# Peter Kellner > Mediated Wiki article. Canonical URL: https://mediated.wiki/source/Peter_Kellner > Markdown URL: https://mediated.wiki/source/Peter_Kellner.md > Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Peter_Kellner > Source revision: 1257144492 > License: Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/) English journalist For the Czech businessman, see [Petr Kellner](/source/Petr_Kellner). Peter Kellner Kellner in 2009 Born Peter Jon Kellner (1946-10-02) 2 October 1946 (age 79) Lewes, Sussex, England Education King's College, Cambridge Occupation Journalist Spouse Catherine Ashton, Baroness Ashton of Upholland ​ ​ (m. 1988)​ Children 5 **Peter Jon Kellner** [CBE](/source/Commander_of_the_Order_of_the_British_Empire) (born 2 October 1946) is an English [journalist](/source/Journalist), former BBC *[Newsnight](/source/Newsnight)* reporter, [political commentator](/source/Pundit_(politics)), and former president of the [YouGov](/source/YouGov) opinion polling organisation in the [United Kingdom](/source/United_Kingdom). He is known for his appearances on TV, especially at [election times](/source/Elections_in_the_United_Kingdom). ## Early life Kellner was born in [Lewes](/source/Lewes), [Sussex](/source/Sussex). His father, Michael Kellner, was an Austrian Jew, born in 1920, who emigrated to [Mandatory Palestine](/source/Mandatory_Palestine) in 1938, after [Kristallnacht](/source/Kristallnacht), and later moved to Britain.[1] He was educated at [Haberdashers' Aske's Boys' School](/source/Haberdashers'_Boys'_School), [Cricklewood](/source/Cricklewood) (and later [Elstree](/source/Elstree)), [Minchenden Grammar School](/source/Minchenden_Grammar_School), [Southgate](/source/Southgate%2C_London), North London, and the [Royal Grammar School](/source/Royal_Grammar_School%2C_Newcastle_upon_Tyne), [Newcastle upon Tyne](/source/Newcastle_upon_Tyne), and has an [MA](/source/Master_of_Arts_(Oxford%2C_Cambridge%2C_and_Dublin)) in economics and statistics from [King's College, Cambridge](/source/King's_College%2C_Cambridge). ## Career Formerly the [political analyst](/source/Pundit) of the [BBC](/source/BBC) *[Newsnight](/source/Newsnight)* [current affairs](/source/Current_affairs_(news_format)) programme, Kellner was engaged by [YouGov](/source/YouGov)'s founders, [Stephan Shakespeare](/source/Stephan_Shakespeare) and [Nadhim Zahawi](/source/Nadhim_Zahawi), in December 2001. When YouGov floated for £18 million in April 2005, Kellner owned 6% of the company.[2] He was President of YouGov from 2007 until 2016, and was its Chairman from 2001 to 2007.[3] From 1969 to 2003 he was a newspaper journalist with *[The Sunday Times](/source/The_Sunday_Times)*, the *[New Statesman](/source/New_Statesman)*, *[The Independent](/source/The_Independent)*, *[The Observer](/source/The_Observer)* and the *[Evening Standard](/source/Evening_Standard)*.[3] He has also been a visiting fellow at [Nuffield College, Oxford](/source/Nuffield_College%2C_Oxford), and the [Institute for Policy Studies](/source/Institute_for_Policy_Studies), London and has advised several large corporations.[4] He was the chairman of NCVO (National Council for Voluntary Organisations) until 2019[5] and visiting scholar at Carnegie Europe. In 2011, he received a Special Recognition Award from the [Political Studies Association](/source/Political_Studies_Association) in recognition of his achievements in "bringing polling and intelligent use of numbers and figures to election coverage". Kellner was appointed [Commander of the Order of the British Empire](/source/Commander_of_the_Order_of_the_British_Empire) (CBE) in the [2023 New Year Honours](/source/2023_New_Year_Honours) for charitable services as chair of the NCVO.