Jeremy Paxman

Image:Maincollege.jpg, which Paxman attended ]]

Paxman was born in Leeds, West Riding of Yorkshire, the son of steel company employee and former Royal Navy lieutenant and typewriter salesmanA Life in Questions, Jeremy Paxman, HarperCollins, 2016{{cite news|url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2016/09/24/jeremy-paxman-i-felt-hatred-for-my-estranged-father/ |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/archive/20220112/https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2016/09/24/jeremy-paxman-i-felt-hatred-for-my-estranged-father/ |archive-date=12 January 2022 |url-access=subscription |url-status=live|title=Jeremy Paxman: I felt hatred for my estranged father|date=24 September 2016|access-date=12 March 2019|work=The Telegraph}}{{cbignore}} (Arthur) Keith Paxman, who left the family and settled in Australia,{{cite news|url=https://www.thetimes.com/world/australasia/article/i-hated-my-father-with-a-passion-paxman-admits-rr536msg7|title=I hated my father with a passion, Paxman admits|first=Lucy|last=Bannerman|date=24 September 2016|access-date=12 March 2019|work=The Times}} and Joan McKay ({{née}} Dickson; 1920–2009).{{cite episode |title=Who Do You Think You Are? with Jeremy Paxman |url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/history/familyhistory/get_started/wdytya_s2_celeb_gallery_01.shtml |series=Who Do You Think You Are? |series-link=Who Do You Think You Are? (British TV series) |network=BBC |station=BBC Two |airdate=11 January 2006 |access-date=15 April 2013 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121111021832/http://www.bbc.co.uk/history/familyhistory/get_started/wdytya_s2_celeb_gallery_01.shtml |archive-date=11 November 2012 }}{{cite encyclopedia |url=http://www.encyclopedia.com/article-1G2-3070400117/paxman-jeremy-1950-jeremy.html |title=Paxman, Jeremy 1950– (Jeremy Dickson Paxman) – Contemporary Authors, New Revision Series |encyclopedia=Encyclopedia.com |access-date=29 June 2012 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131005003307/http://www.encyclopedia.com/article-1G2-3070400117/paxman-jeremy-1950-jeremy.html |archive-date=5 October 2013 }} Keith Paxman's father was a worsted spinner, who became sufficiently prosperous as a travelling sales representative to send his son to public school in Bradford. The Dickson family were wealthier, with Keith's father-in-law, a self-made success, paying the Paxman children's school fees.{{Cite web|url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/whodoyouthinkyouare/past-stories/jeremy-paxman.shtml|title=BBC – Who Do You Think You Are? – Past Stories – Jeremy Paxman|publisher=BBC|access-date=12 March 2019}}

Paxman is the eldest of four children: one of his brothers, Giles Paxman (1951−2025), was the British ambassador to Spain (having previously been ambassador to Mexico), and the other, James (born 1953), is chief executive of the Dartmoor Preservation Association.{{cite news|url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/uknews/5999228/Jeremy-Paxmans-brother-launches-battle-against-wind-turbines.html|title=Jeremy Paxman's brother launches battle against wind turbines|date=10 August 2009|work=The Telegraph|access-date=15 April 2013|location=London|first=Caroline|last=Gammell|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130108142526/https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/uknews/5999228/Jeremy-Paxmans-brother-launches-battle-against-wind-turbines.html|archive-date=8 January 2013}} His sister, Jenny (born 1957), is a producer at BBC Radio.

Paxman was brought up in Hampshire, Bromsgrove, and Peopleton near Pershore in Worcestershire.{{cite book |last=Paxman |first=Jeremy |date=2016 |title=A Life in Questions|location=London |publisher=William Collins |pages=1, 11, 32 |isbn=9780008128302 |author-link=Jeremy Paxman}} He went to Malvern College in 1964,{{cite news|url= http://www.pressgazette.co.uk/story.asp?storycode=34562|title= Toffs at the top|work= Press Gazette|date= 16 June 2006|access-date= 8 September 2010|url-status= dead|archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20110616101832/http://www.pressgazette.co.uk/story.asp?storycode=34562|archive-date= 16 June 2011|df= dmy-all}} and later read English at St Catharine's College, Cambridge,{{cite news|url=https://www.independent.co.uk/news/people/profiles/jeremy-paxman-the-outsider-462914.html|title=Jeremy Paxman: The outsider|work=The Independent|date=25 August 2007|access-date=6 April 2010|location=London|first=Ian|last=Burrell|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090204231023/http://www.independent.co.uk/news/people/profiles/jeremy-paxman-the-outsider-462914.html|archive-date=4 February 2009}}{{cite news |last=Akbar |first=Arifa |title=Now Paxman rails against the 'Scottish Raj' |work=The Independent |date=14 March 2005 |url=https://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/this-britain/now-paxman-rails-against-the-scottish-raj-7907177.html |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/archive/20220608/https://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/this-britain/now-paxman-rails-against-the-scottish-raj-7907177.html |archive-date=8 June 2022 |url-access=subscription |url-status=live |location=London |access-date=2 January 2018 }} where he edited the university student newspaper Varsity.{{cite news |last=Rayner |first=Jay |title=Hah! |work=Comment |date=19 May 2002 |url=http://observer.guardian.co.uk/comment/story/0,,718152,00.html |location=London |access-date=15 April 2013 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070319134949/http://observer.guardian.co.uk/comment/story/0,,718152,00.html |archive-date=19 March 2007 }} While at Cambridge, Paxman was briefly a member of the Cambridge Universities Labour Club.{{cite web |url=http://www.radiotimes.com/news/2014-01-27/jeremy-paxman-i-love-this-country--often-we-dont-know-how-lucky-we-are |title=Britain's Great War: "I feel in awe of my parents' generation and guilty having a privileged life" says Jeremy Paxman |access-date=12 May 2015 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150613022912/http://www.radiotimes.com/news/2014-01-27/jeremy-paxman-i-love-this-country--often-we-dont-know-how-lucky-we-are |archive-date=13 June 2015 }} He has since been made an honorary fellow of the College.

In January 2006, Paxman was the subject of an episode of the BBC genealogy series Who Do You Think You Are?. The documentary concluded that he was descended from Roger Packsman, a 14th-century politician from Suffolk who had changed his name to Paxman to impress the electorate ({{lang|la|pax}} being Latin for 'peace'). Paxman's maternal grandmother was born in Glasgow, Scotland. The programme generated much publicity before its transmission by displaying him with tears in his eyes on camera when informed that his impoverished great-grandmother Mary McKay's poor relief had been revoked because she had a child out of wedlock.{{cite news |last=Peek |first=Sitala |title=The Day Paxman Shed a Tear |url=http://www.bucksfreepress.co.uk/features/newsfeatures/671528.the_day_paxman_shed_a_tear/ |work=Bucks Free Press |date=11 January 2006 |access-date=15 April 2013 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131111181311/http://www.bucksfreepress.co.uk/features/newsfeatures/671528.the_day_paxman_shed_a_tear/ |archive-date=11 November 2013 }}

Paxman joined the BBC's graduate trainee programme in 1972. He started in local radio, at BBC Radio Brighton. He moved to Belfast, where he reported on the Troubles. He moved to London in 1977. Two years later he transferred from the Tonight programme to Panorama. After five years reporting from places such as Beirut, Uganda and Central America, he read the Six O'Clock News for two years, before moving to BBC1's Breakfast Time programme.

