Jeremy Charles Robert Clarkson (born 11 April 1960) is an English television presenter, journalist, and writer who specialises in motoring. He is best known for the motoring programmes Top Gear and The Grand Tour alongside Richard Hammond and James May. He also currently writes weekly columns for The Sunday Times and The Sun. Since 2018, Clarkson has hosted the ITV game show Who Wants to Be a Millionaire?.
From a career as a local journalist in northern England, Clarkson rose to public prominence as a presenter of the original format of Top Gear in 1988. Since the mid-1990s, he has become a recognised public personality, regularly appearing on British television presenting his own shows for BBC and appearing as a guest on other shows. As well as motoring, Clarkson has produced programmes and books on subjects such as history and engineering. In 1998, he hosted the first series of Robot Wars, and from 1998 to 2000 he also hosted his own talk show, Clarkson.
In 2015, the BBC elected not to renew Clarkson’s contract after he assaulted a Top Gear producer while filming on location.[3][4] That year, Clarkson and his Top Gear co-presenters and producer Andy Wilman formed the production company W. Chump & Sons to produce The Grand Tour for Amazon Prime Video.
Clarkson’s opinionated but humorous tongue-in-cheek writing and presenting style has often provoked a public reaction. His actions, both privately and as a Top Gear presenter, have also sometimes resulted in criticism from the media, politicians, pressure groups, and the public. He also has a significant public following, being credited as a major factor in the resurgence of Top Gear as one of the most popular shows on the BBC.
Early life
Childhood
Clarkson was born in Doncaster, (then in the West Riding of Yorkshire), the son of Shirley Gabrielle Clarkson (1934–2014), a teacher,[5] and Edward Grenville Clarkson (1932–1994), a travelling salesman.[6] His parents, who ran a business selling tea cosies, put their son’s name down in advance for private schools, with no idea how they were going to pay the fees. However, shortly before his admission, when he was 13, his parents made two Paddington Bear stuffed toys for Clarkson and his sister Joanna.[7] These proved so popular that they started selling them through the business.[8] Because they were manufacturing and selling the bears without regard to intellectual property rights, upon his becoming aware of the bears Michael Bond took action through his solicitors. Edward Clarkson travelled to London to meet Bond’s lawyer. By coincidence, he met Bond in the lift, and the two struck up an immediate rapport. Consequently, Bond awarded the Clarksons the licensing of the bear rights throughout the world, with the family eventually selling to Britain’s then leading toystore, Hamleys.[9] The income from this success enabled the Clarksons to be able to pay the fees for Jeremy to attend Hill House School, Doncaster, and later Repton School.[8]
Repton School
Clarkson has stated he was deeply unhappy at Repton School, saying that he had been a “suicidal wreck” there, having experienced extreme bullying. He alleged that:
I suffered many terrible things. I was thrown on an hourly basis into the ice plunge pool, dragged from my bed in the middle of the night and beaten, made to lick the lavatories clean and all the usual humiliations that… turn a small boy into a gibbering, sobbing, suicidal wreck… they glued my records together, snapped my compass, ate my biscuits, defecated in my tuck box and they cut my trousers in half.[10]
According to his own account, he was expelled from Repton School for “drinking, smoking and generally making a nuisance of himself.”[11] He famously left with one C and two U (fail) grades at A level.[12] Clarkson attended Repton alongside Formula One engineer Adrian Newey[13] and former Top Gear Executive Producer Andy Wilman.
He played the role of a preparatory school pupil, Atkinson, in a BBC radio Children’s Hour serial adaptation of Anthony Buckeridge‘s Jennings novels until his voice broke.[14][15]
Career
Writing career
Clarkson’s first job was as a travelling salesman for his parents’ business, selling Paddington Bear toys.[16] He later trained as a journalist with the Rotherham Advertiser, before also writing for the Rochdale Observer, Wolverhampton Express and Star, Lincolnshire Life, Shropshire Star and the Associated Kent Newspapers.
