 1989 for ''[[The Sunday Telegraph]]'' that Neil was not fit to edit a serious Sunday newspaper. Worsthorne effectively accused Neil of knowing that Bordes was a prostitute.<ref name="Anderson">{{cite news|last=Heller Anderson|first=Susan|title=Chronicle|work=The New York Times|date=31 January 1990}}</ref> He apparently did not know about Bordes,<ref name="Greenslade" /> which the ''Telegraph'' had accepted by the time the libel case came to [[High Court of Justice]] in January 1990,<ref name="Greenspan" /> but the paper still defended their coverage as [[fair comment]].<ref>{{cite news|url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?nid=2507&dat=19900127&id=fxM1AAAAIBAJ&pg=4231,4578307&hl=en|title=Libel case Journalist Taken Back to His Schooldays: Court Told of Afternoon on the Art Room Sofa|work=<!-- Not "The Herald until 1992. -->The Glasgow Herald|page=7|date=27 January 1990|access-date=11 February 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160311233530/https://news.google.com/newspapers?nid=2507&dat=19900127&id=fxM1AAAAIBAJ&sjid=zaULAAAAIBAJ&pg=4231,4578307&hl=en|archive-date=11 March 2016|url-status=live}}</ref> Neil won both the case and £1,000 in damages<ref name="Summerskill">Ben Summerskill [https://www.theguardian.com/media/2002/jul/28/sundaytimes.comment "Paper tiger"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161221085721/https://www.theguardian.com/media/2002/jul/28/sundaytimes.comment |date=21 December 2016 }} ''The Observer'', 28 July 2002</ref> plus costs.

In a July 1988 editorial ("Morals for the majority") Neil said that in Britain there were emerging pockets of social decay and unsocial behaviour: "a social rot ... has gone deeper than the industrial decay of the 1960s and 1970s".<ref>Neil, ''Full Disclosure'', p. 474.</ref> Having been impressed with [[Charles Murray (political scientist)|Charles Murray]]'s study of the American welfare state, ''[[Losing Ground (book)|Losing Ground]]'', Neil invited Murray to Britain in 1989 to study Britain's emerging [[underclass]].<ref>Neil, ''Full Disclosure'', pp. 473–474.</ref> ''The Sunday Times Magazine'' of 26 November 1989 was largely devoted to Murray's report, which found that the British underclass consisted of people existing on welfare, the [[black economy]] and crime, with illegitimacy being the single most reliable predictor.<ref>Neil, ''Full Disclosure'', pp. 475–476.</ref> The accompanying editorial said Britain was in the midst of a "social tragedy of Dickensian proportions", with an underclass "characterized by drugs, casual violence, petty crime, illegitimate children, homelessness, work avoidance and contempt for conventional values".<ref>Neil, ''Full Disclosure'', p. 476.</ref>

Under Neil's editorship, ''The Sunday Times'' opposed the [[Poll tax (Great Britain)|poll tax]].<ref>Sarah Curtis (ed.), ''The Journals of Woodrow Wyatt: Volume Two'' (London: Pan, 1999), p. 247.</ref> In his memoirs, Neil said that his opposition to the poll tax crystallised when he discovered that his cleaner would be paying more poll tax than himself at a time when his income tax had just been reduced to 40% from 60%.<ref>Neil, ''Full Disclosure'', p. 302.</ref><ref>Campbell, ''Margaret Thatcher, Volume Two'', p. 562, n.</ref> During the [[1990 Conservative Party leadership election]], ''The Sunday Times'' was the only Murdoch-owned newspaper to support [[Michael Heseltine]] against Thatcher.<ref name="Campbell">Campbell, ''Margaret Thatcher, Volume Two'', p. 729.</ref> Neil blamed Thatcher for high inflation, "misplaced chauvinism" over Europe, and the poll tax, concluding that she had become an "electoral liability" and must therefore be replaced by Heseltine.<ref name="Campbell" /><ref>Sarah Curtis (ed.), ''The Journals of Woodrow Wyatt. Volume Three'' (London: Pan, 2000), p. 149.</ref>

In an editorial of January 1988 ("Modernize the monarchy"), Neil advocated the abolition of both the preference for males in the law of succession and of the exclusion of Catholics from the throne.<ref>Neil, ''Full Disclosure'', p. 275.</ref> Subsequent editorials of ''The Sunday Times'' called for the Queen to pay income tax and advocated a scaled-down monarchy that would not be class-based but which would be "an institution with close links to all classes. That meant clearing out the old-school courtiers ... and creating a court which was far more representative of the multi-racial meritocracy that Britain was becoming".<ref>Neil, ''Full Disclosure'', p. 276.</ref> In an editorial of February 1991 Neil criticised some minor members of the Royal Family for their behaviour while the country was at war in the [[Gulf War|Gulf]].<ref>Neil, ''Full Disclosure'', pp. 274–275.</ref> In 1992 Neil obtained for ''The Sunday Times'' the serialisation rights for [[Andrew Morton (writer)|Andrew Morton]]'s book ''Diana: Her True Story'', which revealed the breakdown of [[Princess Diana]]'s marriage as well as her bulimia and her suicide attempts.<ref>Neil, ''Full Disclosure'', pp. 263–264.</ref>

In 1992 Neil was criticised by anti-Nazi groups<ref name="Ind1" /> and historians including [[Hugh Trevor-Roper]]<ref name="Ind2">Peter Pringle and David Lister [https://www.independent.co.uk/news/hitler-apologist-does-deal-for-goebbels-war-diaries-sunday-times-contract-with-david-irving-over-rediscovered-nazi-material-alarms-scholars-1530789.html "Hitler apologist does deal for Goebbels war diaries: 'Sunday Times' contract with David Irving over rediscovered Nazi material alarms scholars"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150714220912/http://www.independent.co.uk/news/hitler-apologist-does-deal-for-goebbels-war-diaries-sunday-times-contract-with-david-irving-over-rediscovered-nazi-material-alarms-scholars-1530789.html |date=14 July 2015 }} ''The Independent'' 3 July 1992</ref> for employing the [[Holocaust denier]] [[David Irving]] to translate the diaries of [[Joseph Goebbels]].<ref name="Ind1">Rosie Waterhouse, et al [https://www.independent.co.uk/news/irving-back-to-antinazi-fury-1531352.html "Irving back to anti-Nazi fury"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150714215830/http://www.independent.co.uk/news/irving-back-to-antinazi-fury-1531352.html |date=14 July 2015 }} ''The Independent on Sunday'', 5 July 1992</ref>

