Name Anushka Asthana
Age / How old / Birthday / Date of Birth / DOB March 31, 1980. As of 2025, she is around 45 years old.
Wedding & Marriage / Husband / Spouse / Partner Married. Check the full bio for relationship details.
Wikipedia Biography / Profile Background
Introduction :
- Anushka Asthana is a British journalist and former newsreader who became one of The Guardian’s most recognisable political correspondents. She served as The Guardian’s joint Political Editor and later the launch presenter of The Guardian’s daily podcast “Today in Focus,” where she interviewed reporters on major global stories.
- Asthana has since moved into senior editorial presentation roles while continuing to host in‑depth episodes that blend reported audio features with explanatory interviews. Her reporting focus includes UK politics, public policy, and international crises.
Personal Life : Parents, Family and Education
- Anushka Asthana was born on March 31, 1980, in Scunthorpe, Lincolnshire, and raised in Stalybridge, Greater Manchester.
- Her parents, Jagdish Asthana (father) and Aruna Asthana (mother), are both doctors by profession. She has an older brother, Anshu Asthana, who is a designer in London.
- Anushka’s parents emigrated from Delhi, India, to the UK in 1975. They first lived in London, then Southampton and Scunthorpe, before finally settling in Manchester in 1981. They first thought that they would eventually move back to India, but good careers, close friends, and their children well-settled in their schools made them rethink their decision, and they continued to stay in the UK.
- Later on, Anushka’s father Jagadish confessed to her that if India would have been like how it was now, then he wouldn’t have ever left. This comment made Anushka write an article for which she and her father travelled to India, and they saw together how much things had changed since her father had left his home country.
- Both Anushka’s parents gained British citizenship in 1989.
- Anushka studied at Manchester High School for Girls, a private school in Manchester and then went on to be accepted to Cambridge University for her Bachelor’s in Economics.
Marriage and Children :
- Anushka got married to Toby Jones, a Communications professional working in rugby.
- She wrote an article titled “A cross-cultural marriage is an adventure I’d recommend” about her marriage to him. The article focused on how Toby, someone who grew up on the outskirts of Oxford with his mum, dad and brother, had to come to terms with meeting Ansuhka’s large family.
- Asthana now lives with her husband and their son Ethan. She has spoken publicly about raising a mixed‑heritage child, and trying to instill cultural fluency in both British and Indian traditions.
Career, Job, Salary and Net Worth :
- Anushka started her career by joining The Observer in 2003 and worked there for eight years, holding various roles such as education correspondent, deputy news editor, health reporter, and later, policy editor.
- The talented journalist was shortlisted for the ‘Young Journalist of the Year’ category at the British Journalism Awards and, in 2006, won the Laurence Stern Fellowship, spending several months working at The Washington Post.
- She moved on to work for The Times Westminster office as a columnist and chief political reporter.
- In 2013, Anushka joined Sky News as their political correspondent.
- In 2015, Anushka joined The Guardian and shared the role of Political Editor with Heather Stewart. The move made news because The Guardian “broke the mould” by having two accomplished journalists share the role of Political Editor.
- From April 2017, Asthana covered maternity leave as co-presenter of “Peston on Sunday.”
- Since September 2018, she co-presented ITV’s Wednesday night flagship politics discussion programme “Peston.”
- In 2018, she was made the host of The Guardian’s daily global news podcast, “Today in Focus.” The podcast is a 20-minute dive into the biggest stories around the world, ranging from the #MeToo movement to issues of the Middle East. In each episode, Anushka took a closer look at major news stories and took listeners behind the headlines for a deeper understanding of the news.
- She left The Guardian in 2021 to join ITN as ITV News Deputy Political Editor to Robert Peston.
- In April 2025, Channel 4 News announced that Anushka was joining their team from August 2025, becoming the US Editor. She succeeds Siobhan Kennedy, who had been US correspondent for six years and is returning to the Channel 4 News team in London.
- Also in 2025, Anushka joined the board of the Society of Editors and published her first book, “Taken As Red: The Truth About Starmer’s Labour” in June 2025, described as “the inside story of Starmer’s Labour.”
- As Channel 4 News’ US Editor, Anushka delivers coverage from Washington DC and leads the brand’s US political programming across all platforms, taking on the US beat at what Channel 4 News editor Esme Wren called “a vital moment for American and international politics.”
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