Paxman became a presenter of Newsnight in 1989.

On 13 May 1997 he interviewed Michael Howard, who had been Home Secretary until 13 days earlier after he had held a meeting with Derek Lewis, head of Her Majesty's Prison Service, about the possible dismissal of the governor of Parkhurst Prison, John Marriott. Howard was asked by Paxman the same question {{spaced ndash}} "Did you threaten to overrule him [Lewis]?" {{spaced ndash}} a total of twelve times in succession (fourteen, if the first two inquiries worded somewhat differently and some time before the succession of twelve are included).{{cite news |last=Horrocks |first=Peter |author-link=Peter Horrocks |title=Paxman versus Howard |url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/programmes/newsnight/newsnight25/4182569.stm |publisher=BBC News |date=21 January 2005 |access-date=15 April 2013 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090204222306/http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/programmes/newsnight/newsnight25/4182569.stm |archive-date=4 February 2009 }}

During a 20th anniversary edition of Newsnight in 2000, Paxman told Howard that he had simply been trying to prolong the interview because the next item in the running order was not ready: "By the time I'd asked the question five or six times... it was clear... that you [Howard] weren't going to answer it... at which point a voice came in my ear and said 'The next piece of tape isn't cut, you'd better carry on with this for a while' and I'm afraid I couldn't think of anything else to ask you."

In 1998, Denis Halliday, a United Nations Humanitarian Coordinator, resigned his post in Iraq, describing the effects of his own organisation's sanctions as genocide.{{cite news |title=Former U.N. Humanitarian Coordinator for Iraq Denis Halliday opposes U.N.'s sanctions |url=http://www.cnn.com/chat/transcripts/2001/01/16/halliday/ |publisher=CNN |date=16 January 2001 |access-date=15 April 2013 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120716181220/http://www.cnn.com/chat/transcripts/2001/01/16/halliday/ |archive-date=16 July 2012 }} Paxman asked Halliday in a Newsnight interview, "Aren't you just an apologist for Saddam Hussein?"

In February 2003, Paxman was criticised by the Broadcasting Standards Commission over a Newsnight interview in which he questioned the then Liberal Democrat leader Charles Kennedy about his drinking. The commission said that the questioning was "overly intrusive in nature and tone and had exceeded acceptable boundaries for broadcast".{{cite news | url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/uknews/1423213/Paxman-carpeted-over-Kennedy-interview.html | location=London | work=The Daily Telegraph | first=Matt | last=Born | title=Paxman carpeted over Kennedy interview | date=27 February 2003 | url-status=live | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160229091026/https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/uknews/1423213/Paxman-carpeted-over-Kennedy-interview.html | archive-date=29 February 2016 | df=dmy-all }}

In 2003, Prime Minister Tony Blair opted to make the case for the invasion of Iraq via questions from a TV studio audience, mediated by Paxman. The programme is chiefly remembered for the fact that Paxman asked Blair if he and U.S. President Bush prayed together. Blair replied, "No, Jeremy. We don't pray together." To which Paxman replied, "But why not?"{{cite news |last=Clarke |first=Steve |title=BBC America Banks on Brash Brit: Network Hopes Paxman is Next U.S. Hit |url=https://variety.com/2007/tv/features/bbc-america-banks-on-brash-brit-1117967484/ |work=Variety |date=22 June 2007 |access-date=15 April 2013 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090202101043/http://www.variety.com/article/VR1117967484.html?categoryId=2610&cs=1 |archive-date=2 February 2009 }}{{cite news |last=Assinder |first=Nick |title=Blair Tries to Shift Focus |url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk_politics/1987432.stm |publisher=BBC News |date=14 May 2002 |access-date=15 April 2013 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170908144234/http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk_politics/1987432.stm |archive-date=8 September 2017 }}

During the 2005 general election, some viewers complained to the BBC that Paxman's questioning of party leaders had been rude and aggressive.{{cite news |last=Holder |first=Matt |title=Paxman Special Sparks Backlash |url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/newswatch/ukfs/hi/newsid_4460000/newsid_4461600/4461649.stm |publisher=BBC News |date=19 April 2005 |access-date=15 April 2013 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130425195746/http://news.bbc.co.uk/newswatch/ukfs/hi/newsid_4460000/newsid_4461600/4461649.stm |archive-date=25 April 2013 }}{{cite news |title=I'm Only Human, Says Paxman |url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/newswatch/ukfs/hi/newsid_4490000/newsid_4493600/4493665.stm |publisher=BBC News |date=29 April 2005 |access-date=15 April 2013 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121221054416/http://news.bbc.co.uk/newswatch/ukfs/hi/newsid_4490000/newsid_4493600/4493665.stm |archive-date=21 December 2012 }} He was criticised for his 5 am interview with George Galloway after his election as the Respect MP for Bethnal Green and Bow by the just defeated Oona King.{{cite web|url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/radio4/today/listenagain/ram/today5_oonaking_20050511.ram |title=Oona King – BBC Radio 4 Interview (RAM file) |date=11 May 2005 |access-date=9 January 2010 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090325052121/http://www.bbc.co.uk/radio4/today/listenagain/ram/today5_oonaking_20050511.ram |archive-date=25 March 2009 }} Paxman asked Galloway more than once whether he was proud of having got rid of "one of the very few black women in Parliament."{{cite news |title=Paxman v Galloway |url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/politics/vote_2005/blog/4519553.stm |publisher=BBC News |date=6 May 2005 |access-date=15 April 2013 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130326003421/http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/politics/vote_2005/blog/4519553.stm |archive-date=26 March 2013 }} Galloway cut the interview short. King later said she "did not wish to be defined, by either [her] ethnicity or religious background."

On 11 April 2012, Paxman interviewed Russell Brand about Brand's political views and the article he wrote for the New Statesman. The interview went viral as Brand stated that it was "futile" to vote and that a "political revolution" was needed. After this interview, Paxman revealed that he had not voted either in some previous elections.{{Cite news|url=https://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/tv/news/jeremy-paxman-i-understand-why-russell-brand-doesnt-votei-didnt-either-8921410.html|title=Jeremy Paxman: I understand why Russell Brand doesn't vote...I didn't|date=5 November 2013|work=The Independent|first=Daisy|last=Wyatt|access-date=7 April 2017|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170408083030/http://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/tv/news/jeremy-paxman-i-understand-why-russell-brand-doesnt-votei-didnt-either-8921410.html|archive-date=8 April 2017}}

On 26 June 2012, he interviewed the Economic Secretary to the Treasury Chloe Smith about Chancellor George Osborne's decision that day to delay plans to increase fuel duty. Paxman questioned the apparent change in her views on fuel duty.{{cite news |url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-politics-18606060 |title=BBC Newsnight Interview |publisher=BBC |date=26 June 2012 |access-date=29 June 2012 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120628190830/http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-politics-18606060 |archive-date=28 June 2012 }} Senior politicians, including John Prescott, questioned Osborne's judgement for sending a junior minister onto the programme in place of himself.{{cite news|first= Ben|last= Quinn|url= https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2012/jun/27/tory-minister-chloe-smith-newsnight-disaster?newsfeed=true|title= George Osborne branded a coward after Tory minister's Newsnight disaster|newspaper= The Guardian|date= 27 June 2012|access-date= 29 June 2012|location= London|url-status= live|archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20150403001049/http://www.theguardian.com/politics/2012/jun/27/tory-minister-chloe-smith-newsnight-disaster?newsfeed=true|archive-date= 3 April 2015|df= dmy-all}}{{cite news |url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-politics-18608133 |publisher=BBC News |title=David Cameron denies George Osborne 'hid' after fuel U-turn |date=27 June 2012 |access-date=29 June 2012 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120630015514/http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-politics-18608133 |archive-date=30 June 2012 }}

