Emma Vardy is the BBC’s Los Angeles Correspondent combining reporting on and analysing US politics, covering a wide variety of breaking news on the west coast.
An engaging and versatile broadcaster, she regularly appears on flagship programmes such as the BBC News at Six and Ten, BBC Breakfast, Radio 4 and Radio 5live, reporting on the US presidential election, Hollywood‘s awards season as well as business and the rapidly evolving world of technology.
Emma covered the assassination attempt of Donald Trump, Joe Biden’s decision to drop out of the presidential race, the world’s biggest technology outage, the US college campus riots, as well as writing for The Sunday Times on an exclusive interview with Celine Dion.
Previously, as Ireland Correspondent, Emma was best known for explaining the complexities of politics in Northern Ireland, and for her “brave and fearless reporting” on paramilitary groups.
An award-winning broadcaster with 15 years’ BBC experience, she has also reported from the Ukraine conflict, Washington DC and covered politics in Westminster, as well as having presented Newsnight and hosted the business news on BBC Breakfast.
Emma has won two Royal Television Society Awards and been named the Political Studies Association “Journalist of the Year”.
Passionate about sport, Emma has played women’s football and rugby and regularly travels the world to surf in far flung destinations. Having become a mother, she has also reported on the changing attitudes to sport and fitness in pregnancy, but says her most daunting task yet was answering questions in the famous chair on Celebrity Mastermind with Clive Myrie.
Emma’s warm and entertaining style as a speaker and host brings a fresh approach to a wide variety of subjects. Her ability to connect with a wide range of audiences and demystify even the most difficult of subjects has seen her become one of the most well-liked BBC on-screen talents. Emma has hosted events and chaired panels for organisations including the Political Studies Association, Tony Blair and Bertie Ahern – 25th Anniversary of the Good Friday Agreement, Royal College of Midwives, Queens University and Belfast Book Festival.
The conference far exceeded my expectations. It was a great use of time, I learnt a lot, had some inspiring conversations, met several people in real life for the first time, and thoroughly enjoyed the food.