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- Profile
Amber Rudd
Amber Rudd has risen rapidly through British politics, becoming Home Secretary only six years after being elected an MP in 2010. It's a rise unmatched by any…
- Profile
Seumas Milne
Last October Seumas Milne, a Winchester- and Oxford-educated left-winger, was granted unpaid leave from his position at The Guardian to enter the world of…
- Profile
Laura Trott
Mark Coles speaks to family, friends and colleagues of cyclist Laura Trott - the first British woman to win four Olympic golds - to find out how, after winning…
- Profile
Stephen Hough
Poet, painter and virtuoso pianist, Stephen Hough has been described as a polymath. He learned to play on a piano that cost £5 from a local antique shop and…
- Profile
Sonia Friedman
You may not have heard of Sonia Friedman, but she's one of the most important people in British theatre. She's produced many of the biggest stage hits of the…
- Profile
Owen Smith
Edward Stourton profiles the Labour leadership contender, Owen Smith. MP for Pontypridd since 2010, Mr Smith is challenging Jeremy Corbyn, saying that he's not…
- Profile
Theresa May
With no leadership campaign - during which the public might have got to know her better - Theresa May has entered Downing Street with a remarkably low profile…
- Profile
Andrea Leadsom
Andrea Leadsom and Theresa May are vying to be the next Conservative leader and Britain's second ever female prime minister. Mark Coles explores how a…
- Profile
Michael Eavis
Synonymous with Glastonbury Festival, Michael Eavis is the bearded impresario of one of the biggest parties on earth. But this is no hedonistic figure: in…
- Profile
Amanda Spielman
Education Secretary Nicky Morgan has announced Amanda Spielman is set to take over as chief inspector of schools in England. But the decision has provoked some…
- Profile
Mike Ashley
This week the Sports Direct founder Mike Ashley gave evidence to a Business Select Committee inquiry into working conditions at his firm. In a rare public…
- Profile
Nicolas Maduro
The Venezuelan president, Nicolas Maduro, has vowed to keep alive the defiant revolution begun by Hugo Chavez. And that revolution has global radical support…
- Profile
Jose Mourinho
To many, including himself, Jose Mourinho is the most successful football manager in the world - the 'special one'. He has won league titles in all of the…
- Profile
Ruth Davidson
Ruth Davidson, leader of the Scottish Conservatives, is credited with detoxifying the Tory brand in Scotland. A kick-boxing, Territorial Army-trained, gay…
- Profile
Carolyn McCall
Chief executive of Easyjet, Dame Carolyn McCall, is one of the UK's most successful businesswomen. Initially seen as an outsider, she has won over staff and…
- Profile
Sir Martin Sorrell
Sir Martin Sorrell has spent the last three decades transforming a maker of wire shopping baskets into the world's largest advertising firm. The…
- Profile
Jamie Vardy
Mark Coles looks at the life and career of footballer Jamie Vardy. In just four years Vardy has gone from being a relative unknown, being paid a few hundred…
- Profile
Sanjeev Gupta
Mark Coles profiles Sanjeev Gupta who this week met the Business Secretary Sajid Javid to discuss a possible deal to buy Britain's biggest steelworks at Port…
- Profile
Sophie Okonedo
Mark Coles profiles the actress, Sophie Okonedo, star of the new Sunday night drama, Undercover. She plays a successful barrister who discovers her life is…
- Profile
Nick Denton
n 2002 the British journalist Nick Denton created Gawker in the US, a website which made its name breaking news and celebrity gossip. Last week a US court…
- Profile
Frauke Petry
"Ambitious", "cold-hearted" and "calculating"; just some of the words used to describe Frauke Petry, leader of Germany's Alternative fur Deutschland (AfD)…
- Profile
Jenny Beavan
For more than 30 years Jenny Beavan has been designing beautiful and historically accurate costumes, for film and stage. But though she cares intensely how the…
- Profile
Hartwig Fischer
Chris Bowlby profiles the German art historian and curator Dr Hartwig Fischer, who this year takes over one of the most important jobs in UK culture: director…
