Vicki Young: BBC Deputy Political Editor and Politics Live Presenter

Vicki Young is one of the most experienced political journalists at the BBC — and, since June 2025, one of its most visible. As Deputy Political Editor of BBC News since October 2020, she has been at the centre of the BBC’s Westminster coverage through Brexit, the pandemic, a change of government and a succession of leadership crises. As presenter of Politics Live, she now chairs the BBC’s daily weekday political debate, succeeding Jo Coburn, who had fronted the programme since its launch in 2018.

That dual role — senior editor one day, studio presenter the next — is rare, and it reflects a career built slowly inside the BBC. Young did not arrive at Westminster as a star hire; she worked her way up from BBC Wales, through the One O’Clock News and BBC Breakfast, to chief political correspondent, and then to the deputy editorship. By the time she took over Politics Live, she had covered eight general elections and spent more than 25 years at the broadcaster.

Quick Bio

From BBC Wales to Westminster

Young’s BBC career began as a reporter at BBC Wales, before she joined the parliamentary team at Westminster and became a political correspondent for the One O’Clock News. From 2008 to 2011 she was a correspondent for BBC Breakfast, a role that demanded the same political knowledge in a very different register — explaining a fast-moving story clearly, briefly and without jargon, to an audience starting its day. In 2015 she was promoted to chief political correspondent of BBC News, following Norman Smith’s move to assistant political editor. The promotion put her at the heart of the BBC’s coverage of the EU referendum, the Brexit negotiations and the 2017 and 2019 general elections. She also spent two years as a health correspondent earlier in her career, and has reported for BBC Radio 4 and BBC Radio 5 Live, presented on the BBC News channel and the Westminster Hour on Radio 4, and been a regular studio pundit for the BBC’s election results programmes. Her appointment as Deputy Political Editor was announced in October 2020, with immediate effect. The BBC’s head of Westminster at the time, Katy Searle, praised her “enormous clarity” and “wealth of experience at Westminster”. Young herself said it was “a real honour” and “an incredible responsibility” to be in the front row at what she called an extraordinary period in UK politics, adding that viewers relied on the BBC to explain complex times “in a clear and fair way”.

Deputy Political Editor: the job behind the camera

The deputy political editor’s job is less visible than presenting, but in many ways more influential. It involves shaping the BBC’s political coverage day by day: deciding which stories matter, how to report a fast-moving row fairly, and how to explain a complicated parliamentary process without losing the audience. Young has done that job through some of the most difficult stories of recent years — the pandemic, the cost-of-living crisis, the Partygate fallout, the fall of Boris Johnson, the brief premiership of Liz Truss, and the return of Labour to government in 2024. Her reporting style is notably unshowy. Where some Westminster journalists trade in gossip and prediction, Young is known for careful, sourced reporting and for explaining what a development actually changes, rather than what it might mean in a hypothetical future. That steadiness is part of why she was trusted with the deputy editorship, and part of why her move into presenting felt like a natural step rather than a change of direction.

Taking over Politics Live

On 4 April 2025, the BBC announced that Young would become the new presenter of Politics Live, replacing Jo Coburn, who was stepping down after 28 years at the BBC and after presenting the daily weekday politics show since it launched in 2018. Young took over at the beginning of June 2025. Politics Live is a demanding programme to present. Each weekday it brings together politicians and commentators to debate the day’s stories, with the presenter required to keep the discussion moving, challenge evasive answers, and give every side a fair hearing — all live, and often while breaking news is developing. Young’s long experience as a correspondent, rather than only as a presenter, is an asset here: she knows the stories, the players and the parliamentary detail, and she is less likely to be caught out by a sudden development. In her announcement statement, Young said she was “delighted to join Politics Live as its next presenter at a time when political events, here and abroad, are of huge interest to our audiences”, promising to discuss the key issues, give panellists their say, and “hold them to account too as I know Politics Live viewers expect”. She also paid tribute to Coburn, saying: “I want to give a special mention to my friend and talented colleague Jo Coburn. It’s a privilege to follow in her footsteps.” The succession is a neat piece of BBC history. Coburn left the BBC in May 2025 after 28 years and joined Times Radio; Young, who had worked alongside her for years in Westminster, took over the programme she had built. For viewers, the change was one of continuity rather than rupture: the same studio, the same format, and a presenter who already knew the show from the inside.

What competitors get wrong or leave out

Most short biographies of Young make two errors. First, they freeze her career in 2020, describing her only as Deputy Political Editor and missing her Politics Live presenting role from June 2025 — now one of her two main jobs. Second, low-quality biography blogs pad her profile with contradictory personal claims: different children counts, invented heights, guessed net-worth figures and confused family details. Those claims conflict with each other and with reliable sources, so they are deliberately omitted here. What is reliably documented is her career path, her education at Truro High School for Girls and New Hall, Cambridge, and her BBC roles from BBC Wales to the deputy editorship and Politics Live. A third, subtler gap is that competitor pages often treat her as a presenter only, or a correspondent only. The real story is the combination: a senior editor who also chairs the daily debate, and a presenter whose authority comes from years of reporting the stories she now discusses.

Frequently asked questions

Who is Vicki Young? A British journalist who has been Deputy Political Editor of BBC News since October 2020 and presenter of Politics Live since June 2025.

Who did she succeed on Politics Live? Jo Coburn, who presented the programme from its launch in 2018 until leaving the BBC in May 2025 after 28 years.

What was her role before deputy political editor? Chief Political Correspondent of BBC News from 2015 to 2020, after earlier roles at BBC Wales, the One O’Clock News and BBC Breakfast.

How many general elections has she covered? She has contributed to BBC coverage of seven general elections as a correspondent and eight in total including her presenting work, according to BBC announcements — the key point is a career spanning more than 25 years at the BBC.

Where did she study? Truro High School for Girls, where she was head girl, and New Hall, Cambridge.

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• Jo Coburn: Times Radio Presenter, Former BBC Politics Live Host
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• Rae Stewart: Scottish Journalist, Westminster Correspondent and Novelist

Sources and Further Reading

• Vicki Young on Wikipedia — career timeline: BBC Wales, One O’Clock News, BBC Breakfast 2008–2011, chief political correspondent 2015–2020, deputy political editor since October 2020, Politics Live presenter since June 2025.
• BBC announcement, April 2025: Young to present Politics Live, succeeding Jo Coburn, from June 2025.
• BBC announcement, October 2020: Young appointed Deputy Political Editor, Katy Searle and Young quotations.
• BBC Westminster background: more than 25 years at the BBC, election coverage, Westminster Hour and BBC News channel presenting.
• Note: partner, children, salary, net worth and height details are intentionally not claimed, because low-quality sources conflict on them and they are not needed to explain her career. Birth year 1971 is given as on Wikipedia; no exact date of birth is asserted.