Jon Craig, BBC London’s political editor for the past two years, has been poached by Sky News to be a political correspondent.
His move leaves the BBC without a presenter for the London regional opt-out slot for BBC1’s forthcoming The Politics Show, to air on Sundays from next month.
Craig, 45, who was political editor of the Daily Express and then the Sunday Express before quitting to join the BBC in 2001, is already familiar to Sky News viewers. He was a regular newspaper reviewer and political pundit on Sky during his nine years at the Expresses.
Before his move to the BBC, Craig was described by the New Statesman as "the best of the lobby hacks on TV".
Glen Oglaza, a former freelance on Sky, will join him on the rolling news channel’s political team. Both will also take up extra duties when political editor Adam Boulton presents a new hour-long show later this year, according to Simon Cole, Sky News’s deputy head of news.
Cole said the appointments were part of gearing up to compete with BBC News 24 and to "provide lots of depth as we approach difficult political times; both men have loads of experience and are well respected".
Craig began at BBC London as a network correspondent, covering politics for television, radio and the web, before becoming political editor. He also presented the BBC2 regional politics programme MetroPol.
"I’ve had a brilliant time at BBC London, but I’m delighted to be joining Sky News," he told Press Gazette.
By Wale Azeez
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