===End of the Murdoch connection===
According to Neil, he was replaced as ''Sunday Times'' editor in 1994 because Murdoch had become envious of his celebrity.<ref name="Summerskill" /><ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/culture/4705343/The-Wapping-Kid.html|title=The Wapping Kid|work=The Daily Telegraph|date=28 October 1996|access-date=11 February 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160226051020/http://www.telegraph.co.uk/culture/4705343/The-Wapping-Kid.html|archive-date=26 February 2016|url-status=dead}}</ref> Many years later, in November 2017, former Conservative cabinet minister [[Kenneth Clarke]] said Neil had been removed because Neil's article about corruption in the Malaysian government of [[Mahathir Mohamad]] conflicted with Murdoch's desire to acquire a television franchise in the country. The Malaysian prime minister at the time told Clarke on a ministerial visit that he had achieved Neil's sacking after a telephone conversation with Murdoch.<ref>{{cite news|last=Ponsford|first=Dominic|url=http://www.pressgazette.co.uk/james-harding-was-sacked-as-times-editor-by-rupert-murdoch-because-he-backed-obama-cma-told/|title=James Harding was sacked as Times editor by Rupert Murdoch because he backed Obama, CMA told|work=Press Gazette|date=24 November 2017|access-date=22 December 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171222220136/http://www.pressgazette.co.uk/james-harding-was-sacked-as-times-editor-by-rupert-murdoch-because-he-backed-obama-cma-told/|archive-date=22 December 2017|url-status=live}}</ref> The conflict between Neil and Mahathir did become public knowledge at the time.<ref>{{cite news|last=Davies|first=Patricia Wynn|url=https://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/politics/neil-attacks-mahathir-lies-1429820.html|title=Neil attacks Mahathir 'lies'|work=The Independent|date=18 March 1994|access-date=22 December 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171223044349/http://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/politics/neil-attacks-mahathir-lies-1429820.html|archive-date=23 December 2017|url-status=live}}</ref><ref name="Murphy">{{cite news|last1=Murphy|first1=Paul|last2=Teather|first2=David|url=https://www.theguardian.com/media/2001/feb/19/pressandpublishing.mondaymediasection|title=It'll cost you...|work=The Guardian|date=19 February 2001|access-date=22 December 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171223042945/https://www.theguardian.com/media/2001/feb/19/pressandpublishing.mondaymediasection|archive-date=23 December 2017|url-status=live}}</ref> The British minister of state for trade [[Richard Needham]] criticised Neil and the newspaper for potentially putting thousands of jobs at risk.<ref>{{cite news|last=Davies|first=Patricia Wynn|url=https://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/newspaper-attacked-for-malaysian-trade-claims-1427679.html|title=Newspaper attacked for Malaysian trade claims|work=The Independent|date=8 March 1994|access-date=22 December 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171223043455/https://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/newspaper-attacked-for-malaysian-trade-claims-1427679.html|archive-date=23 December 2017|url-status=live}}</ref>

Neil's departure from his role as ''Sunday Times'' editor was officially reported in 1994 as being merely temporary, as he was to present and edit a current affairs programme for [[Fox Broadcasting Company|Fox]] in New York.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.independent.co.uk/voices/profile-life-enters-yet-another-section-andrew-neil-an-editor-in-love-with-america-1434170.html|title=PROFILE: Life enters yet another section: Andrew Neil, an editor in love with America|work=The Independent|date=6 May 1994|access-date=22 December 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171223042516/http://www.independent.co.uk/voices/profile-life-enters-yet-another-section-andrew-neil-an-editor-in-love-with-america-1434170.html|archive-date=23 December 2017|url-status=live}}</ref> "During my time, the ''Sunday Times'' has been at the centre of every major controversy in Britain", he said at the time. "These are the kind of journalistic values I want to reproduce at Fox".<ref>{{cite news|title=''Times'' of London Editor Neil to Anchor New Fox Program|work=Los Angeles Times|date=4 May 1994}}</ref> Neil's new television programme did not make it to air. A pilot produced in September had a mixed internal response, and Murdoch cancelled the entire project in late October. Neil did not return to his job as ''Sunday Times'' editor.<ref>{{cite news|last=Heller|first=Zoë|url=https://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/the-show-that-didnt-go-on-1304767.html|title=The Show That Didn't Go On|work=The Independent on Sunday|date=13 April 1996|access-date=22 December 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171223044355/http://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/the-show-that-didnt-go-on-1304767.html|archive-date=23 December 2017|url-status=live}} (reprinted from ''Granta'', April 1996)</ref>

===Post-News Corp career===
Neil became a contributor to the ''[[Daily Mail]]''. In 1996, he became editor-in-chief of the [[Barclay brothers]]' [[Press Holdings]] group of newspapers, owner of ''[[The Scotsman]]'', ''[[Sunday Business]]'' (later just ''[[The Business (magazine)|The Business]]'') and ''[[The European (newspaper)|The European]]''. Press Holdings sold ''The Scotsman'' in December 2005, ending Neil's relationship with the newspaper. Neil has not enjoyed great success with the circulations of the newspapers (indeed ''The European'' folded shortly after he took over). ''The Business'' closed down in February 2008. He exchanged his role as chief executive of Press Holdings for chairman in July 2008.<ref>Stephen Brook [https://www.theguardian.com/media/2008/jul/08/pressandpublishing.mediabusiness "Neil takes step back from Spectator"], {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160306141332/http://www.theguardian.com/media/2008/jul/08/pressandpublishing.mediabusiness |date=6 March 2016 }} ''The Guardian'', 8 July 2008</ref><ref name="bbcprofile">{{citation|title=Newswatch – Profiles – Andrew Neil|date=10 June 2004|url=https://news.bbc.co.uk/newswatch/ifs/hi/newsid_3630000/newsid_3639000/3639035.stm|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090417095048/http://news.bbc.co.uk/newswatch/ifs/hi/newsid_3630000/newsid_3639000/3639035.stm|url-status=live|work=BBC News|access-date=24 April 2009|archive-date=17 April 2009}}</ref> He is chairman of the Press Holdings title ''[[The Spectator]]''.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.spectator.co.uk/article/a-statement-from-the-chairman-of-the-spectator/amp|access-date=1 April 2021|title=A statement from the chairman of The Spectator|website=www.spectator.co.uk}}</ref><ref name="parliamentaryregister">{{citation|title=Register of Journalists' Interests|date=22 August 2018|url=https://publications.parliament.uk/pa/cm/cmjournl/journalists.htm|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180828035650/https://publications.parliament.uk/pa/cm/cmjournl/journalists.htm|url-status=live|publisher=UK Parliament|access-date=27 August 2018|archive-date=28 August 2018}}</ref> In January 2024, Neil told BBC Newsnight that he would quit his role as chairman of ''The Spectator'' if a UAE-US consortium is successful in its proposed takeover of the magazine and its sister publication ''the Daily Telegraph.''<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.msn.com/en-gb/news/uknews/andrew-neil-vows-to-quit-if-telegraph-takeover-goes-ahead/ar-BB1hgVQU/|title=Andrew Neil vows to quit if Telegraph takeover goes ahead|website=MSN |date=26 January 2024|access-date=26 January 2024}}</ref> In September 2024, following the acquisition of ''The Spectator'' by [[Paul Marshall (investor)|Paul Marshall]], he resigned as chairman.<ref name=croft></ref>

Since 2006 Neil has been chair of the [[Dubai]]-based publishing company [[ITP Media Group]].<ref name="guardian-20060321">{{cite news |url=https://www.theguardian.com/media/2006/mar/21/pressandpublishing2 |title=Middle Eastern publisher appoints Andrew Neil as chairman |last=Brook |first=Stephen |newspaper=The Guardian|date=21 March 2006 |access-date=16 November 2018}}</ref><ref name="guardian-20181116">{{cite news |url=https://www.theguardian.com/media/2018/nov/16/bbc-women-complain-andrew-neil-tweet-observer-journalist-carole-cadwalladr |title=BBC women complain after Andrew Neil tweet about Observer journalist |last=Neil |first=Andrew |newspaper=The Guardian|date=16 November 2018 |access-date=16 November 2018}}</ref>

In June 2008, Neil led a consortium which bought talent agency Peters, Fraser & Dunlop (PFD) from CSS Stellar plc for £4&nbsp;million, making him chairman of the new company in addition to his other activities.<ref>Stephen Brook [https://www.theguardian.com/media/2008/jun/18/mediabusiness.marketingandpr "Andrew Neil consortium buys PFD talent agency"], {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160927165843/https://www.theguardian.com/media/2008/jun/18/mediabusiness.marketingandpr |date=27 September 2016 }} ''The Guardian'', 18 June 2008</ref> Neil served as Lord Rector of the [[University of St Andrews]] from 1999 to 2002.