When writing in 2015 in his final column for Top Gear magazine, he credited the Shropshire Star as his first outlet as a motoring columnist: “I started small, on the Shropshire Star with little Peugeots and Fiats and worked my way up to Ford Granadas and Rovers until, after about seven years, I was allowed to drive an Aston Martin Lagonda… It was 10 years before I drove my first Lamborghini.”[17]
In 1984, Clarkson formed the Motoring Press Agency (MPA), in which, with fellow motoring journalist Jonathan Gill, he conducted road tests for local newspapers and automotive magazines. This developed into articles for publications such as Performance Car.[18] He has regularly written for Top Gear magazine since its launch in 1993.
In 1987, Clarkson wrote for Amstrad Computer User and compiled Amstrad CPC game reviews.[19]
Clarkson writes regular columns in the tabloid newspaper The Sun, and for the broadsheet newspaper The Sunday Times. His columns in the Times are republished in The Weekend Australian newspaper. He also writes for the “Wheels” section of the Toronto Star. He has written humorous books about cars and several other subjects, with many of his books being collections of articles that he has written for The Sunday Times.
Television
Clarkson’s first major television role came as one of the presenters on the British motoring programme Top Gear, from 27 October 1988 to 3 March 1999,[20][21] in the programme’s earlier format. Jon Bentley, a researcher at Top Gear, helped launch his television career.[22] Bentley shortly afterwards became the show’s producer, and said about hiring Clarkson:
He was just what I was looking for – an enthusiastic motoring writer who could make cars on telly fun. He was opinionated and irreverent, rather than respectfully po-faced. The fact that he looked and sounded exactly like a twenty-something ex-public schoolboy didn’t matter. Nor did the impression there was a hint of school bully about him. I knew he was the man for the job. […] Clarkson stood out because he was funny. Even my bosses allowed themselves the odd titter.[23]
Clarkson then also presented the show’s new format from 20 October 2002 to 8 March 2015.[24] Along with co-presenters James May and Richard Hammond, he is credited with turning Top Gear into the most-watched TV show on BBC Two,[25] rebroadcast to over 100 countries around the world.[26] Clarkson’s company Bedder 6, which handled merchandise and international distribution for Top Gear, earned over £149m in revenue in 2012, prior to a restructuring that gave BBC Worldwide full control of the Top Gear rights.[27][28]
Clarkson presented the first series UK version of Robot Wars.[29] His talk show, Clarkson, comprised 27 half-hour episodes aired in the United Kingdom between November 1998 and December 2000, and featured guest interviews with musicians, politicians and television personalities. Clarkson went on to present documentaries focused on non-motoring themes such as history and engineering, although the motoring shows and videos continued. Alongside his stand-alone shows, many mirror the format of his newspaper columns and books, combining his love of driving and motoring journalism, with the examination and expression of his other views on the world, such as in Jeremy Clarkson’s Motorworld, Jeremy Clarkson’s Car Years and Jeremy Clarkson Meets the Neighbours.