[6] ## Personal life He is married to [Catherine Ashton, Baroness Ashton of Upholland](/source/Catherine_Ashton), a [Labour Party](/source/Labour_Party_(UK)) politician, formerly [High Representative](/source/High_Representative_of_the_Union_for_Foreign_Affairs_and_Security_Policy) of the [European Union](/source/European_Union) for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy, the first person to be so appointed. They have two children.[3] Kellner has three other children from a previous marriage dissolved in 1988.[3] ## Bibliography - *Callaghan: The Road to Number 10*, (with [Christopher Hitchens](/source/Christopher_Hitchens)), Cassell, 1976 [ISBN](/source/ISBN_(identifier)) [978-0-304-29768-9](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Special:BookSources/978-0-304-29768-9) - *The Civil Servants: an Inquiry into Britain's Ruling Class* (with [Lord Crowther-Hunt](/source/Lord_Crowther-Hunt)), 1980 - *Democracy: 1,000 Years in Pursuit of British Liberty*, Mainstream, 2009 [ISBN](/source/ISBN_(identifier)) [978-1-84596-506-8](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Special:BookSources/978-1-84596-506-8) ## References 1. **[^](#cite_ref-1)** Platt, Edward (16 April 2015). ["Living by numbers: YouGov and the power of the pollsters"](http://www.newstatesman.com/politics/2015/04/living-numbers-yougov-and-power-pollsters). *New Statesman*. Retrieved 6 January 2017. 1. **[^](#cite_ref-2)** [Interview: Peter Kellner, YouGov (Evening Standard)](http://www.davidrowan.com/2005/04/interview-peter-kellner-yougov-evening.html) [Deprecated link](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:Archive.today_guidance) archived 29 October 2006 at [archive.today](/source/Archive.today), David Rowan, 20 April 2005 1. ^ [***a***](#cite_ref-whoswho_3-0) [***b***](#cite_ref-whoswho_3-1) [***c***](#cite_ref-whoswho_3-2) [***d***](#cite_ref-whoswho_3-3) ["Kellner, Peter Jon"](https://www.ukwhoswho.com/view/article/oupww/whoswho/U119785). *[Who's Who](/source/Who's_Who_(UK))* (2014 online ed.). A & C Black. Retrieved 26 May 2014. (Subscription or [UK public library membership](https://www.ukwhoswho.com/page/subscribe#public) required.) 1. **[^](#cite_ref-4)** [Peter Kellner's Column](http://my.yougov.com/commentaries/peter-kellner.aspx) [Archived](https://web.archive.org/web/20091001185043/http://my.yougov.com/commentaries/peter-kellner.aspx) 1 October 2009 at the [Wayback Machine](/source/Wayback_Machine), YouGov 1. **[^](#cite_ref-5)** ["NCVO begins search for new chair of trustees"](https://www.ncvo.org.uk/news-and-insights/news-index/ncvo-begins-search-for-new-chair-of-trustees/). *NCVO*. Retrieved 12 December 2022. 1. **[^](#cite_ref-6)** ["No. 63918"](https://www.thegazette.co.uk/London/issue/63918/supplement/N10). *[The London Gazette](/source/The_London_Gazette)* (Supplement). 31 December 2022. p. N10. ## External links - [Peter Kellner](https://yougov.co.uk/people/peter.kellner/) on [YouGov](/source/YouGov) website - [Peter Kellner's 2008 US presidential election podcasts](https://web.archive.org/web/20080209171934/http://www.2008-us-presidential-election.com/blog/peter-kellner) - [Article about Kellner](http://www.newstatesman.com/politics/2015/04/living-numbers-yougov-and-power-pollsters) in the [New Statesman](/source/New_Statesman) Authority control databases International ISNI VIAF GND FAST WorldCat National United States Netherlands Israel Other IdRef Yale LUX --- Adapted from the Wikipedia article [Peter Kellner](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Peter_Kellner) by Wikipedia contributors ([contributor history](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Peter_Kellner?action=history)). Available under [Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/). Changes may have been made.