Alastair Stewart

Alastair Stewart is one of the UK's most recognisable News presenters.

As the main presenter for ITV lunchtime news, Alastair has covered some of the most momentous news items in recent history.

In April 2010, Alastair Stewart made history when he moderated the first ever live TV debate between the Party Leaders, ahead of the General Election.

His career started in 1976 with ITV's Southern Television, where he worked as a reporter, industrial correspondent, presenter and documentary maker. Joining ITN as Industrial Correspondent in 1980, Alastair’s news presenting debut came a year later.

In 1989 he joined the New at Ten team, after spending three years as a presenter and reporter with ITN’s Channel 4 News, and presenting The Parliament Programme.

In 1990 he was appointed ITN's Washington Correspondent, an assignment abruptly interrupted by the first Gulf War.  He was sent to Dhahran, Saudi Arabia, to anchor ITN’s coverage. In February 1991, Alastair was the first British television reporter to broadcast, live, from the liberated Kuwait City.

In 1994 Alastair turned his hand to radio, presenting Alastair Stewart’s Sunday for Five Live, and then he fronted Alastair Stewart’s Sunday Programme for GMTV until 2001.

From 1993 until 2009, he presented London Tonight on ITV.

Returning to ITV in 2003 to cover the Iraq War, the channel’s Local Government Elections coverage and a special programme on the European Single Currency, Alastair anchored ITV’s News programme, and won the Royal Television Society's Presenter of the Year Award in 2005 for his own news and interview strand Live with Alastair.

Alastair provided live coverage of the Space Shuttle Challenger disaster as the details of the tragedy unfolded.  A two minute news-flash became an unscripted, one-hour special programme.  He also anchored, with Sandy Gall, ITN’s award-winning coverage on the night of the bombing of the PanAm jet over Lockerbie and anchored the ITV Network coverage of the funeral of Pope John Paul II and of the resignation of Tony Blair. In July 2006, at the outbreak of the Israeli-Lebanon conflict, he presented all three ITV News network bulletins, for five days, from Beirut.

Alastair is a patron of many charities, including Action for Children and Homestart; Scope and Crimestoppers Trust.

In 1998, he was the subject of This is Your Life.

In 2002, he won The Face of London RTS award and in 2005, he was The Royal Television Society’s Presenter of the Year.

He was awarded an OBE is 2006 for his contribution to broadcasting and charity.

In 2008, he was made an Honorary Doctor of Laws (LLD) by the University of Bristol. In 2010, he was made an Honorary Doctor of Laws (LLD) by the University of Plymouth.

Alastair is involved with a large number of corporate events and is one of the most accomplished conference hosts and moderators on the circuit.