After Trinny and Susannah labelled Clarkson’s dress sense as that of a market trader, he was persuaded to appear on their fashion makeover show What Not to Wear to avoid being considered for their all-time worst dressed winner award.[30] Their attempts at restyling Clarkson were rebuffed, and Clarkson stated he would rather eat his own hair than appear on the show again.[31][32]
For an episode of the first series of the BBC’s Who Do You Think You Are? broadcast in November 2004, Clarkson was invited to investigate his family history. It included the story of his great-great-great-grandfather, John Kilner (1792–1857), who invented the Kilner jar, a container for preserved fruit.[33][34]
Clarkson’s views are often showcased on television shows. In 1997, Clarkson appeared on the light-hearted comedy show Room 101, in which a guest nominates things they hate in life to be consigned to nothingness. Clarkson dispatched caravans, houseflies, the sitcom Last of the Summer Wine, the mentality within golf clubs, and vegetarians. He has made several appearances on the prime time talk shows Parkinson and Friday Night with Jonathan Ross since 2002. By 2003, his persona was deemed to fit the mould for the series Grumpy Old Men, in which middle-aged men talk about any aspects of modern life which irritate them. Since the topical news panel show Have I Got News for You dismissed regular host Angus Deayton in October 2002, Clarkson has become one of the most regularly used guest hosts on the show. Clarkson has appeared as a panellist on the political current affairs television show Question Time twice since 2000. On 2 October 2015, he presented Have I Got News for You again for the first time since his dismissal.[35]
.jpg)
Clarkson received a BAFTA nomination for Best Entertainment Performance in 2006. Jonathan Ross ended up winning the award.[36] He won the National Television Awards Special Recognition Award in 2007, and reportedly earned £1 million that same year for his role as a Top Gear presenter, and a further £1.7 million from books, DVDs and newspaper columns.[37] Clarkson and co-presenter James May were the first people to reach the North Magnetic Pole in a car also in 2007, chronicled in Top Gear: Polar Special.[38]
He sustained minor injuries to his legs, back and hand in an intentional collision with a brick wall while making the 12th series of Top Gear in 2008.[39]
In 2014, he received a £4.8 million dividend and an £8.4 million share buyout from BBC Worldwide, bringing his estimated income for the year to more than £14 million.[40]
On 30 July 2015, it was announced that Clarkson, along with former Top Gear hosts Richard Hammond and James May would present a new show on Amazon Prime Video. The first season was made available worldwide in 2016.[41][42] On 11 May 2016, Clarkson confirmed on his Twitter feed that the series would be titled The Grand Tour, and air from a different location each week.[43]
On 9 March 2018, it was announced that Clarkson would host a revamped series of Who Wants to Be a Millionaire? on ITV. The show had previously been presented by Chris Tarrant.[44]
Opinions and influence
Politics
Clarkson is in favour of personal freedom and against government regulation, stating that government should “build park benches and that is it. They should leave us alone.”[45] He has a particular contempt for the Health and Safety Executive. He often criticised the Labour governments of Tony Blair and Gordon Brown, especially what he calls the “ban” culture, frequently fixating on the bans on smoking and 2004 ban on fox hunting. In April 2013, Clarkson was among 2,000 invited guests to the funeral of Conservative Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher.[46]
In an attempt to prove that the public furore over the 2007 UK child benefit data scandal was unjustified, he published his own bank account number and sort code, together with instructions on how to find out his address, in The Sun newspaper, expecting nobody to be able to remove money from his account. He later discovered that someone had set up a monthly direct debit for £500 to Diabetes UK.[47]
Clarkson supported a Remain vote in the 2016 United Kingdom European Union membership referendum, three days before the referendum, he and fellow presenter/best friend James May posted a video stating their support.[48][49][50] Clarkson did not support Brexit, stating that while the European Union has its problems, Britain would not have any influence over the EU, should it leave the Union. He envisions the European Union being turned into a US-like “United States of Europe”, with one army, one currency, and one unifying set of values.[51] In 2019, Clarkson said: “Europe has to punish us—they can’t allow us to leave without being damaged because then everyone will want to go. We don’t want to go if we’re going to be damaged.”[50] In a January 2019 interview with LBC, Clarkson called Brexit voters “coffin-dodging idiots”, though also criticised the younger voters, who overwhelmingly supported Remain, for their voting inactivity.[52]
Clarkson’s comments have both a large number of supporters and opponents. He often comments on the media-perceived social issues of the day, such as the fear of challenging adolescent youths, which he calls “hoodies“. In 2007, Clarkson was cleared of allegations of assaulting a young person while visiting central Milton Keynes, after Thames Valley Police said that if anything, he had been the victim.[53]
As a motoring journalist, he is frequently critical of government initiatives such as the London congestion charge or proposals on road charging. He is also frequently scornful of caravanners and cyclists. He has often singled out John Prescott, the former Transport Minister, and Stephen Joseph,[54] the head of the public transport pressure group Transport 2000, for ridicule.