The BBC announced Paxman's departure from Newsnight at the end of April 2014. He had told Lord Hall of Birkenhead, the director-general of the BBC, and James Harding, the BBC head of news, that he wished to leave in July 2013, but agreed to stay on Newsnight for another year after the programme had been damaged by the Savile and Lord McAlpine scandals.[https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/entertainment-arts-27230684 "Jeremy Paxman to quit BBC Two's Newsnight"] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140430192759/http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/entertainment-arts-27230684 |date=30 April 2014 }}, BBC News, 30 April 2014 In his statement Paxman commented: "After 25 years, I should rather like to go to bed at much the same time as most people."

Paxman's brusque manner is not restricted to political interviews. When around 2005 Newsnight{{'}}s editor decided to broadcast brief weather forecasts instead of financial reports Paxman openly ridiculed the decision: "The forecast: it's April, what do you expect?"{{cite news|title=Paxo's Weather Report|url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/comment/telegraph-view/3616249/Paxos-weather-report.html|work=The Daily Telegraph|date=16 April 2005|location=London|access-date=6 May 2010|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110604124053/https://www.telegraph.co.uk/comment/telegraph-view/3616249/Paxos-weather-report.html|archive-date=4 June 2011}} The financial reports were re-introduced after a few weeks.

Paxman presented his last Newsnight on 18 June 2014 in an edition which included an interview with Lord Mandelson and one with London Mayor Boris Johnson, while they both rode a tandem bicycle, as well as a brief reappearance of Michael Howard who, following on from his 1997 interview, was simply asked: "Did you?". The closing theme was replaced with I'd Like to Teach the World to Sing by The New Seekers. The programme ended with a brief post-credits scene with Paxman standing in front of a weather map exclaiming "Tomorrow's weather: more of the same! I don't know why they make such a fuss about it" in reference to the 2005 weather forecasts.{{cite news | url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/entertainment-arts-27903226 | publisher=BBC News | title=Jeremy Paxman hosts his final Newsnight | date=19 June 2014 | url-status=live | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140619013149/http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/entertainment-arts-27903226 | archive-date=19 June 2014 | df=dmy-all }}

Paxman has presented the weekly TV programme review Did You See...? and You Decide. From 1994 to 2023, he was the quizmaster for University Challenge, bringing him the distinction of "longest-serving current quizmaster on British TV."{{cite web|title=UK Game Show Records|url=http://www.ukgameshows.com/ukgs/UK_Game_Show_Records#Hosts|publisher=UKGameShows.com|access-date=4 July 2007|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100106090506/http://ukgameshows.com/ukgs/UK_Game_Show_Records#Hosts|archive-date=6 January 2010}} In 2013, the BBC received 44 complaints after Paxman's "acerbic" remarks caused a 20-year-old contestant to repeatedly apologise for answering a question wrong.{{cite news |title=Jeremy Paxman draws complaints for scoffing at University Challenge contestant |newspaper=The Daily Telegraph|first=James|last=Lachno|date=13 February 2013 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230604214154/https://www.telegraph.co.uk/culture/tvandradio/9867033/Jeremy-Paxman-draws-complaints-for-scoffing-at-University-Challenge-contestant.html |archive-date=2023-06-04 |url-status=live |url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/culture/tvandradio/9867033/Jeremy-Paxman-draws-complaints-for-scoffing-at-University-Challenge-contestant.html}} In October 2022, an ITV documentary, Paxman: Putting Up With Parkinson's, revealed how the disease has impacted him{{Cite web |last=MD |first=Peter Grinspoon |date=2018-08-24 |title=Cannabidiol (CBD): What we know and what we don't |url=https://www.health.harvard.edu/blog/cannabidiol-cbd-what-we-know-and-what-we-dont-2018082414476 |access-date=2022-10-04 |website=Harvard Health |language=en}} and revealed that Paxman recorded his very last episode of University Challenge on 15 October 2022, which aired on 29 May 2023.{{Citation |title=Paxman: Putting Up With Parkinson's – Paxman: Putting Up With Parkinson's |url=https://www.itv.com/hub/paxman-putting-up-with-parkinsons/10a2082a0001 |language=en |access-date=2022-10-04}}{{Cite web |date=2022-10-04 |title=TV tonight: Jeremy Paxman on Parkinson's, dissecting brains and quitting University Challenge |url=https://www.theguardian.com/tv-and-radio/2022/oct/04/tv-tonight-jeremy-paxman-on-parkinsons-dissecting-brains-and-quitting-university-challenge |access-date=2022-10-04 |website=The Guardian |language=en}} He presented a weekly compilation of highlights from the domestic edition of Newsnight from February 2008 until shortly after the 2008 U.S. election on BBC America and BBC World, when the American programme was cancelled. The programme is still aired on BBC World.{{cite news|last=Holmwood|first=Leigh|title=Paxman Crosses the Pond|url=http://media.guardian.co.uk/bbc/story/0,,2105601,00.html|work=The Guardian|date=18 June 2007 | location=London|access-date=15 April 2013}}

In April 2006, The Sun claimed that Paxman earned £800,000 for his Newsnight job and £240,000 for presenting University Challenge, bringing his TV earnings to a yearly total of £1,040,000. This was one of a series of BBC salary leaks in the tabloid press that prompted an internal BBC investigation.{{cite news|title=BBC Probes DJ Salary Disclosure|url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/entertainment/4919678.stm|publisher=BBC News|date=19 April 2006|access-date=15 April 2013|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090203062308/http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/entertainment/4919678.stm|archive-date=3 February 2009}}

Paxman appeared as himself in an episode of BBC comedy The Thick of It that aired in January 2007. He is seen grilling Junior Minister Ben Swain (played by Justin Edwards) in a disastrous Newsnight interview.{{cite news|title=Ben is Grilled by Jeremy Paxman {{!}} The Thick of It {{!}} BBC Studios

|url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ALNjevGdB5g|via=YouTube|date=29 April 2010|access-date=15 April 2013|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131006191742/http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ALNjevGdB5g|archive-date=6 October 2013}}

Beginning on 15 February 2009, Paxman's four-part documentary The Victorians was transmitted on BBC One. The series explores Victorian art and culture.{{cite news|url= https://www.theguardian.com/media/2009/feb/16/tv-ratings-jeremy-paxman-victorians|title= TV ratings: Paxman's Victorians launches with more than 4m|work= The Guardian|date= 16 February 2009|access-date= 17 February 2009|location= London|first= Leigh|last= Holmwood|url-status= live|archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20131031062916/http://www.theguardian.com/media/2009/feb/16/tv-ratings-jeremy-paxman-victorians|archive-date= 31 October 2013|df= dmy-all}} From 27 February until 26 March 2012, BBC One broadcast his series Empire, examining the history and legacy of the British Empire.

