John Kampfner has had a long career in public life spanning global affairs, politics and culture. He is the author of seven books and is working on his eighth.
He began his journalistic career with the Telegraph, first in East Berlin where he reported on the fall of the Wall and German unification, then in Moscow during the collapse of Soviet Communism. He went on to work for the FT and BBC covering UK politics. As Editor of the New Statesman from 2005 to 2008, he took the magazine to 30-year circulation highs.
He writes regular columns for the Guardian, Foreign Policy, Politico and Der Spiegel. He is a regular contributor on broadcast media. He has a weekly Substack column, in which he analyses the state of Germany and the world.
His most recent book, ‘In Search of Berlin’, was published in 2023. He has made many programmes for BBC TV and radio, including a two-parter called ‘The Ugly War’ on the Israel-Palestine conflict in 2002, for which he was awarded Film of the Year and Journalist of the Year.
He is a Board member of the Deutsch-Britische Gesellschaft and Senior Associate Fellow at the Royal United Services Institute. In 2021, he set up the UK in the World programme at Chatham House, becoming its first director. He ran the free expression organisation, Index on Censorship, between 2008 and 2011; he subsequently advised Google on these issues. He was on the Council of King’s College London between 2012 and 2015 and Chair of the Clore Social Leadership programme from 2015 to 2018.
For eight years, from 2008 to 2016, he was founder Chair of Turner Contemporary, establishing one of the UK’s most successful art galleries. He was the founder of the Creative Industries Federation. He is now Chair of the Quentin Blake Centre for Illustration in London.
John Kampfner has had a long career in public life spanning global affairs, politics and culture. He is the author of seven books and is working on his eighth.
He began his journalistic career with the Telegraph, first in East Berlin where he reported on the fall of the Wall and German unification, then in Moscow during the collapse of Soviet Communism. He went on to work for the FT and BBC covering UK politics. As Editor of the New Statesman from 2005 to 2008, he took the magazine to 30-year circulation highs.
He writes regular columns for the Guardian, Foreign Policy, Politico and Der Spiegel. He is a regular contributor on broadcast media. He has a weekly Substack column, in which he analyses the state of Germany and the world.
His most recent book, ‘In Search of Berlin’, was published in 2023. He has made many programmes for BBC TV and radio, including a two-parter called ‘The Ugly War’ on the Israel-Palestine conflict in 2002, for which he was awarded Film of the Year and Journalist of the Year.
He is a Board member of the Deutsch-Britische Gesellschaft and Senior Associate Fellow at the Royal United Services Institute. In 2021, he set up the UK in the World programme at Chatham House, becoming its first director. He ran the free expression organisation, Index on Censorship, between 2008 and 2011; he subsequently advised Google on these issues. He was on the Council of King’s College London between 2012 and 2015 and Chair of the Clore Social Leadership programme from 2015 to 2018.
For eight years, from 2008 to 2016, he was founder Chair of Turner Contemporary, establishing one of the UK’s most successful art galleries. He was the founder of the Creative Industries Federation. He is now Chair of the Quentin Blake Centre for Illustration in London.