In September 2013, a tweet proposing that he might stand for election as an independent candidate in Doncaster North, the constituency of the then Labour leader of the opposition, Ed Miliband, was retweeted over 1,000 times – including by John Prescott.[55]
Clarkson has been critical of the Special Relationship between the United States and the United Kingdom.[56] He referred to the US as the “United States of Total Paranoia”, commenting that one needs a permit to do everything except for purchasing weapons.[57] In 2017, in response to the United States officially recognising Jerusalem as the capital of Israel, Clarkson advised Palestinians to recognise London as the capital of the United States.[58]
In 2020, Clarkson stated that he usually votes for the Conservative Party, claiming not to be a natural Tory but “it just happens to be that every time it comes around and you weigh up which is going to provide you with a better life, the better country to live in, then it’s usually the Conservatives”; he also mocked the policies of Tony Blair and Jeremy Corbyn, stating “only an idiot would vote for Corbyn.” However, he also expressed support of incumbent Labour leader Keir Starmer and maintained that he was prepared to vote for Labour “if there’s an election tomorrow” citing Boris Johnson‘s handling of the COVID-19 pandemic.[59][60] However, in 2023 he expressed criticism of Starmer’s proposed economic and education policies.[61] Clarkson is also a personal friend of former Prime Minister and Conservative leader David Cameron.[62]
In September 2022, he described socialists as “disgusting people”.[63]
Following the death of Queen Elizabeth II, Clarkson shared a statement written by Boris Johnson on Twitter and captioned it “I was trying to think of something to say but Boris Johnson has said it all” and referred to the Queen as a “magnificent monarch”.[64]
In January 2023, Clarkson argued a left-wing “coup” had silently taken place in British politics, media and culture, writing “We laugh as they change the name of the Sir Francis Drake Primary School to something less slavey. We think it’s all a big joke. But it isn’t. Think about what typically happens in a military operation and then look what the woke left has done here.” He finished “At least Arthur Scargill had the decency to get on a soapbox and state his aims in public. This lot don’t. They sit at home, hiding in the impenetrable shadow of anonymity, inventing new rules to ensnare anyone and everyone they deem to be unworthy.”[65]
In a March 2023 column for The Times, Clarkson criticised the response to JK Rowling‘s comments on transgender issues, writing “she wasn’t just cancelled. She was erased. They put her in the delete bin and then afterwards, all her former fans and even the actors and actresses she’d made famous emptied the bin into a landfill site.” However, in the same article Clarkson also argued that the existence of transgender people was not a new phenomenon, drawling parallels between the arrests of Alan Turing and Lucy Hicks Anderson, and that society could grow to accept trans people in the same way it has homosexuals, but accused teenage transgender rights movements of turning the debate into a culture war. He concluding by opining “I realise, of course, that the whole trans debate has been hijacked by lunatics who glue themselves to stuff and claim to be from a gender that doesn’t even exist, and I know too that there is some kind of civil war going on between fiercely women women and women who just say they’re women. This creates a noise that’s annoying to most of us, but think how infuriating it must be to those who really were born in the wrong body?”[66]
Environment
Clarkson is critical of the green movement and environmentalism, including groups such as Greenpeace—he has called them “eco-mentalists” and “old trade unionists and CND lesbians”.[67] He also said that, although he “hate[s] the movement, [he] loves the destination” of environmentalism and believes that people should quietly strive to be more eco-friendly.[68] He has been dismissive of windfarms and renewable energy[69][better source needed] and has spoken in support of hydrogen cars.[45]