In 2014, Paxman presented Britain's Great War, an accompaniment to his 2013 book Great Britain's Great War.

On 26 March 2015, Paxman co-presented, with Kay Burley, David Cameron and Ed Miliband Live: The Battle for Number 10, in which he interviewed both British Prime Minister David Cameron and Opposition Leader Ed Miliband regarding their track record in politics and their plans if elected Prime Minister in the general election set for May of that year. He also hosted Channel 4's Alternative Election Night with David Mitchell. He then later co-presented a similar programme with Faisal Islam, interviewing Jeremy Corbyn and Theresa May before the 2017 general election on 29 May, May v Corbyn Live: The Battle for Number 10.{{cite web | last=Phipps | first=Claire | title=The Snap: May and Corbyn take on Jeremy Paxman – separately | newspaper=The Guardian | date=29 May 2017 | url=https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2017/may/29/the-snap-may-corbyn-jeremy-paxman-separately | access-date=29 May 2017 | url-status=live | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170529064217/https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2017/may/29/the-snap-may-corbyn-jeremy-paxman-separately | archive-date=29 May 2017 | df=dmy-all }}{{cite web | title=May v Corbyn Live: The Battle for Number 10 on Channel 4, Mon 29 May 8:30pm | website=TVGuide.co.uk | date=29 May 2017 | url=http://www.tvguide.co.uk/detail/2697927/128131018/may-v-corbyn-live-the-battle-for-number-10 | access-date=29 May 2017 | url-status=live | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170601004515/http://www.tvguide.co.uk/detail/2697927/128131018/may-v-corbyn-live-the-battle-for-number-10 | archive-date=1 June 2017 | df=dmy-all }}

File:Jeremy Paxman, September 2009 2 cropped.jpg

Paxman's first book, A Higher Form of Killing (1982), written with then BBC colleague and friend Robert Harris, arose out of an edition of the Panorama programme they had made together on biological and chemical warfare. In a revised 2002 version they asserted that Iraq possessed chemical and biological weapons. In 1985, Paxman published Through the Volcanoes: A Central American Journey, an eyewitness account of people, places and politics. Friends in High Places: Who Runs Britain? (1991) was the result of numerous detailed interviews with the powerful or highly influential, what used to be called The Establishment. 1999 saw the publication of his The English: A Portrait of a People. The Political Animal: An Anatomy (2003), again based on extensive interviews, examines the motivations and methods of those who constitute the author's professional prey: Westminster politicians.

The otherwise-republican{{cite news |url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/uknews/the_queens_diamond_jubilee/9307361/Jeremy-Paxman-Were-all-monarchists-now-even-me.html |title=Jeremy Paxman: We'e all monarchists now – even me – Telegraph |access-date=12 May 2015 |location=London |work=The Daily Telegraph |date=3 June 2012 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151026201752/https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/uknews/the_queens_diamond_jubilee/9307361/Jeremy-Paxman-Were-all-monarchists-now-even-me.html |archive-date=26 October 2015 }} Paxman's On Royalty, which entailed the cooperation of Britain's Royal Family, became by the time it was published in 2006 a defence of the country's constitutional monarchy. His recent books have been big sellers. His history book, The Victorians: Britain through the Paintings of the Age, published in 2009, was accompanied by a BBC documentary series. In his introduction, Paxman acknowledged that the Irish writer Neil Hegarty had played a significant role in editing the book and bringing it to completion. Paxman stated that since all television is a "collaborative exercise", it was "rather silly for this book – which accompanies a television series – to appear with only one name on the cover."{{cite news |url=https://www.theguardian.com/books/2009/mar/20/jeremy-paxman-victorians-neil-hegarty |work=The Guardian |title=Jeremy Paxman too busy to finish his own best-seller |last=Flood |first=Alison |date=20 March 2009 |location=London |access-date=15 April 2013 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140513161909/http://www.theguardian.com/books/2009/mar/20/jeremy-paxman-victorians-neil-hegarty |archive-date=13 May 2014 }} Paxman's most recent book is a study of the British Empire, Empire: What Ruling the World Did to the British.{{cite news| url = https://www.theguardian.com/books/2011/oct/05/empire-ruling-world-paxman-review| title = Jeremy Paxman's survey of British imperial rule is sharp and engaging| last = Porter| first = Bernard| date = 5 October 2011| access-date = 11 October 2011| work = The Guardian| location = London| url-status = live| archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20140829030400/http://www.theguardian.com/books/2011/oct/05/empire-ruling-world-paxman-review| archive-date = 29 August 2014| df = dmy-all}}{{cite news | url=https://www.theguardian.com/media/2011/oct/09/jeremy-paxman-felt-myself-outsider | title=Jeremy Paxman: 'I've always felt myself to be an outsider' | work=The Guardian | date=9 October 2011 | access-date=13 October 2011 | last=Moss | first=Stephen | location=London | url-status=live | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140513162025/http://www.theguardian.com/media/2011/oct/09/jeremy-paxman-felt-myself-outsider | archive-date=13 May 2014 | df=dmy-all }}

Paxman kept a detached tone while writing his memoir, A Life in Questions, which was published in October 2016.{{cite book|author=Jeremy Paxman|title=A Life in Questions|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=e1qQDAEACAAJ|date=1 October 2016|publisher=HarperCollins Publishers Limited|isbn=978-0-00-820153-1|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171231224703/https://books.google.com/books?id=e1qQDAEACAAJ|archive-date=31 December 2017}}{{Cite news|url=https://www.theguardian.com/books/2016/oct/10/a-life-in-questions-jeremy-paxman-review|title=A Life in Questions review – Jeremy Paxman keeps his distance in his memoir|last=Anthony|first=Andrew|date=10 October 2016|work=The Guardian|access-date=27 July 2017|issn=0261-3077|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170722132932/https://www.theguardian.com/books/2016/oct/10/a-life-in-questions-jeremy-paxman-review|archive-date=22 July 2017}}

Paxman presented the flagship BBC Radio 4 show Start the Week from 1998 to 2002.

Since March 2023 Paxman has contributed to a podcast 'Movers and Shakers' which is "about life with Parkinson's". Recordings are made in a Notting Hill pub and presenters (Rory Cellan-Jones, Gillian Lacey-Solymar, Mark Mardell, Paul Mayhew-Archer, Sir Nicholas Mostyn and Jeremy Paxman) discuss "the highs and lows, trials and tribulations, of living with the condition".{{cite web |url=https://www.theguardian.com/society/2023/jul/23/movers-and-shakers-podcast-series-two-parkinsons-disease-paxman |work=Guardian |title=In some ways, Parkinson's has meant a new lease of life': meet the Movers and Shakers |date=23 July 2023 |location=London |access-date=21 March 2024 |last1=Adams |first1=Tim }}{{cite web |url=https://inews.co.uk/inews-lifestyle/money/movers-shakers-podcast-jeremy-paxman-rory-cellan-jones-parkinsons-2266880 |work=iNews |title=Movers and Shakers podcast: Jeremy Paxman and Rory Cellan-Jones tell of a life with Parkinson's |date=11 April 2023 |location=London |access-date=21 March 2024 }}{{cite web |url=https://rts.org.uk/article/movers-and-shakers-podcast-de-grimifying-disability |work=iNews |title=The Movers and Shakers podcast is 'de-grimifying' disability |date=10 May 2023 |location=London |access-date=21 March 2024 }} In March 2024 The UK Broadcasting Press Guild made 'Movers and Shakers' its 'UK Podcast of the Year'.{{cite tweet |user=BPGPressGuild |number=1770831344081244567 |title=The winner of the UK Podcast of the Year is ⭐ Movers and Shakers ⭐ @moversand6 @JeremyPaxman @MarkIMardell @ruskin147 @ParkinsonsUK #BPGAwards |access-date=21 March 2024 }}