==Broadcasting career==
As well as Neil's newspaper activities he has maintained a television career. While he worked for ''The Economist'', he provided news reports to American networks.

His regular interview series for [[Channel 4]], ''[[Is This Your Life?]]'' (made by [[Open Media]]), was nominated for a [[BAFTA]] award for "Best Talk Show".<ref>[http://www.openmedia.co.uk/broadcast.htm Open Media] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090429150935/http://www.openmedia.co.uk/broadcast.htm |date=29 April 2009 }}, accessed 24 April 2009</ref> In the course of the series Neil interviewed a wide variety of personalities, from [[Albert Reynolds]] and [[Morris Cerullo]] to [[Jimmy Savile]] and [[Max Clifford]].<ref>A.A.Gill, ''The Sunday Times'', 6 August 1995</ref> He acted as a television newsreader in two films: ''[[Dirty Weekend (1993 film)|Dirty Weekend]]'' (1993) and ''[[Parting Shots]]'' (1999), both directed by [[Michael Winner]].

===Sky===
[[File:Adam Boulton Andrew Neil Benedicte Paviot.jpg|thumb|right|Neil (centre) with Sky News anchor [[Adam Boulton]] (left) and [[Bénédicte Paviot]] (second from right) in 2013]]
In 1988 he became founding chairman of [[Sky Television (1984–1990)|Sky TV]], also part of Murdoch's [[News Corporation]]. Neil was instrumental in the company's launch, overseeing the transformation of a downmarket, single-channel satellite service into a four-channel network in less than a year. Neil and Murdoch stood side by side at Sky's new headquarters in [[Isleworth]] on 5 February 1989 to witness the launch of the service. Sky was not an instant success; the uncertainty caused by the competition provided by [[British Satellite Broadcasting]] (BSB) and the initial shortage of satellite dishes were early problems.

The failure of BSB in November 1990 led to a merger, but a few programmes acquired by BSB were screened on [[Sky One]] and BSB's satellites were sold. The new company was called [[British Sky Broadcasting]] (BSkyB). The merger may have saved Sky financially; despite its popularity, Sky had very few major advertisers to begin with, and it was beginning to suffer from embarrassing breakdowns. Acquiring BSB's healthier advertising contracts and equipment apparently solved the problems. BSkyB would not make a profit for a decade but by July 2010, it was one of the most profitable television companies in Europe.{{Citation needed|date=July 2010}}

===BBC===
At ''The Sunday Times'', he contributed to BBC, both radio and television. He commented on the various controversies provoked by the paper while he was editor. During the 1990s, Neil fronted political programmes for the BBC, including ''[[Despatch Box]]'' on [[BBC Two]].

[[File:Andrew Neil 2.jpg|thumb|[[Nick Clegg]] (right) being interviewed by Andrew Neil for ''[[Daily Politics]]'']]
Following the revamp of the BBC's political programming in early 2003, Neil presented the live political programmes, ''[[This Week (2003 TV programme)|This Week]]'' on [[BBC One]] and ''[[Daily Politics]]'' on BBC Two. The latter ended in 2018 and was replaced by ''[[Politics Live]]'', which Neil presented until he left the corporation.

From 2007 to 2010, he presented the weekly one-on-one political interview programme ''Straight Talk with Andrew Neil'' on the [[BBC News (British TV channel)|BBC News channel]]. He also presented ''[[Sunday Politics]]'' on BBC One between 2012 and 2017 and occasionally guest presented ''[[Newsnight]]'' on BBC Two following host [[Jeremy Paxman]]'s departure in 2014.<ref name="bbcprofile" />

During the BBC's general election night coverage in [[2010 United Kingdom general election|2010]], Neil interviewed various celebrities on the [[River Thames]]. In the [[2015 United Kingdom general election|2015 election]], Neil interviewed political figures in the BBC studio. He also provided commentary on foreign elections, and with [[Katty Kay]] led the BBC's overnight live coverage of the [[2016 United States presidential election|US presidential election in 2016]].<ref>{{cite news|title=Election Night in America|url=http://www.radiotimes.com/tv-programme/e/ffqx5s/election-night-in-america/|work=The Radio Times|date=8 November 2016|access-date=16 August 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170816064235/http://www.radiotimes.com/tv-programme/e/ffqx5s/election-night-in-america/|archive-date=16 August 2017|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|title=US 2016: Election Night in America|url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/mediacentre/proginfo/2016/45/us-election|publisher=BBC|date=8 November 2016|access-date=16 August 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171124181011/http://www.bbc.co.uk/mediacentre/proginfo/2016/45/us-election|archive-date=24 November 2017|url-status=live}}</ref> In the run-up to the [[2017 United Kingdom general election|2017 general election]] he interviewed five of the political party leaders on BBC One in ''The Andrew Neil Interviews''.<ref>{{cite web|title=The Andrew Neil Interviews|url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b08s49q7|publisher=BBC|date=1 June 2017|access-date=2 September 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170917082352/http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b08s49q7|archive-date=17 September 2017|url-status=live}}</ref>

Neil earned £200,000 to £249,999 as a BBC presenter in the financial year 2016–17.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.bbc.com/news/entertainment-arts-40653861|title=How much the BBC pays its stars|date=19 July 2017|access-date=31 August 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180513042158/http://www.bbc.com/news/entertainment-arts-40653861|archive-date=13 May 2018|url-status=live|work=BBC News}}</ref>