Clarkson rejects the scientific consensus on climate change, believing that anthropogenic greenhouse gas emissions do not affect the global climate.[68] He has also expressed doubt that the effects of climate change are “a bad thing”,[68] saying in 2005 “let’s just stop and think for a moment what the consequences might be. Switzerland loses its skiing resorts? The beach in Miami is washed away? North Carolina gets knocked over by a hurricane? Anything bothering you yet?”[70] However, during a 2019 trip to Cambodia while filming The Grand Tour, Clarkson acknowledged the “graphic demonstration” of climate change impacts on the Mekong River and Tonlé Sap was “genuinely alarming”, but still expressed doubt that it was driven by human activity. Cambodia was undergoing a severe drought during the show’s filming.[71][72] Clarkson is against climate activism,[73] and has often made personal attacks against teenage activist Greta Thunberg, whom he has called “a spoilt brat”.[74][75][76]
Environmentalists have protested or heckled Clarkson on a number of occasions for his views, including at his honorary degree ceremony at Oxford Brookes University, where a protester threw a banana meringue pie in his face in 2006, and in 2009 when activist group Climate Rush dumped horse manure on his lawn.[77][78] Clarkson’s comments on Greta Thunberg were criticised by his own daughter.[74]
Himself
Whilst Clarkson states such views as described above in his columns and in public appearances, his public persona does not necessarily represent his personal views, as he acknowledged whilst interviewing Alastair Campbell on Top Gear, saying “I don’t believe what I write, any more than you [Campbell] believe what you say”.[79]
Clarkson has been described as a “skillful propagandist for the motoring lobby” by The Economist.[80] With a forthright and sometimes deadpan delivery, Clarkson is said to thrive on the notoriety his public comments bring, and has risen to the level of the bête noire of the various groups who disagree with his views. On the Channel 4-organised viewer poll, for the 100 Worst Britons We Love to Hate programme, Clarkson polled in 66th place. By 2005, Clarkson was perceived by the press to have upset so many people and groups, The Independent put him on trial for various “crimes”, declaring him guilty on most counts.[70]
Media
Responses to Clarkson’s comments are often directed personally, with derogatory comments about residents of Norfolk leading to some residents organising a “We hate Jeremy Clarkson” club. In The Guardian’s 2007 ‘Media 100’ list, which lists the top 100 most “powerful people in the [media] industry”, based on cultural, economic and political influence in the UK, Clarkson was listed as a new entrant at 74th. Some critics even attribute Clarkson’s actions and views as being influential enough to be responsible for the closure of Rover and the Luton manufacturing plant of Vauxhall.[81] Clarkson’s comments about Rover prompted workers to hang an “Anti-Clarkson Campaign” banner outside the defunct Longbridge plant in its last days.
The BBC often played down his comments as ultimately not having the weight they were ascribed. In 2007, they described Clarkson as “not a man given to considered opinion”,[34] and in response to an official complaint another BBC spokeswoman once said: “Jeremy’s colourful comments are always entertaining, but they are his own comments and not those of the BBC. More often than not they are said with a twinkle in his eye.”[82]
On his chat show, Clarkson, he caused upset to the Welsh by placing a 3D plastic map of Wales into a microwave oven and switching it on. He later defended this by saying, “I put Wales in there because Scotland wouldn’t fit.”[83][84][85]
Recognition
In 2005, Clarkson received an honorary Doctor of Engineering degree from the Oxford Brookes University.[86] His views on the environment precipitated a small demonstration at the award ceremony for his honorary degree, when Clarkson was pied by road protester Rebecca Lush.[77] Clarkson took this incident in good humour, responding “good shot” and subsequently referring to Lush as “Banana girl”.[87]
In 2008, an internet petition was posted on the Prime Minister’s Number 10 website to “Make Jeremy Clarkson Prime Minister“. By the time it closed, it had attracted 49,446 signatures. An opposing petition posted on the same site set to “Never, Ever Make Jeremy Clarkson Prime Minister” attracted 87 signatures. Clarkson later commented he would be a rubbish Prime Minister as he is always contradicting himself in his columns.[45] In the official response to the petition, Number 10 agreed with Clarkson’s comments.[88]
In response to the reactions he gets, Clarkson has stated “I enjoy this back and forth, it makes the world go round but it is just opinion.”[45] On the opinion that his views are influential enough to topple car companies, he has argued that he has proof that he has had no influence. “When I said that the Ford Orion was the worst car ever it went on to become a best-selling car.”[45]
