Guto Harri (; born 8 July 1966) is a Welsh broadcaster, writer and strategic communications consultant. He most recently served as Downing Street Director of Communications, having been appointed by Boris Johnson in February 2022.

Harri spent 18 years as a journalist at the BBC. From 2008 to 2012 he was director of external affairs for Mayor of London Boris Johnson. He worked at News International from 2012 to 2015, Liberty Global from 2016 to 2017, Hanover Communications from 2018 to 2020, and Hawthorn Advisors from 2020 to 2022.

In May 2021, Harri joined GB News as a presenter; he was suspended and resigned in July 2021 after he took the knee on air. In February 2022, Harri was appointed Downing Street Director of Communications by Prime Minister Johnson, following the resignation of Jack Doyle, and left the post in September 2022.

Early life and education

Guto Harri was born in Cardiff to writer and psychiatrist Harri Pritchard-Jones and Lenna (née Harries). A native Welsh speaker, he studied at Tonyrefail School and Ysgol Bryntaf, before attending Ysgol Gyfun Llanhari. He then undertook a postgraduate course in broadcast journalism at Cardiff University. Westminster Live, Straight Talk, Despatch Box and The World This Weekend. and he was a member of the S4C Authority from 2014 to 2018.

Since June 2018, he has presented the S4C current affairs television programme, Y Byd yn ei Le. S4C confirmed that he would not continue hosting the programme following his appointment as Downing Street Director of Communications.

In May 2021, it was announced that Harri would be joining GB News as co-host of a weekly news and discussion programme. On 13 July 2021, Harri took the knee on GB News to show support for the England football team's kneeling for anti-racism; following backlash from viewers, GB News suspended him indefinitely for failing to maintain the editorial standards expected by the network. Shortly afterwards, he resigned from GB News, having written in The Sunday Times that the channel was "becoming an absurd parody" that was replicating cancel culture on the far right.

Public relations

After leaving the BBC at the end of 2007, he was approached to work for Conservative Party leader David Cameron, but joined London public relations agency Fleishman-Hillard as a senior policy advisor, reportedly spending four days as an adviser to Zimbabwe opposition leader Morgan Tsvangirai.

He then joined Virgin Media owner Liberty Global in February 2016 as their managing director of external communications. He left the role in December 2017.

In May 2018, Harri took a part-time role with London PR firm Hanover Communications as a vice president, and also for Hydro Industries, a water treatment company based in Llanelli where he is a director.

Brexit/Boris Johnson

Harri is a critic of Brexit. After Johnson likened Prime Minister Theresa May's Chequers Brexit agreement to a "suicide vest" around the British constitution in September 2018, Harri criticised Johnson for "[joking] about suicide vests" and being "sexually incontinent", saying he was "digging his political grave" with his comments. He also said Johnson had become "more tribal, and tribal within the tribe, so that he would now be—if he were to become leader—a hugely divisive figure". Hawthorn advised and lobbied the government on behalf of Huawei, a firm with close ties to the Chinese government that has been accused of spying on 5G networks in the UK and other Western nations. Harri personally met with top executives from Huawei, including the company's vice-president, in 2020.

Harri was critical of Boris Johnson over parties held in Downing Street and Westminster during COVID-19 lockdowns,

Family and personal life

Harri grew up in Rhondda Cynon Taf. He married his wife, Shireen, in 2000 and has three children. In 2005, Harri published an advertisement in the Western Mail seeking a Welsh-speaking nanny for their two children while he worked for the BBC in New York City, in which he argued for the importance of the language in bringing up his children. Outside work he says he enjoys rowing, sailing, fishing and cooking. He was previously a trustee for UK-based cultural non-governmental organisation Visiting Arts. Harri is trained and serves as a volunteer crew member on the River Thames for the Royal National Lifeboat Institution. He holds an honorary doctorate from the University of South Wales.

References

  • Guto Harri calls Boris Johnson a "buffoon"
  • Guto Harri linked to S4C role
  • Profile at BBC Newswatch