In May 2019, Neil interviewed [[Ben Shapiro]], an American conservative commentator, on ''Politics Live'' on BBC Two.<ref name=":3">{{cite web|url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p078tgjd|title=Politics Live, 10/05/2019, Andrew Neil takes on U.S. conservative Ben Shapiro|work=BBC Two|date=10 May 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190511045013/https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p078tgjd|archive-date=11 May 2019|access-date=11 May 2019}}</ref><ref name=":7">{{cite web|url=https://thehill.com/homenews/media/443138-ben-shapiro-ends-bbc-interview-scolds-host-im-popular-and-no-one-has-ever|title=Ben Shapiro ends BBC interview, scolds host: 'I'm popular and no one has ever heard of you'|last=Swanson|first=Ian|date=10 May 2019|website=[[The Hill (newspaper)|The Hill]]|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190511220412/https://thehill.com/homenews/media/443138-ben-shapiro-ends-bbc-interview-scolds-host-im-popular-and-no-one-has-ever|archive-date=11 May 2019|access-date=11 May 2019}}</ref><ref name=":8">{{cite news|url=https://www.theguardian.com/media/2019/may/11/us-pundit-ben-shapiro-apologises-bbc-andrew-neil-interview|title=Ben Shapiro apologises to Andrew Neil after being 'destroyed' in BBC interview|last=Busby|first=Mattha|date=11 May 2019|work=[[The Guardian]]|access-date=11 May 2019|issn=0261-3077}}</ref> Shapiro was promoting his new book, ''[[The Right Side of History]]'', which discusses [[Judeo-Christian]] values and asserts their decline in the United States.<ref name=":4">{{cite web|url=https://www.foxnews.com/entertainment/ben-shapiro-bbc-host-andrew-neil-destroyed-him|title=Ben Shapiro says BBC host destroyed him, apologizes: 'Broke my own rule... wasn't properly prepared'|last=Flood|first=Brian|date=10 May 2019|website=[[Fox News]]|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190511212539/https://www.foxnews.com/entertainment/ben-shapiro-bbc-host-andrew-neil-destroyed-him|archive-date=11 May 2019|access-date=11 May 2019}}</ref> Shapiro took offence to the questioning, accused Neil of having a left-leaning bias, and said Neil was trying to make a "quick buck... off of the fact that I'm popular and no one has ever heard of you", before Shapiro ended the interview.<ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.bbc.com/news/av/uk-politics-48230595/andrew-neil-and-us-commentator-ben-shapiro-on-anger |title=US commentator Shapiro questioned on anger |work=BBC News |language=en |access-date=10 May 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190510213759/https://www.bbc.com/news/av/uk-politics-48230595/andrew-neil-and-us-commentator-ben-shapiro-on-anger |archive-date=10 May 2019 |url-status=live}}</ref> Shapiro later apologised for the incident.<ref name=":4" /><ref name=":6">{{cite web|url=https://www.cnn.com/2019/05/11/us/ben-shapiro-bbc-interview-intl/index.html|title=Conservative pundit Ben Shapiro admits he was 'destroyed' after cutting short TV debate|last=Picheta|first=Rob|date=11 May 2019|website=[[CNN]]|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190511223304/https://www.cnn.com/2019/05/11/us/ben-shapiro-bbc-interview-intl/|archive-date=11 May 2019|access-date=11 May 2019}}</ref>

During the [[2019 Conservative Party leadership election]], Neil interviewed candidates [[Jeremy Hunt]] and [[Boris Johnson]], in ''The Andrew Neil Interviews.'' Director of BBC News [[Fran Unsworth]] hailed it as "a masterclass of political interviewing".<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.bbc.com/news/entertainment-arts-49508632|title=Andrew Neil talks Brexit in new BBC Two show|date=29 August 2019|access-date=30 August 2019}}</ref>

In August 2019, the BBC announced that Neil would host a prime-time political programme that would run through autumn 2019 on BBC Two, called ''[[The Andrew Neil Show (2019 TV programme)|The Andrew Neil Show]]''. The show included "in-depth analysis and forensic questioning of key political players".<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/mediacentre/latestnews/2019/andrew-neil|title=Andrew Neil to host new BBC political programme|date=29 August 2019|website=[[BBC]]|access-date=29 August 2019}}</ref> It was suspended due to the [[COVID-19 pandemic in the United Kingdom|COVID-19 pandemic]] in March 2020 and then cancelled as the BBC went through with budget cuts.<ref name=15July2020>{{Cite news|url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/entertainment-arts-53416067|title=The Andrew Neil Show ends as BBC News unveils cuts|work=BBC News|date=15 July 2020|access-date=15 July 2020}}</ref>

On 24 September 2019, Neil presented a live programme on BBC One entitled ''BBC News Special: Politics in Crisis'', addressing the [[Supreme Court of the United Kingdom|Supreme Court]] [[R (Miller) v The Prime Minister and Cherry v Advocate General for Scotland|judgement]] which deemed Boris Johnson's prorogation of parliament unlawful.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.radiotimes.com/tv-programme/e/jp5bct/bbc-news-special--politics-in-crisis-bbc-news-special/|title=Politics in Crisis: BBC News Special|website=Radio Times|language=en|access-date=25 September 2019|archive-date=25 September 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190925145444/https://www.radiotimes.com/tv-programme/e/jp5bct/bbc-news-special--politics-in-crisis-bbc-news-special/|url-status=dead}}</ref> In the run-up to the [[2019 United Kingdom general election|2019 general election]], Neil interviewed all the leaders of the main political parties, excluding Johnson, having delivered a monologue in ''The Andrew Neil Interviews'' issuing him a challenge to participate.<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/election-2019-50679252|title=General election 2019: Andrew Neil issues interview challenge to Johnson|work=BBC News|date=5 December 2019|access-date=8 September 2020}}</ref>

On 15 July 2020 the BBC announced that Neil was in talks about an interview show on BBC One.<ref name=15July2020 /> The next month he was discussed in the media as [[David Clementi|Sir David Clementi]]'s possible successor as [[chairman of the BBC]];<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.thetimes.com/culture/tv-radio/article/andrew-neil-and-nicky-morgan-in-frame-for-bbc-chairman-6gtttw89b|title=Andrew Neil and Nicky Morgan in frame for BBC chairman|work=[[The Times]]|last1=Shipman|first1=Tim|last2=Urwin|first2=Rosamund|date=9 August 2020|access-date=9 August 2020}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news|url=https://inews.co.uk/opinion/next-bbc-chairman-andrew-neil-amber-rudd-george-osborne-575132|title=Runners and riders to be the BBC's next chairman: Amber Rudd or Andrew Neil could seize role|work=inews|last=Sherwin|first=Adam|date=9 August 2020|access-date=9 August 2020}}</ref> he later said he had no interest in the role.<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.scotsman.com/news/people/andrew-neil-broadcaster-leave-bbc-become-chairman-gb-news-2984306|title=Andrew Neil: Broadcaster to leave BBC to become chairman of GB News|work=The Scotsman|last=Mackie|first=Rachel|date=25 September 2020|access-date=18 October 2020}}</ref> The [[Director-General of the BBC]], [[Tim Davie]], on his second day in the role, held talks with Neil "in an attempt to get him back to the BBC" and it was reported that he was also in discussions with executives from commercial rivals.<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2020/09/05/bbc-chief-asks-neil-scourgeof-woke-brigade-return/ |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/archive/20220112/https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2020/09/05/bbc-chief-asks-neil-scourgeof-woke-brigade-return/ |archive-date=12 January 2022 |url-access=subscription |url-status=live|title=BBC chief asks Andrew Neil, scourge of the woke brigade, to return|work=The Telegraph|last=Mendick|first=Robert|date=6 September 2020|access-date=8 September 2020}}{{cbignore}}</ref>

Neil's final appearance for the BBC was when he presented coverage of the [[2020 US presidential election]], again with Katty Kay.<ref name="gbnews" /><ref>{{Cite news |url=https://www.bbc.com/mediacentre/latestnews/2020/us-election |title=Katty Kay and Andrew Neil to present coverage of US election results |work=BBC News |date=15 October 2020 |access-date=17 October 2021}}</ref>