Clarkson was ranked 49th on Motor Trend Magazine’s Power List for 2011, its list of the fifty most influential figures in the automotive industry.[89]
Other interests
Military interests
Clarkson has a keen interest in the British Armed Forces and several of his DVDs and television shows have featured a military theme, such as flying in military jets or several Clarkson-focused Top Gear spots having a military theme such as Clarkson escaping a Challenger 2 tank in a Range Rover, a Lotus Exige evading missile lock from an Apache attack helicopter, a platoon of Irish Guardsmen shooting at a Porsche Boxster and Mercedes-Benz SLK, or using a Ford Fiesta as a Royal Marine landing craft. In October 2005, Clarkson visited British troops in Baghdad.[90]
In 2003, Clarkson presented The Victoria Cross: For Valour, looking at recipients of the Victoria Cross, in particular focusing on his father-in-law, Robert Henry Cain, who received a VC for actions during the Battle of Arnhem in World War II.[91]
In 2007, Clarkson wrote and presented Jeremy Clarkson: Greatest Raid of All Time, a documentary about the World War II Operation Chariot, a 1942 Commando raid on the docks of Saint-Nazaire in occupied France. At the end of 2007, Clarkson became a patron of Help for Heroes,[92] a charity aiming to raise money to provide better facilities to wounded British servicemen. His effort led to the 2007 Christmas appeal in The Sunday Times supporting Help for Heroes.[93]
Engineering interests
Clarkson is passionate about engineering, especially pioneering work. In Inventions That Changed the World Clarkson showcased the invention of the gun, computer, jet engine, telephone and television. He has previously criticised the engineering feats of the 20th century as merely improvements on the truly innovative inventions of the Industrial Revolution. He cites the lack of any source of alternative power for cars, other than by “small explosions”. In Great Britons, as part of a public poll to find the greatest historical Briton, Clarkson was the chief supporter for Isambard Kingdom Brunel, a prominent engineer during the Industrial Revolution credited with numerous innovations. Despite this, he also has a passion for many modern examples of engineering. In Speed and Extreme Machines, Clarkson rides and showcases numerous vehicles and machinery. Clarkson was awarded an honorary degree from Brunel University on 12 September 2003, partly because of his work in popularising engineering, and partly because of his advocacy of Brunel.[94]
In his book I Know You Got Soul, he describes many machines that he believes possess a soul. He cited the Concorde crash as his inspiration, feeling a sadness for the demise of the machine as well as the passengers. Clarkson was a passenger on the last BA Concorde flight, on 24 October 2003. Paraphrasing Neil Armstrong he described the retirement of the fleet as “This is one small step for a man, but one huge leap backwards for mankind”.[95]
He briefly acquired an English Electric Lightning F1A jet fighter XM172 former RAF Coltishall gate guard, which was installed in the front garden of his country home. The Lightning was subsequently removed on the orders of the local council, which “wouldn’t believe my claim that it was a leaf blower”, according to Clarkson on a Tiscali Motoring webchat. The whole affair was set up for his programme Speed, and the Lightning was returned to serving as gate guardian at Wycombe Air Park (formerly RAF Booker).[96] Due to deteriorating condition and threat of scrapping, XM172 was then purchased by Neil Airey and transported to Spark Bridge, Cumbria, for restoration. The aircraft is now in good condition and viewable by appointment.[97][98]
In a Top Gear episode, Clarkson drove the Bugatti Veyron in a race across Europe against a Cessna 182 piloted by co-presenter James May. The Veyron was an £850,000 technology demonstrator project built by Volkswagen to become the fastest production car, but a practical road car at the same time. In building such an ambitious machine, Clarkson described the project as “a triumph for lunacy over common sense, a triumph for man over nature and a triumph for Volkswagen over absolutely every other car maker in the world.”[99] After winning the race, Clarkson announced that “It’s quite a hollow victory really, because I’ve got to go for the rest of my life knowing that I’ll never own that car. I’ll never experience that power again