Paxman is a Vice-President of The London Library.{{Cite web|url=https://www.londonlibrary.co.uk/about-us/patron-president-trustees|title=Patrons, Presidents and Trustees|website=londonlibrary.co.uk|access-date=26 November 2019}}

During John Birt's tenure as director-general of the BBC, the British press occasionally reported Paxman's criticism of Birt. Birt was suspected at first to be an outsider brought in by a hostile government to supervise the BBC's break-up and ultimate sell-off. Birt then publicly questioned the confrontational approach of certain TV and radio interviewers. This was seen at the time as coded criticism of Paxman himself and of his BBC colleague John Humphrys.{{cite news | url=https://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/diary-fired-by-john-birts-phillippic-1572182.html | title=DIARY: Fired by John Birt's Phillippic | work=The Independent | location=London | first=John | last=Walsh | date=9 February 1995 | access-date=6 May 2010 | url-status=live | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120908175258/http://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/diary-fired-by-john-birts-phillippic-1572182.html | archive-date=8 September 2012 | df=dmy-all }}{{cite news | url=https://www.theguardian.com/media/2000/aug/07/broadcasting.mondaymediasection | title=I don't snort | work=The Guardian | location=London | first=Merope | last=Mills | date=7 August 2000 | access-date=6 May 2010 | url-status=live | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140509024339/http://www.theguardian.com/media/2000/aug/07/broadcasting.mondaymediasection | archive-date=9 May 2014 | df=dmy-all }}

On 24 August 2007, Paxman delivered the MacTaggart Memorial Lecture at the Edinburgh International Television Festival.{{cite news|last=Paxman|first=Jeremy|title=MacTaggart Memorial Lecture: Never Mind the Scandals: What's It All For?|url=http://image.guardian.co.uk/sys-files/Media/documents/2007/08/24/MacTaggartLecture.pdf|work=The Guardian|date=24 August 2007|access-date=29 August 2007|location=London|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080227014512/http://image.guardian.co.uk/sys-files/Media/documents/2007/08/24/MacTaggartLecture.pdf|archive-date=27 February 2008}} In it he was critical of much of contemporary television in Britain. He expressed concern that as a consequence of recent production scandals the medium was "rapidly losing public trust". Speaking of prime minister Tony Blair's criticism of the mass media at the time he left office, Paxman asserted that, though often, press and broadcasting may be "oppositional" in relation to the government of the day, this "could only benefit democracy". "Those Reithian goals, to 'inform, educate and entertain,' still remained valid". Paxman took the opportunity to dismiss as "inaccurate" the attribution to him, which was in fact, Louis Heren,{{cite news|title=No disrespect|url=http://www.economist.com/node/13135192|newspaper=The Economist|date=18 February 2009|access-date=23 May 2012|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120327035058/http://www.economist.com/node/13135192|archive-date=27 March 2012}} of the oft-quoted "Why is this lying bastard lying to me?" as the supposed dominant thought in his mind when interviewing senior politicians. He called on the television industry to "rediscover a sense of purpose".

In November 2012, Paxman publicly defended George Entwistle following his resignation as director-general of the BBC in connection with a Newsnight report which falsely implicated Lord McAlpine in the North Wales child abuse scandal. Paxman claimed Entwistle had been "brought low by cowards and incompetents" and criticised appointments of "biddable people" to the BBC in the wake of the Hutton Inquiry, as well as cuts to BBC programme budgets and "bloated" BBC management.{{cite web|title=Jeremy Paxman: George Entwistle brought low by "cowards and incompetents"|url=http://www.newstatesman.com/staggers/2012/11/jeremy-paxman-george-entwistle-brought-low-cowards-and-incompetents|work=New Statesman|access-date=11 November 2012|date=10 November 2012|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121113203824/http://www.newstatesman.com/staggers/2012/11/jeremy-paxman-george-entwistle-brought-low-cowards-and-incompetents|archive-date=13 November 2012}}

In August 2013, Paxman appeared on Newsnight with a beard, causing a Twitter trend when he accused the BBC of having an aversion to beards.{{cite news |url=https://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/tv/news/is-the-bbc-pogonophobic-jeremy-paxmans-beard-raises-a-hairy-issue-8760547.html |title=Is the BBC pogonophobic? Jeremy Paxman's beard raises a hairy issue |first1=Matilda |last1=Battersby |first2=Sherna |last2=Noah |work=The Independent |date=14 August 2013 |access-date=15 August 2013 |location=London |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130817051435/http://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/tv/news/is-the-bbc-pogonophobic-jeremy-paxmans-beard-raises-a-hairy-issue-8760547.html |archive-date=17 August 2013 }}

In 1996 Paxman received BAFTA's Richard Dimbleby Award for "outstanding presenter in the factual arena." Two years later he won the Royal Television Society's Interviewer of the Year Award for his Newsnight interview (see above) with Michael Howard, as well as the Broadcasting Press Guild's award for best "non-acting" performer. He gained another Richard Dimbleby Award in 2000 and was nominated for the award in 2001 and 2002. In total, Paxman has won five Royal Television Society awards. He won the award for International Current Affairs in 1985, and TV journalism interviewer/presenter of the year four times (1997, 1998, 2001 and 2008).{{cite web |url=http://www.personallyspeakingbureau.com/speaker/jeremy-paxman/ |title=Jeremy Paxman – Personally Speaking Bureau |access-date=12 May 2015 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160304001634/http://www.personallyspeakingbureau.com/speaker/jeremy-paxman/ |archive-date=4 March 2016 }}{{cite web |url=https://www.theguardian.com/media/2008/feb/21/television1 |title=Royal television Society Television Journalism Awards: the winners Media The Guardian |website=TheGuardian.com |date=21 February 2008 |access-date=12 May 2015 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141006203706/http://www.theguardian.com/media/2008/feb/21/television1 |archive-date=6 October 2014 }}

Paxman was given an honorary doctorate by the University of Leeds in the summer of 1999 and in December that year received an honorary degree from the University of Bradford.{{cite news|title=University Honours Paxman and Birt|url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/education/558355.stm|publisher=BBC News|date=10 December 1999|access-date=15 April 2013|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170908143758/http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/education/558355.stm|archive-date=8 September 2017}} In 2006 he received an honorary doctorate from the Open University. Among those at the ceremony were three members of the Open University's 1999 University Challenge team. Paxman is a Fellow by special election of St Edmund Hall, Oxford, and an Honorary Fellow of his alma mater, St. Catharine's College, Cambridge. In July 2016, Paxman was awarded an honorary degree from the University of Exeter for achievements in the field of broadcasting and journalism.