===GB News===
On 25 September 2020, Neil announced his exit from the BBC to become chairman of [[GB News]], a news channel launched on 13 June 2021.<ref name="gbnews">{{cite news|date=25 September 2020|title=Andrew Neil to leave the BBC 'with heavy heart'|work=BBC News|url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-politics-54299057|access-date=25 September 2020}}</ref> As well as being chairman, he presented ''Andrew Neil'', a [[prime time]] evening programme on the channel.<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.standard.co.uk/news/uk/andrew-neil-leaves-bbc-gb-news-a4556806.html|title=Andrew Neil leaves the BBC to launch GB News channel|work=Evening Standard|date=26 September 2020|access-date=26 September 2020}}</ref><ref name="Butterworth">{{cite news |last1=Butterworth |first1=Benjamin |title=Andrew Neil will not appear again on GB News despite promised return as a 'regular contributor' |url=https://inews.co.uk/news/media/andrew-neil-not-appear-again-gb-news-promised-return-regular-contributor-1211467 |access-date=21 September 2021 |work=i |date=21 September 2021}}</ref> Two weeks after the channel's launch, after having hosted eight episodes of his show, he announced he would be taking a break.<ref>{{cite news |last1=Marlborough |first1=Conor |title=GB News: Andrew Neil announces break from news channel just two weeks after it launched |url=https://www.scotsman.com/arts-and-culture/film-and-tv/gb-news-andrew-neil-announces-break-from-news-channel-just-two-weeks-after-it-launched-3286708 |access-date=16 July 2021 |work=The Scotsman |date=25 June 2021}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |last1=Clover |first1=Julian |title=GB News presenter Andrew Neil takes a break |url=https://www.broadbandtvnews.com/2021/06/25/gb-news-presenter-andrew-neil-takes-a-break/ |access-date=16 July 2021 |work=Broadband TV News |date=25 June 2021}}</ref><ref name="Butterworth"/> He spent months in his hiatus involved in legal disputes with GB News over ending his contract. However, Neil and the channel publicly maintained that he was taking a holiday,<ref name="Butterworth"/> and he was expected to rejoin the channel in early September. As that time approached, multiple news sources reported that his return had been postponed, with some speculating that this postponement might become indefinite.<ref>{{Cite web|date=3 September 2021|title=Andrew Neil will not make expected return to GB News next week|url=http://www.theguardian.com/media/2021/sep/03/andrew-neil-will-not-make-expected-return-to-gb-news-next-week|access-date=6 September 2021|work=The Guardian|last1=Quinn|first1=Ben|last2=Waterson|first2=Jim}}</ref><ref name="return">{{Cite web|title=Andrew Neil highly unlikely to return to GB News|first=Alistair|last=Gray|url=https://www.ft.com/content/fedd7106-f3be-4a5d-87d5-fee48581df13 |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/archive/20221210/https://www.ft.com/content/fedd7106-f3be-4a5d-87d5-fee48581df13 |archive-date=10 December 2022 |url-access=subscription |url-status=live|date=4 September 2021|access-date=6 September 2021|work=Financial Times}}</ref> It was further reported that he was "highly unlikely" to return to the channel.<ref name="return"/>

On 13 September 2021, Neil resigned from GB News as chairman and lead presenter and announced he would enter a new role as a guest contributor.<ref>{{Cite news|date=13 September 2021|title=Andrew Neil resigns from GB News three months after channel's launch|work=BBC News|url=https://www.bbc.com/news/entertainment-arts-58464664|access-date=13 September 2021}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|last=Waterson|first=Jim|date=13 September 2021|title=Andrew Neil resigns as lead presenter and chairman of GB News|work=The Guardian|url=https://www.theguardian.com/media/2021/sep/13/andrew-neil-resigns-as-lead-presenter-and-chairman-of-gb-news|access-date=13 September 2021}}</ref> Later that month, on the BBC's ''[[Question Time (TV programme)|Question Time]]'', he said that he had left his roles at GB News over the direction the channel was taking, and that he had become a "minority of one" within senior management. It was reported that these remarks had angered GB News bosses and that Neil would not be appearing on GB News again.<ref name="Butterworth"/> On 22 September, Neil said he would not return to GB News.<ref>{{Cite news|last=Meaker|first=Morgan|date=23 September 2021|title=Andrew Neil vows never to appear on GB News again as he accuses channel of 'smears'|work=The Telegraph|url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/business/2021/09/23/andrew-neil-accuses-gb-news-smears/ |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/archive/20220112/https://www.telegraph.co.uk/business/2021/09/23/andrew-neil-accuses-gb-news-smears/ |archive-date=12 January 2022 |url-access=subscription |url-status=live|access-date=23 September 2021|issn=0307-1235}}{{cbignore}}</ref>

Neil later described his decision to lead the channel as the "single biggest mistake" of his career, comparing the channel to [[Fox News]].<ref>{{Cite web|date=17 November 2021|title=GB News was biggest mistake of my career, says Andrew Neil|url=https://www.thetimes.com/culture/tv-radio/article/gb-news-was-biggest-mistake-of-my-career-says-andrew-neil-j9lx7nwnx|last=Ames|first=Jonathan|access-date=18 November 2021|work=[[The Times]]}}</ref>

===Return to Channel 4===
In January 2022, it was reported that Neil was in talks with [[Channel 4]] about presenting a weekly politics show to be launched later in 2022.<ref>{{cite news |last1=Kanter |first1=Jake |title=Andrew Neil lurches left with Channel 4 politics show deal |url=https://www.thetimes.com/article/andrew-neil-lurches-left-with-channel-4-politics-show-deal-d8j23w2l3 |access-date=30 January 2022 |work=[[The Times]] |date=29 January 2022}}</ref> On 30 January, Channel 4 aired a documentary, ''Boris Johnson: Has He Run Out of Road?'', in which Neil explored the future of [[Boris Johnson]]'s premiership following [[Partygate|repeated allegations of parties held in Downing Street during the COVID-19 lockdown]].<ref>{{cite news |last1=Keane |first1=Daniel |title=Andrew Neil returns to TV for documentary about Boris Johnson |url=https://www.standard.co.uk/news/uk/andrew-neil-returns-tv-boris-johnson-documentary-b978698.html |access-date=28 January 2022 |work=Evening Standard |date=26 January 2022}}</ref> On 21 February, Channel 4 announced he would host a show beginning in May, which would also be accompanied by a weekly podcast.<ref>{{cite web |title=Andrew Neil to host New Political Show for Channel 4 |url=https://www.channel4.com/press/news/andrew-neil-host-new-political-show-channel-4 |work=Channel 4 |date=21 February 2022 |access-date=21 March 2022}}</ref> ''[[The Andrew Neil Show (2022 TV programme)|The Andrew Neil Show]]'' launched with an interview with cabinet minister [[Jacob Rees-Mogg]], and Neil was also joined by journalists [[Pippa Crerar]] and Madeline Grant.<ref>{{cite press release |title=Channel 4's The Andrew Neil Show launches with Jacob Rees-Mogg interview |url=https://www.channel4.com/press/news/channel-4s-andrew-neil-show-launches-jacob-rees-mogg-interview |access-date=22 May 2022 |work=Channel 4 |date=6 May 2022}}</ref>

===Times Radio===
Since May 2024, Andrew Neil hosts a daily-scheduled lunchtime show on [[Times Radio]], from 1pm to 2pm, in which he provides commentaries and in-depth analysis on current domestic and international affairs, joined by [[The Times|Times]] journalists, other press columnists or political guests.<ref>{{cite web | url=https://www.thetimes.com/uk/media/article/andrew-neil-times-radio-journalist-uk-us-election-coverage-bt5mz6ctl | title=Andrew Neil to join Times Radio for British and American elections | date=20 May 2024 }}</ref>

