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President of Lucy Cavendish College from September 2015 to July 2018.
Prior to becoming President of Lucy Cavendish College, Jackie Ashley worked for more than 30 years at Westminster as a prominent political journalist and broadcaster. Jackie has sat on various influential commissions and boards and regularly chairs conferences.
Her career started in 1979, as a BBC trainee. A rich and varied working life has followed, including roles such as Producer and Newsreader on Newsnight, Political Correspondent with ITN, Channel 4 politics producer, Presenter of several political programmes on BBC2 and ITV and Political Editor at the New Statesman.
In her previous role – as a Columnist and Political Interviewer at The Guardian – Jackie has covered Labour, Conservative and Coalition politics, women’s rights, the media and public services, with a particular focus on health. She has also closely followed the weekly political argument as the presenter of BBC Radio 4’s The Week in Westminster.
A graduate of St Anne’s College, Oxford, Jackie is acutely aware of how education transforms real lives. Her own father, Jack Ashley, Baron Ashley of Stoke, left school at 14 and worked as a labourer, but won a scholarship to Ruskin College Oxford, followed by Gonville and Caius College Cambridge. Ultimately this opportunity enabled him to pursue his political ambitions as a Labour MP and campaigner, despite completely losing his hearing.
Growing up in a home centred around politics made a lasting impression on Jackie. As well as forging a career in the field, she too has been a passionate campaigner on issues such as equal pay, support for carers, the elderly and the NHS. She is Chair of the The National Brain Appeal.
At home, Jackie is married to journalist and broadcaster Andrew Marr and as a mother of three, she is experienced in the tricky art of combining family life with a successful career.
Follow at: @JackieAshley
Read some of Jackie’s articles for The Guardian:
Oxbridge, run by lefties? That's just ridiculous
Message to the rebels: work with Corbyn and Labour can win
Morgan and Rowling's clash of values shows what Westminster's lost
The driverless car revolution isn't just about technology - it's about society too
The liberal fightback starts now. Can the Lib Dems lead it?
Has Theresa May really thrown in her lot with the Brexiteers?
In Rio, as in Britain, disability rights are under attack again
