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Michael Crick
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Michael Crick (born May 21, 1958) is a British journalist, author and broadcaster.
Born in Northampton, he was educated at Manchester Grammar School and New College, Oxford, where he got a first class degree in Philosophy, Politics, and Economics (PPE). At Oxford he was editor of the university newspaper, Cherwell, founded the Oxford Handbook and the Oxbridge Careers Handbook, and was president of the Oxford Union.
He specialises in politics, and appeared as a regular reporter on BBC Two's Newsnight. In March 2007, he was appointed the programme's political editor. [1]
He is known for his diligent research, which has often uncovered distortions by politicians of their life history, and for his persistence in questioning. The BBC has not always supported his work, however. In 2003, under heavy pressure from the preparation of the Hutton Report, it refused to show Crick's report for Newsnight into 'Betsygate', the alleged misuse of public funds by the private office of former Conservative Party leader Iain Duncan Smith and supposed payments to his wife Betsy for work she did not do. Crick referred the case to the Parliamentary Commissioner for Standards Sir Philip Mawer and the Duncan Smith's were cleared of any impropriety.[2]
In the 2005 general election, it was observed that the five most terrifying words in the political lexicon were "Michael Crick is in reception".[3]
He has also reported for Channel 4 News and Panorama, and has appeared on Have I Got News For You. He is known as the unofficial biographer and nemesis of Jeffrey Archer. Margaret Crick, his wife, published a biography of Archer's wife Mary in 2005 (Simon & Schuster ISBN-10 0743259629).
A keen supporter of Manchester United, he has written several books on the team as well as his literary political works. In 1998-99 he was the organiser of the Shareholders United Against Murdoch campaign which successfully opposed BSkyB's proposed takeover of United. He later served as Vice-Chairman of Shareholders United.
- Militant (Faber 1984, 1986)
- Scargill And The Miners (1985)
- Manchester United: The Betrayal of a Legend (1989)(with David Smith)
- Jeffrey Archer : Stranger Than Fiction (1995)
- Manchester United: The Complete Fact Book (1999)
- Michael Heseltine : A Biography (1997)
- The Boss: The Many Sides of Alex Ferguson (2002)
- In Search of Michael Howard (2005)
- ^ Press release (2003-03-22) "Michael Crick appointed Political Editor on Newsnight", BBC Press Office. Retrieved on 2007-03-23
- ^ "A professional troublemaker", The Guardian, 2 April 2007. Retrieved on 2 April 2007.
- ^ Election 2005 blog by Matthew Tempest, Guardian website, 30 March 2005. Retrieved on 2 April 2005.