== Political positions ==

===War in Afghanistan===
Neil was a vocal and enthusiastic proponent of [[War in Afghanistan (2001–2021)|British military involvement in Afghanistan]]. Neil derided those who opposed the war as "wimps with no will to fight", while labelling ''[[The Guardian]]'' as ''The Daily Terrorist'' and the ''[[New Statesman]]'' as the ''New Taliban'' for publishing dissenting opinions about the wisdom of British military involvement.<ref name="folly">{{cite news|title=Folly of the wimps with no will to fight|work=[[Scotland on Sunday]]|location=Edinburgh|date=21 October 2001|page=16|first=Andrew|last=Neil}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|title=When the World Stood Still|work=[[The Guardian]]|location=London|date=29 December 2001|page=17|first1=Alan|last1=Rusbridger|first2=Craig|last2=Taylor|author-link1=Alan Rusbridger|author-link2=Craig Taylor (writer)}}</ref> For questioning whether "Bush and Blair are leading us deeper and deeper into a quagmire", Neil ridiculed ''[[Daily Mail]]'' columnist [[Stephen Glover (columnist)|Stephen Glover]], calling him "woolly, wimpy" and "juvenile".<ref name=folly/> He compared [[Tony Blair]] to [[Winston Churchill]] and [[Osama bin Laden]] to [[Adolf Hitler]], while describing the [[United States invasion of Afghanistan]] as a "calibrated response" and a "patient, precise and successful deployment of US military power".<ref name=folly/><ref name="oblivious">{{cite news|first=Andrew|last=Neil|title=Peace party seems strangely oblivious to the lessons of September 11|work=[[Scotland on Sunday]]|location=Edinburgh|date=15 September 2002|page=15}}</ref>

===War in Iraq===
Neil was an early advocate of the [[2003 invasion of Iraq]], describing the case for war and regime change advanced by [[Tony Blair]] and [[George W. Bush]] as "convincing" and "masterful".<ref name=oblivious/> In 2002, Neil wrote that Iraq had "embarked on a worldwide shopping spree to buy the technology and material needed to construct weapons of mass destruction – and the missile systems needed to deliver them across great distances", and that "the suburbs of Baghdad are now dotted with secret installations, often posing as hospitals or schools, developing missile fuel, bodies and guidance systems, chemical and biological warheads and, most sinister of all, a renewed attempt to develop nuclear weapons."<ref name=oblivious/> He wrote that [[Saddam Hussein]] would provide [[Al-Qaeda]] with [[weapons of mass destruction]], and that Saddam had links to the [[September 11 attacks]].<ref name=oblivious/><ref>{{cite news|title=The case against Iraq|work=[[Scotland on Sunday]]|location=Edinburgh|date=10 March 2002|page=18|first=Andrew|last=Neil}}</ref>

===Climate change===
Neil has been accused of rejecting the [[scientific consensus on climate change]] and was criticised for frequently inviting non-scientists and [[climate change deniers]] to deny climate change on his BBC programmes.<ref name=":0">{{Cite web|url=https://www.theguardian.com/environment/blog/2011/mar/03/bbc-climate-change-science|title=Why the BBC's 'impartial' stance on climate science is irresponsible |last=Ward|first=Bob|date=3 March 2011|website=The Guardian|access-date=24 July 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180725153307/https://www.theguardian.com/environment/blog/2011/mar/03/bbc-climate-change-science|archive-date=25 July 2018|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.opendemocracy.net/ourbeeb/adam-ramsay/why-did-bbc-broadcast-climate-deniers-during-cop21|title=Why did the BBC broadcast climate deniers during COP21?|date=10 December 2015|website=openDemocracy|access-date=24 July 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180725033806/https://www.opendemocracy.net/ourbeeb/adam-ramsay/why-did-bbc-broadcast-climate-deniers-during-cop21|archive-date=25 July 2018|url-status=live}}</ref><ref name=":1">{{Cite news|url=https://www.carbonbrief.org/davey-vs-neil-two-non-scientists-discuss-climate-change-on-the-sunday-politics-show|title=Davey vs Neil: Two non-scientists discuss climate change on the Sunday Politics show |date=17 July 2013|work=Carbon Brief|access-date=24 July 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180725063315/https://www.carbonbrief.org/davey-vs-neil-two-non-scientists-discuss-climate-change-on-the-sunday-politics-show|archive-date=25 July 2018|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.newstatesman.com/politics/2013/07/giving-platform-climate-change-sceptics-bbc-misleading-public|title=By giving a platform to climate change sceptics, the BBC is misleading the public|website=www.newstatesman.com|date=24 July 2013 |access-date=24 July 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180725033447/https://www.newstatesman.com/politics/2013/07/giving-platform-climate-change-sceptics-bbc-misleading-public|archive-date=25 July 2018|url-status=live}}</ref> In 2011, [[Bob Ward (communications director)|Bob Ward]] of the [[Grantham Research Institute on Climate Change and the Environment]] at the [[London School of Economics]], wrote in ''[[The Guardian]]'' that Neil let inaccurate and misleading statements about climate change go unchallenged on his BBC programme ''Daily Politics''.<ref name=":0"/> 

In November 2020, Neil said that climate change was real and needed to be confronted. He criticised protests by [[Extinction Rebellion]] on [[Remembrance Day]], stating: "I've interviewed Extinction Rebellion on several occasions and most of what they say is total nonsense or total exaggeration."<ref>{{cite news |last1=Stolworthy |first1=Jacob |title=Andrew Neil hits out at Phillip Schofield for 'confronting' him with 'bizarre' climate change question |url=https://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/tv/news/this-morning-phillip-schofield-andrew-neil-climate-change-b1722356.html |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/archive/20220507/https://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/tv/news/this-morning-phillip-schofield-andrew-neil-climate-change-b1722356.html |archive-date=7 May 2022 |url-access=subscription |url-status=live |access-date=27 September 2021 |work=The Independent |date=13 November 2020}}{{cbignore}}</ref>

===HIV/AIDS===
During Neil's time as editor, ''The Sunday Times'' backed a campaign to falsely claim that [[HIV]] was not a cause of [[AIDS]].<ref name="Summerskill"/><ref>{{Cite journal|last=Ball|first=Philip|date=2 October 2006|title=When it's time to speak out|journal=[[Nature (journal)|Nature]]|doi=10.1038/news061002-12|s2cid=177131624|issn=1744-7933}}</ref><ref name=":2">{{Cite journal|title=The Sunday Times and Andrew Neil|journal=[[Journalism Studies]]|volume=10|issue=6|pages=754–768|year=2009|doi=10.1080/14616700903119891|last1=McKnight|first1=David|s2cid=141612792}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book|title=Social Policy, the Media and Misrepresentation|year=1999|url=https://archive.org/details/socialpolicymedi00fran|url-access=limited|publisher=Routledge|editor-last=Franklin|editor-first=Bob|pages=[https://archive.org/details/socialpolicymedi00fran/page/n82 72]|isbn=978-0-203-17316-9}}</ref> In 1990, ''The Sunday Times'' serialised a book by an American right-winger who rejected the scientific consensus on the causes of AIDS,  and who falsely claimed that AIDS could not spread to heterosexuals.<ref name=":2"/> Articles and editorials in ''The Sunday Times'' cast doubt on the scientific consensus, described HIV as a "politically correct virus" about which there was a "conspiracy of silence," disputed that AIDS was spreading in Africa, claimed that tests for HIV were invalid, described the HIV/AIDS treatment drug [[azidothymidine]] (AZT) as harmful, and characterised the [[World Health Organization]] (WHO) as an "Empire-building AIDS [organisation]."<ref name=":2"/>