File:Jeremy paxman dec 2007.jpg

Paxman formerly lived with television producer Elizabeth Clough in Stonor, southeast Oxfordshire. They have three children.{{cite news |url= https://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/2002/may/19/foodanddrink.television |title=Profile: Jeremy Paxman |date=19 May 2002 |work=The Observer |location= London |access-date=17 November 2013 |url-status=live |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20130826025619/http://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/2002/may/19/foodanddrink.television |archive-date=26 August 2013}} The couple, who did not marry, amicably separated in 2016 after 35 years together.{{cite news |last=Walter |first=Stephen |url= https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2017/02/18/former-newsnight-presenter-jeremy-paxman-splits-partner-35-years/ |title=Former Newsnight presenter Jeremy Paxman splits from his partner of 35 years |work=The Daily Telegraph |location= London |date=18 February 2017 |access-date=18 February 2017 |url-status=live |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20170218110650/https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2017/02/18/former-newsnight-presenter-jeremy-paxman-splits-partner-35-years/ |archive-date=18 February 2017}}{{cite news |last=De Peyer |first=Robin |url= https://www.standard.co.uk/news/uk/jeremy-paxman-and-partner-elizabeth-clough-split-after-35-years-a3470171.html |title=Jeremy Paxman and partner Elizabeth Clough 'split after 35 years' |work=London Evening Standard |date=18 February 2017 |access-date=18 February 2017 |url-status=live |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20170218234456/https://www.standard.co.uk/news/uk/jeremy-paxman-and-partner-elizabeth-clough-split-after-35-years-a3470171.html |archive-date=18 February 2017}} He prefers to keep his private life "out of the spotlight" and says he is not interested in the private lives of others.{{Cite news |url= https://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/2002/may/19/foodanddrink.television |title=Hah! |date=19 May 2002 |work=The Guardian |access-date=27 July 2017 |location= London |first=Jay |last=Rayner |url-status=live |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20170918151854/https://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/2002/may/19/foodanddrink.television |archive-date=18 September 2017}} He has a flat in Kensington, London.{{Cite news |url= https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2017/02/18/former-newsnight-presenter-jeremy-paxman-splits-partner-35-years/ |title=Former Newsnight presenter Jeremy Paxman splits from partner of 35 years for woman 30 years his junior |first=Stephen |last=Walter |newspaper=The Telegraph |date=18 February 2017 |location= London |access-date=10 February 2020}}

Paxman supports Leeds United and enjoys fly fishing.{{cite press release |url= https://www.bbc.co.uk/pressoffice/biographies/biogs/news/jeremypaxman.shtml |title=Jeremy Paxman |publisher= BBC Press Office |date=8 June 2003 |archive-date=9 November 2010 |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20101109045526/http://www.bbc.co.uk/pressoffice/biographies/biogs/news/jeremypaxman.shtml |access-date=15 April 2013 |url-status=dead}} He is vice-chairman of the Wild Trout Trust conservation charity. He is also a patron of the charity Sustrans and east London homeless charity Caritas Anchor House.{{cite web |url= http://caritasanchorhouse.org.uk/our-supporters |title= Our Supporters |publisher= Caritas Anchor House |url-status= live |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20141207082342/http://caritasanchorhouse.org.uk/our-supporters/ |archive-date= 7 December 2014}}

In his twenties, Paxman unsuccessfully applied for the vacant editorship of the Labour-supporting weekly, the New Statesman; he said that in his youth he considered himself a socialist.{{cite news |url= https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2000/dec/17/labour.labour1997to99 |title=Focus: Is there a liberal elite? |work=The Observer |date=17 December 2000 |access-date=2 May 2010 |location=London |url-status=live |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20140509055226/http://www.theguardian.com/politics/2000/dec/17/labour.labour1997to99 |archive-date=9 May 2014 }}{{cite news |url= https://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/2009/feb/09/bbc-television |title=Decca Aitkenhead meets Jeremy Paxman |last=Aitkenhead |first=Decca |date=9 February 2009 |work=The Guardian |page=6 |access-date=9 February 2009 |location=London |url-status=live |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20140618114233/http://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/2009/feb/09/bbc-television |archive-date=18 June 2014}} He had previously stood as a communist candidate in his school elections. More recently, he has been described as "the archetypal floating voter", and Jon Snow once said that Paxman's greatest strength was being "not very political". In 2014, Paxman described himself as a one-nation conservative.{{cite news |url= https://www.independent.co.uk/news/people/jeremy-paxman-im-a-onenation-tory-and-newsnight-is-made-by-13yearolds-9566874.html |location= London |work=The Independent |first=Ian |last=Johnston |title=Jeremy Paxman: I'm a one-nation Tory and 'Newsnight' is made by 13-year-olds |date=26 June 2014 |quote="I have to be frank, I suppose I am a one-nation Tory, yes," he said. |url-status=live |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20150513084223/http://www.independent.co.uk/news/people/jeremy-paxman-im-a-onenation-tory-and-newsnight-is-made-by-13yearolds-9566874.html |archive-date=13 May 2015}} Elsewhere, Paxman has stated that he has no dominant political ideology:

{{cquote|I do understand we have to have a government, and I do firmly believe in democracy. So it's not true to say I'm not a political person. I am a political person. But I'm not a party political person. I don't believe there is a monopoly of wisdom in any one party. I suppose as one gets older – I would have described it at the age of 21 as the process of selling out, but another way of looking at it is to say, actually, the world is not a very simple place, and that as you get older simple-minded solutions seem less attractive.}}

In June 2014, Paxman, speaking at the Chalke Valley History Festival about his new book, Britain's Great War, said that Newsnight was made by "idealistic 13-year-olds" who "foolishly thought they could change the world". "Look, Newsnight is made by 13-year-olds. It's perfectly normal when you're young that you want to change the world," Paxman said. "The older you get, the more you realise what a fools' errand much of that is and that the thing to do is to manage the best you can to the advantage of as many people as possible." Speaking about his political views in general, he said he was "in favour of governments getting out of people's lives – particularly foreign government", saying Europe had been "nothing but trouble for us". He also joked that Belgium was a "pointless little country". "The closer you can take decision-making to the people affected by those decisions, the better."

In 2019, in an interview with 60 Minutes on Australia's Nine Network, Paxman said he voted remain in the 2016 United Kingdom European Union membership referendum (initially intending to vote leave), but believed the result had to be respected:

{{cquote|I went to the polling station intending to vote leave and I ended up voting remain, because as I walked in I thought "it's an awful institution the European Union but it's all we've got." So that's why I changed my mind... But actually I think now you can't tell people that you're gonna have a referendum and their vote will be respected and then not respect it, you just can't do it. It shows utter contempt for the voters.Archived at [https://ghostarchive.org/varchive/youtube/20211211/N3RBdFirLeY Ghostarchive]{{cbignore}} and the [https://web.archive.org/web/20190426220804/https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N3RBdFirLeY&gl=US&hl=en Wayback Machine]{{cbignore}}: {{cite web|date=18 April 2019|title=Why Jeremy Paxman wants the Brexit vote respected|url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N3RBdFirLeY|author=60 Minutes Australia|publisher=YouTube|access-date=4 May 2020}}{{cbignore}}}}

Paxman became a focus of media attention in October 2000 when a German Enigma machine, which had been stolen from Bletchley Park Museum, was inexplicably sent to him in the post. He returned it to the museum.{{cite news |title='No Ransom Paid' for Enigma Machine |url= http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk/978274.stm |work=BBC News |date=18 October 2000 |access-date=15 April 2013 |url-status=live |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20040716102308/http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk/978274.stm |archive-date=16 July 2004}}{{cite news |title=Paxman Returns Enigma Machine |url= http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/1904795.stm |work=BBC News |date=1 April 2002 |access-date=15 April 2013 |url-status=live |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20061218185054/http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/1904795.stm |archive-date=18 December 2006}}

