Peter Jay, the former economics editor of the BBC and British Ambassador to Washington, has died aged 87. Jay was also the economics editor of the Times newspaper, presenter of ITV’s Weekend World, launch chairman of TV-am and chief of staff to Robert Maxwell. He was born on 7 February 1937 and enjoyed a glittering start to life: his father, Douglas, was a Labour cabinet minister and his mother was a leading figure in the London County Council. He was educated at Oxford and scooped a host of academic prizes before moving into journalism.
Once tipped as a future world leader by Time magazine, Jay was installed in splendour as Her Majesty’s ambassador to the US. But what went up, came crashing down. His time in Washington was overshadowed by the public disintegration of his marriage, and it later inspired the Hollywood film Heartburn. Jay’s personal scandals did not stop there, as he was reported to have fathered a son with the children’s nanny at the embassy. The Daily Mail got wind of it and printed the story, which led to an admission from Jay after a blood test confirmed he was the father.
In the 1970s, Jay presented a news analysis programme called Weekend World and launched a savage critique of journalistic standards in TV. He later became the economics editor of The Times, where he became enthralled by the work of a new breed of free-market thinkers. He used his columns to promote monetarism, which later became Margaret Thatcher’s economic philosophy and influenced his father-in-law, the then Prime Minister, Jim Callaghan. Jay also attempted to follow his father into politics but failed to get selected as the Labour candidate for Islington South West.
Jay suffered fools badly and saw his articles as part of a high-minded battle of ideas. He reserved his appearances on the BBC for special occasions, with sniping in the press that he was hard to tempt away from his farmhouse in Oxford, where he lived with his second wife, Emma, and their three children. The highlight of his time at the BBC came with Road to Riches, a landmark series examining the economic history of mankind. It gave him space to explore money, a subject that had always fascinated him.
Jay’s career was a thrilling, exhausting and white-knuckle ride. In a statement, his family said: “Peter Jay’s family are very sad to announce he died peacefully at home today 22 September aged 87. He was a much loved husband, father, grandfather, brother, uncle, cousin, friend, and colleague.”
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