The [[pseudoscientific]] coverage of HIV/AIDS in ''The Sunday Times'' led the scientific journal ''[[Nature (journal)|Nature]]'' to monitor the newspaper's coverage and to publish letters rebutting the falsehoods printed in ''The Sunday Times''.<ref name=":2" /> In response to this, ''The Sunday Times'' published an article headlined "AIDS – why we won't be silenced", which said that ''Nature'' engaged in censorship and "sinister intent".<ref name=":2" /> In his 1996 book, ''Full Disclosure'', Neil wrote that his [[HIV/AIDS denialism]] "deserved publication to encourage debate."<ref name=":2" /> That same year, he wrote that ''The Sunday Times'' had been vindicated in its coverage, "The Sunday Times was one of a handful of newspapers, perhaps the most prominent, which argued that heterosexual Aids was a myth. The figures are now in and this newspaper stands totally vindicated... The history of Aids is one of the great scandals of our time. I do not blame doctors and the Aids lobby for warning that everybody might be at risk in the early days, when ignorance was rife and reliable evidence scant." He criticised the "AIDS establishment" and said "Aids had become an industry, a job-creation scheme for the caring classes."<ref>{{Cite news|title=The great Aids myth is finally laid to rest|last=Neil|first=Andrew|date=1996|work=The Sunday Times}}</ref>

In a 2021 interview Neil said that he regretted certain aspects of the paper's coverage of HIV and AIDS, but he was unwilling or unable to accept any personal responsibility for the falsehoods published while he was editor. Neil chose instead to blame an employee, stating that he had placed faith in a trusted correspondent who was found to be wrong.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p099hyjx|title=BBC Radio 4 – The Media Show, Andrew Neil: a 50-year media career|website=BBC|date=12 March 2021 }}</ref>

===Republicanism===
In January 1997, [[ITV (TV channel)|ITV]] broadcast a live television debate ''Monarchy: The Nation Decides'', in which Neil spoke in favour of [[Republicanism in the United Kingdom|establishing a republic]].<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.irishtimes.com/news/66-yes-vote-to-monarchy-in-tv-phone-poll-contradicts-previous-result-1.19905|title= 66% 'yes' vote to monarchy in TV 'phone poll contradicts previous result|newspaper=[[The Irish Times]]|last=Borrill|first=Rachel|date=8 January 1997|access-date=17 February 2019}}</ref> When asked in 2021 by the BBC if he was still a republican, he changed his mind, saying "Not really."<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/sounds/play/p099hyjx|title=The Media Show – Andrew Neil: a 50-year media career – BBC Sounds|website=www.bbc.co.uk}}</ref>

==''Private Eye''==
The British satirical and investigative journalism magazine ''[[Private Eye]]'' has referred to Neil by the nickname "Brillo" after his wiry hair, which is seen as bearing a resemblance to a [[Brillo Pad]], a brand of [[scouring pad]].<ref name="totalpoliticsconversation">{{cite web|url=http://www.totalpolitics.com/articles/4493/part_3/in-conversation-with-andrew-neil.thtml |title=In Conversation with Andrew Neil |publisher=Total Politics |first=Iain |last=Dale |date=10 May 2010 |access-date=7 September 2012 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130613040917/http://www.totalpolitics.com/articles/4493/part_3/in-conversation-with-andrew-neil.thtml |archive-date=13 June 2013}}</ref>

In a [[Recurring jokes in Private Eye|long-running joke]], a photograph of Neil wearing a vest and baseball cap in an embrace with a much younger woman (often mistaken for [[Pamella Bordes]], a former ''Miss India'', but really an African American make-up artist with whom Neil was once involved)<ref name="Riddell">Mary Riddell [http://www.bjr.org.uk/data/2005/no2_riddell.htm "Non-stop Neil, at home alone"] {{webarchive|url=https://archive.today/20121223213056/http://www.bjr.org.uk/data/2005/no2_riddell.htm |date=23 December 2012 }}, ''British Journalism Review'', Vol. 16, No. 2, 2005, p13-20</ref> appeared regularly in the letters page of the magazine for some years, and is still used occasionally. Typically, a reader will ask the editor if he has any photographs relevant to some topical news item, frequently with a veiled allusion to the age-gap between two individuals, or to ethnic diversity. By [[double entendre]], the letter can be construed as a request for this photo, which is duly published alongside.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/art/features/haunted-by-that-photo-one-for-the-album-2357389.html?action=gallery&ino=3|title=Haunted by that photo: One for the album?|first=Tim|last=Walker|date=20 September 2011|work=[[The Independent]]|access-date=24 March 2014|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140324142106/http://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/art/features/haunted-by-that-photo-one-for-the-album-2357389.html?action=gallery&ino=3|archive-date=24 March 2014|url-status=live}}</ref> Neil claims to find it "fascinating" and an example of "public school racism" on the part of the magazine's editorial staff.<ref name="Riddell" />

==Personal life==
Neil lives in [[Grasse]] in the south of France and also has homes in [[Chelsea, London]] and [[Midtown Manhattan]], New York City, an apartment within the [[Trump World Tower]].<ref>{{cite news |title=Carefully edited: Andrew Neil's French retreat |url=https://www.independent.co.uk/property/interiors/carefully-edited-andrew-neil-s-french-retreat-858077.html |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/archive/20220507/https://www.independent.co.uk/property/interiors/carefully-edited-andrew-neil-s-french-retreat-858077.html |archive-date=7 May 2022 |url-access=subscription |url-status=live |access-date=3 March 2021 |work=The Independent |date=23 October 2011}}{{cbignore}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |title=ALL PERSPECTIVES LTD (T/A GB NEWS) – Officers |url=https://find-and-update.company-information.service.gov.uk/company/12227760/officers |website=Companies House |access-date=3 March 2021}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |last=Wilby |first=Peter |date=2019-04-17 |title=More than a spectator: the rise of Andrew Neil |url=https://www.newstatesman.com/politics/2019/04/more-than-a-spectator-the-rise-of-andrew-neil |access-date=2025-02-16 |website=New Statesman |language=en-US}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |last=McCreesh |first=Shawn |date=2020-02-14 |title=A Visit With Andrew Neil, The Spectator's Publisher and Boris Johnson's Old Boss |url=https://nymag.com/intelligencer/2020/02/a-visit-with-the-spectators-andrew-neil-boriss-old-boss.html |access-date=2025-02-16 |website=Intelligencer |language=en}}</ref> Neil married Susan Nilsson, a Swedish communications director, on 8 August 2015.<ref name="Dearden">{{cite news|last=Dearden|first=Lizzie|url=https://www.independent.co.uk/news/people/andrew-neil-married-bbc-presenter-weds-swedish-partner-in-french-riviera-10457001.html|title=Andrew Neil married: BBC presenter weds Swedish partner in French Riviera|work=The Independent|location=London|date=15 August 2015|access-date=15 August 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150815103412/http://www.independent.co.uk/news/people/andrew-neil-married-bbc-presenter-weds-swedish-partner-in-french-riviera-10457001.html|archive-date=15 August 2015|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.thetimes.com/travel/destinations/europe-travel/france/paris/bachelor-of-fleet-street-ties-the-knot-qwgbjqlkts6|title=Bachelor of Fleet Street ties the knot|newspaper=[[The Times]]|date=15 August 2015|last1=Bannerman|first1=Lucy|access-date=26 December 2021}}</ref>