In an interview with Emily Dean on a Times Radio podcast, Paxman described his experience with depression. He said that he takes psychiatric medication and has undergone Cognitive behavioural therapy. He stated that he regularly walks his dog, Derek, which "helps as he meets people", and that his dog "makes him laugh".{{Cite web|title=Jeremy Paxman – Walking The Dog with Emily Dean|url=https://open.spotify.com/episode/6lnCHk0MyH2ddnbXsVMwGv|access-date=11 January 2021|website=Spotify|date=3 August 2020}}

In September 2021, whilst promoting his book Black Gold: The History of How Coal Made Britain, Paxman revealed his support for Scottish independence. Talking to The Sunday Times, he said, "My view about the Union is that if there is to be a referendum then the English should be allowed a vote as well. We are supposedly a nation of equals, so we should be equally entitled to a vote. And although I am a quarter Scottish I would vote to separate, I think. Because I can't see what is gained by persistently giving the Jocks an excuse. We're always going to be friends."{{cite news |url= https://www.thenational.scot/news/19590503.jeremy-paxman-says-vote-scottish-independence/ |title=Jeremy Paxman says he would vote for Scottish independence |last=Nutt |first=Kathleen |date=19 September 2021 |work=The National |location= Glasgow |access-date=28 September 2021}}

Paxman revealed in May 2021 that he is receiving treatment for Parkinson's disease, describing his symptoms as "mild".{{Cite news |url= https://www.bbc.com/news/entertainment-arts-57206289 |title=Jeremy Paxman receiving treatment for Parkinson's disease |date=21 May 2021 |work=BBC News}} Shan Nicholas of Parkinson's UK said, "Previously, Jeremy pledged to donate his brain to the Parkinson's UK Brain Bank which will, one day, help scientists uncover the discoveries that will lead to better treatments and a cure for Parkinson's."{{cite news |url= http://www.theguardian.com/media/2021/may/21/jeremy-paxman-diagnosed-with-parkinsons-disease |title=Jeremy Paxman diagnosed with Parkinson's disease |agency=PA Media |date=21 May 2021 |work=The Guardian |location= London}}

In October 2022 an ITV documentary, Paxman: Putting Up With Parkinson's, revealed how the disease has impacted him – the programme showed him attending a ballet class, learning to play bowls, meeting experts and observing a brain dissection. He met Sharon Osbourne, the wife of fellow Parkinson's sufferer Ozzy Osbourne, to discuss the role of a partner or family carer; he agreed to her suggestion to one day try cannabidiol oil to relieve the symptoms of Parkinson's. The programme revealed that Paxman recorded his last episode of University Challenge on 15 October 2022.

In April 2024 Paxman delivered a petition to 10 Downing Street with recommendations concerning NHS treatment of patients with Parkinson's Disease, which he commented "may not kill you but it will make you wish you hadn't been born."{{cite web |last=Culley |first=Jeremy |date=12 April 2024 |title=Jeremy Paxman: Parkinson's 'makes you wish you hadn't been born' |url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-68795161 |website=BBC News |location=London |access-date=12 April 2024}}

File:Jeremy Paxman (cropped).jpg

While presenting a Newsnight segment in 2005, Paxman referred to Secretary of State for Health John Reid as an "attack dog". In response, Reid accused Paxman of criticising him due to Reid's Glaswegian accent. Paxman responded to Reid's comment by stating that he admired his "knowledge" and "strength of character", but could not understand why Reid went "doolally" over Paxman's criticism of him, further claiming that it was "extremely bizarre" that certain Scottish people had a "chip on their shoulder" over their nationality. He went on to state that "I mean down here we live under a sort of Scottish Raj... I don't see why there is any reason for them to feel chippy. Do we complain about it? No we don't. I think it's absurd. I don't understand wherein lies this angst." In reaction to Paxman's statements on Scotland, twenty Scottish MPs, including Jim Sheridan, Iain Luke and Brian Donohoe, signed a House of Commons motion criticising the statements as "insulting, irresponsible, divisive and snobbish".{{Cite news|title=Scots MPs slam Paxman 'Raj' jibe|url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/scotland/4350233.stm|website=BBC News|date=15 March 2005|access-date=22 November 2023}}

In 2008, Paxman's employment of domestic workers became the subject of public attention after the News of the World newspaper published an article about two Romanian nationals who had been employed by Paxman. The article contained testimonies from the two workers, who criticised Paxman for treating them "like a common serving girl" and paying wages of only £200 per week, which was under the British minimum wage (though as the two were live-in workers the minimum wage did not apply to them). They also criticised Paxman for not giving them an official employment contract or paid time off.{{Cite news|first=Emine|last=Saner|title=Paxo's dirty laundry gets a very public airing|url=https://www.theguardian.com/media/2008/feb/12/5|website=The Guardian|date=12 February 2008|access-date=22 November 2023}} In the same year, Paxman was the subject of further controversy when he described the work of Scottish poet Robert Burns as "sentimental doggerel" in the introduction of the 2008 edition of Chambers Dictionary.{{Cite news|title=Paxman slammed over Burns comment|url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/scotland/7561800.stm|website=BBC News|date=14 August 2008|access-date=22 November 2023}}

On a Newsnight segment aired on 31 May 2012, Paxman, discussing the possibility of a Greek withdrawal from the eurozone, stated that Greece, "like a bad kebab", faced the possibility of being "vomited out of the single currency". This statement was criticised in the same segment by the Greek Minister of Environment, Energy and Climate Change Giorgos Papakonstantinou, who told Paxman during an interview that "Can I take issue with your 'bad kebab’ analogy, which I find offensive. The Greek economy is in a crisis and the Greek people are going through a lot, and deserve some respect, and I really did not find that very appropriate."{{Cite news|first=Tim|last=Walker|title=BBC Newsnight presenter Jeremy Paxman is condemned over 'offensive' Greece kebab remarks|url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/culture/tvandradio/bbc/9303331/BBC-Newsnight-presenter-Jeremy-Paxman-is-condemned-over-offensive-Greece-kebab-remarks.html|website=The Telegraph|date=1 June 2012|access-date=22 November 2023}} While appearing on The Graham Norton Show in 2013, Paxman referred to British Prime Minister David Cameron as a "complete idiot" for his role in Britain's First World War centenary commemorations. In response, MP Rob Wilson wrote to the director-general of the BBC, Lord Hall, to demand an apology from Paxman.{{Cite news|first=Thair|last=Shaikh|title=Downing Street demands apology after Jeremy Paxman calls David Cameron 'complete idiot'|url=https://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/politics/downing-street-demands-apology-after-jeremy-paxman-calls-david-cameron-complete-idiot-8931226.html|website=The Independent|date=10 November 2013|access-date=22 November 2023}} In an interview conducted in the same year with Russell Brand, Paxman revealed that he had not voted at a recent election due to finding the available candidates "unappetising", which led to criticism from Deputy Prime Minister Nick Clegg.{{Cite news|first=Heather|last=Saul|title=Nick Clegg condemns 'sneering' Newsnight presenter Jeremy Paxman|url=https://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/politics/nick-clegg-condemns-sneering-newsnight-presenter-jeremy-paxman-8926307.html|website=The Independent|date=7 November 2013|access-date=22 November 2023}}