Neil has threatened to sue American businesswoman [[Jennifer Arcuri]] over claims she made on Twitter linking Neil to the billionaire and child sex abuser [[Jeffrey Epstein]], as well as other Twitter users who retweeted or endorsed her now-deleted tweet.<ref>{{cite news |last1=Otte |first1=Jedidajah |last2=Waterson |first2=Jim |title=Andrew Neil threatens to sue Jennifer Arcuri after tweet about Epstein |url=https://www.theguardian.com/media/2021/dec/07/andrew-neil-threatens-to-sue-jennifer-arcuri-twitter-spat-jeffrey-epstein |work=The Guardian |access-date=7 December 2021 |date=7 December 2021}}</ref> Neil denies ever meeting Epstein and argues he was put in his infamous "black book" by [[Ghislaine Maxwell]], Epstein's procurer.<ref>{{cite news |last1=Wright |first1=Mike |title=Andrew Neil sues Jennifer Arcuri over claims he was linked to Jeffrey Epstein |url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2021/12/07/andrew-neil-sues-jennifer-arcuri-claims-linked-epstein/ |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/archive/20220112/https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2021/12/07/andrew-neil-sues-jennifer-arcuri-claims-linked-epstein/ |archive-date=12 January 2022 |url-access=subscription |url-status=live |work=The Telegraph |access-date=7 December 2021 |date=7 December 2021}}{{cbignore}}</ref>

After watching [[Gomorrah (TV series)|''Gomorrah'']], Neil developed an interest in [[Italian rap]] music, calling it "the best rap music there is."<ref>{{cite news |last=Gibson |first=Janine |date=8 October 2021 |title=Andrew Neil: 'Start-ups are fun! Well, usually...' |url=https://www.ft.com/content/c1f01097-924c-4132-a31d-466448e02256 |location=London}}</ref>

==Honours==

===Honorary degrees===
{| class="wikitable" style="width:100%;"
! style="width:20%;"| Location
! style="width:20%;"| Date
! style="width:40%;"| School
! style="width:20%;"| Degree
|-
| {{Flagu|Scotland}} || 1998 || [[Napier University]] || [[Doctor of Letters]] (DLitt)<ref>{{cite web |title=List of Honorary Graduates and Fellows – Edinburgh Napier University |url=https://www.yumpu.com/en/document/view/28132599/list-of-honorary-graduates-and-fellows-edinburgh-napier-university |website=Yumpu |access-date=26 September 2021}}</ref>   
|-
| {{Flagu|Scotland}} || 20 November 2001 || [[University of Paisley]] || [[Doctor of the University]] (DUniv)<ref>{{cite web |title=Honorary Doctors of the University of Paisley 1993–2007 |url=https://www.uws.ac.uk/media/5499/uop-honorary-awards-1993-2007.pdf |website=University of the West of Scotland |access-date=25 August 2021}}</ref>   
|-
| {{Flagu|Scotland}} || 29 November 2002 || [[University of St Andrews]] || [[Doctor of Laws]] (LLD)<ref>{{cite web |title=Scots trio to be honoured on St Andrew's day |url=https://news.st-andrews.ac.uk/archive/scots-trio-to-be-honoured-on-st-andrews-day-2/ |website=University of St Andrews |access-date=25 August 2021}}</ref>  
|-
| {{Flagu|Scotland}} || 13 June 2018 || [[University of Glasgow]] || [[Doctor of the University]] (DUniv)<ref>{{cite web |title=University of Glasgow Honorary Degrees 2018 |url=https://www.gla.ac.uk/media/Media_578421_smxx.pdf |website=University of Glasgow |access-date=25 August 2021}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |title=Doctorates awarded for outstanding achievements |url=https://www.gla.ac.uk/news/archiveofnews/2018/june/headline_591259_en.html |website=University of Glasgow |access-date=6 September 2021}}</ref> 
|-
|}

===Memberships and fellowships===
{| class="wikitable" style="width:100%;"
! style="width:20%;"| Country
! style="width:20%;"| Date
! style="width:40%;"| Organisation
! style="width:20%;"| Position
|-
| {{Flagu|United Kingdom}} ||   || [[Royal Society of Arts]] || [[Fellow of the Royal Society of Arts|Fellow]] (FRSA)<ref>{{cite news |title=Andrew Neil Biography |url=https://news.bbc.co.uk/newswatch/ukfs/hi/newsid_3630000/newsid_3639000/3639035.stm |website=BBC News |date=10 June 2004 |access-date=25 August 2021}}</ref>
|-
|}

==References==
{{Reflist}}

==External links==
{{commons category}}
*{{IMDb name|0624665}}

{{S-start}}
{{s-media}}
{{Succession box| before=[[Frank Giles]] | title=Editor of ''[[The Sunday Times]]'' | years=1983–1994 | after=[[John Witherow]] }}
{{Succession box| before=Charles Garside | title=Editor of ''[[The European (newspaper)|The European]]'' | years=1996–1998 | after=[[Gerry Malone]] }}
{{s-new}}
{{s-ttl|title=Chairman of [[GB News]]|years=2021}}
{{s-aft|after=[[Paul Marshall (investor)|Paul Marshall]]<br />{{small|Acting}}}}
{{s-aca}}
{{Succession box|title=[[Rector of the University of St Andrews]]|years=1999–2002|before=[[Donald Findlay]]|after=[[Clement Freud]]}}
{{S-end}}

{{Press Holdings}}
{{The Times}}
{{Rectors of the University of St Andrews}}
{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Neil, Andrew}}
[[Category:1949 births]]
[[Category:Living people]]
[[Category:20th-century Scottish newspaper publishers (people)]]
[[Category:Alumni of the University of Glasgow]]
[[Category:BBC newsreaders and journalists]]
[[Category:British republicans]]
[[Category:Broadcasters from Paisley, Renfrewshire]]
[[Category:Channel 4 people]]
[[Category:Conservative Party (UK) people]]
[[Category:GB News newsreaders and journalists]]
[[Category:Journalists from Paisley, Renfrewshire]]
[[Category:People educated at Paisley Grammar School]]
[[Category:Press Holdings]]
[[Category:Rectors of the University of St Andrews]]
[[Category:Scottish chief executives]]
[[Category:Scottish expatriates in France]]
[[Category:Scottish magazine editors]]
[[Category:Scottish newspaper editors]]
[[Category:Scottish political commentators]]
[[Category:Scottish television presenters]]
[[Category:The Spectator people]]
[[Category:The Sunday Times people]]
[[Category:Writers from Paisley, Renfrewshire]]