John Pilger has raised Paxman's membership of the British-American Project in the context of political biases of mainstream media.{{cite news | first=John | last=Pilger | title=Tainted hands across the water | date=13 December 2007 | work=New Statesman | url=http://www.newstatesman.com/media/2007/12/pilger-bap-values-british | access-date=26 November 2012 | quote=The BAP rarely gets publicity, which may have something to do with the high proportion of journalists who are alumni. Prominent BAP journalists are David Lipsey, Yasmin Alibhai-Brown and assorted Murdochites. The BBC is well represented. On the Today programme, James Naughtie, whose broadcasting has long reflected his own transatlantic interests, has been an alumnus since 1989. Today's newest voice, Evan Davis, formerly the BBC's zealous economics editor, is a member. And at the top of the BAP website home page is a photograph of Jeremy Paxman and his endorsement. 'A marvellous way of meeting a varied cross-section of transatlantic friends,' says he. | url-status=live | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130508063953/http://www.newstatesman.com/media/2007/12/pilger-bap-values-british | archive-date=8 May 2013 | df=dmy-all }}

Paxman was criticised{{by whom|date=September 2021}} for his presentation of the BBC documentary Britain's Great War. While describing how British conscientious objectors were jailed and threatened with the death penalty because killing was against their beliefs, Paxman ventured his own opinion that it was the objectors themselves who were at fault, and that they were "extreme". The conscientious objectors, Paxman said, "have always struck me as cranks".{{cite web|url=http://www.huffingtonpost.co.uk/2014/02/04/jeremy-paxman-britains-great-war-cranks_n_4721895.html|title=Jeremy Paxman Brands Conscientious Objectors of WW1 'Cranks' – Twitter Reacts|website=HuffPost|date=4 February 2014|access-date=2 August 2017|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170802204842/http://www.huffingtonpost.co.uk/2014/02/04/jeremy-paxman-britains-great-war-cranks_n_4721895.html|archive-date=2 August 2017}}{{cite news|url=http://www.dailyecho.co.uk/leisure/national/10987654.display/|title=Paxman attacked over war 'cranks'|newspaper=Daily Echo|location=Southampton|date=5 February 2014|access-date=2 August 2017|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170802163543/http://www.dailyecho.co.uk/leisure/national/10987654.display/|archive-date=2 August 2017}}

In 2017, Paxman's interviews of Jeremy Corbyn and Theresa May for the upcoming general election were described by journalist Michael Deacon as "embarrassing".{{cite news |url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2017/05/29/jeremy-paxman-used-brilliant-happened/ |title=Jeremy Paxman used to be brilliant. What happened? |access-date=30 May 2017 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170530072846/https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2017/05/29/jeremy-paxman-used-brilliant-happened/ |archive-date=30 May 2017 }} Deacon opined that Paxman's pugnacious style of questioning had become tired, claiming that he had been "doing an impression of himself".

• {{cite book|last1=Harris|first1=Robert|author-link=Robert Harris (novelist)|first2=Jeremy|last2=Paxman|title=A Higher Form of Killing: The Secret Story of Chemical and Biological Warfare|location=New York, N.Y.|publisher=Hill and Wang|year=1982|isbn=0-8090-5471-X|url-access=registration|url=https://archive.org/details/higherformofkill00harr}} New edition published as {{cite book|last1=Harris|first1=Robert|author-link=Robert Harris (novelist)|first2=Jeremy |last2=Paxman|title=A Higher Form of Killing: The Secret History of Gas and Germ Warfare|location=London|publisher=Arrow|year=2002|isbn=0-09-944159-4}}
• {{cite book|last=Paxman|first=Jeremy|title=Through the Volcanoes: A Central American Journey|location=London|publisher=Paladin|year=1985|isbn=0-586-08572-6}}
• {{cite book|last=Paxman|first=Jeremy|title=Friends in High Places: Who Runs Britain?|url=https://archive.org/details/friendsinhighpla00jere|url-access=registration|location=London; New York, N.Y.|publisher=Penguin|year=1991|isbn=0-14-015600-3}}
• {{cite book|last=Paxman|first=Jeremy|title=Fish, Fishing, and the Meaning of Life|location=London; New York, N.Y.|publisher=Penguin|year=1996|isbn=0-14-023741-0}}
• {{cite book|last=Paxman|first=Jeremy|title=The English: A Portrait of a People|location=London|publisher=Penguin|year=1999|isbn=0-14-026723-9}}
• The 20th Century Day by Day (Foreword by Jeremy Paxman)
• {{cite book|last=Paxman|first=Jeremy|title=The Political Animal: An Anatomy|location=London|publisher=Penguin|year=2003|isbn=0-14-028847-3}}
• {{cite book|last=Paxman|first=Jeremy|title=On Royalty|location=London; New York, N.Y.|publisher=Viking|year=2006|isbn=0-670-91662-5}}
• Gulliver's Travels by Jonathan Swift (Introduction by Jeremy Paxman)
• {{cite book|last=Paxman|first=Jeremy|title=The Victorians: Britain Through the Paintings of the Age|location=London|publisher=BBC Books|year=2009|isbn=978-1-84607-744-9}}
• {{cite book|last=Paxman|first=Jeremy|title=Empire: What Ruling the World Did to the British|location=London|publisher=Viking|year=2011|isbn=978-0-670-91957-4}}
• {{cite book|last=Paxman|first=Jeremy|title=Great Britain's Great War|location=London|publisher=Viking|year=2013|isbn=978-0-670-91961-1}}
• {{cite book|last=Paxman|first=Jeremy|title=Black Gold: The History of How Coal Made Britain |location=London|publisher=William Collins|year=2021|isbn=978-0-008-12834-0}}{{cite news | url=https://www.thetimes.com/culture/books/article/black-gold-the-history-of-how-coal-made-britain-by-jeremy-paxman-review-xtc7s33rl | title=Black Gold: The History of How Coal Made Britain by Jeremy Paxman review — striking a rich seam of history | last1=Duncan | first1=Emma }}

{{reflist}}

{{Commons category|Jeremy Paxman}}

• {{URL|jeremypaxman.co.uk|Official website}}
• {{IMDb name|id=0668096|name=Jeremy Paxman}}
• [https://www.bbc.co.uk/pressoffice/biographies/biogs/news/jeremypaxman.shtml Biography of Jeremy Paxman, member of the BBC's Press Office, at the official website of the BBC.]
• [http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/programmes/newsnight/8070803.stm BBC 'Newsnight' biography of Jeremy Paxman]
• [http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/programmes/newsnight/default.stm Official website of BBC's Newsnight programme]
• [https://web.archive.org/web/20100105054950/http://frontlineclub.com/events/2008/02/insight-with-jeremy-paxman---the-art-of-asking-the-right-question---fully-booked.html Paxman questioned by fellow-journalists at London's Frontline Club, February 2008]
• [https://web.archive.org/web/20080706173623/http://www.charlierose.com/shows/2007/05/15/1/a-conversation-with-jeremy-paxman Paxman interviewed at length on the US Charlie Rose Show, June 2007]

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