- Profile
Maggie Smith
Millions will miss Lady Violet's withering one-liners now that Downton Abbey is over. Chris Bowlby profiles one of Britain's most successful actors: Maggie…
- Profile
Mark Clarke
Mark Clarke was once a rising star in the Conservative Party. He was a prominent figure who started and led 'RoadTrip2015', a project to bus young…
- Profile
Aung San Suu Kyi
Known by many in her country as 'The Lady', Aung San Suu Kyi has become one of the world's most famous female politicians. And yet she has never exercised any…
- Profile
Baroness Tina Stowell
She's the self-proclaimed Beyoncé of the House of Lords, calling herself a 'single lady' and an 'independent woman'. Baroness Tina Stowell is the Leader of the…
- Profile
Justin Trudeau
He's been a boxer, a bouncer and a bungee jumping coach. Now he's the Prime Minister of Canada. Justin Trudeau is going back to his childhood home, 24 Sussex…
- Profile
Mohammed Bin Nayef
Saudi Arabia's human rights record is firmly back in the spotlight. A teenage boy on death row for protesting. A British pensioner expecting to be lashed…
- Profile
Bernie Sanders
Bernie Sanders is a socialist and a grump. But is he also a future US president? Some 20,000 people recently turned out to hear Sanders speak - the sort of…
- Profile
Gina Rinehart
Gina Rinehart - one the world's richest women - is about to realise a lifelong dream: to own and operate her very own iron-ore mine. Rinehart's life has been…
- Profile
The Eagle Twins
Perching on Labour's new front bench are high-flying twin sisters: Angela and Maria Eagle. Angela is the new shadow business secretary. Maria has been given…
- Profile
Michel Houellebecq
He’s the bad boy of French literature. Loved and hated in equal measure. But who is Michel Houellebecq? Ed Stourton profiles the controversial novelist who…
- Profile
Sir John Chilcot
Sir John Chilcot has been at the heart of some of the most important political events in recent decades - often in the background, unnoticed by most. It's only…
- Profile
Michelle Mone
Founder of the Ultimo lingerie brand Michelle Mone's rags to riches tale. Clever use of PR has helped make Michelle Mone one of Britain's most recognisable…
- Profile
Jeremy Corbyn
Suddenly everyone's taking Jeremy Corbyn seriously. Dismissed by many as a fringe 'unelectable' figure in the Labour leadership campaign, a bearded vegetarian…
- Profile
Donald Trump
Billionaire Donald Trump, leading Republican candidate in the US Presidential race was in Scotland this week. Mark Coles asks if he has what it takes to get…
- Profile
Mhairi Black
Mhairi Black was yet to graduate when she was elected to the House of Commons in May - the youngest Member of Parliament for over a century. She overturned a…
- Profile
Seymour Hersh
Mark Coles profiles the muckraker's muckraker, American journalist Seymour Hersh, who has challenged the official story of how Osama Bin Laden was killed. The…
- Profile
Sir Christopher Geidt
The last couple of weeks of the election campaign - and the erroneously narrow polls which highlighted the role of The Queen in the event of a hung parliament…
- Profile
Loretta Lynch
Earlier this week, Loretta Lynch was sworn in as the new US Attorney General. Brought up in North Carolina the daughter of a Baptist minister father and a…
- Profile
Aidan Turner
Mark Coles profiles Aidan Turner, the Irish actor who stars in Poldark, the BBC's most successful drama for a decade. Turner has won legions of fans as the…
- Profile
Ronnie O'Sullivan
With five World Championship titles already under his belt, Ronnie 'The Rocket' O'Sullivan will compete in Sheffield this weekend hoping to secure a sixth. He…
- Profile
The Teletubbies
We learned this week that Jane Horrocks, Jim Broadbent and Fearne Cotton are to voice a new run of the hit children's TV series Teletubbies. It's estimated…
- Profile
Trevor Noah
This week Comedy Central announced that South African comedian Trevor Noah is to take over from Jon Stewart as host of The Daily Show. It was a surprise to…
- Profile
Leanne Wood
On Thursday evening seven party leaders will meet in an ITV studio for the much-anticipated general election debate. Some of them are - it's fair to say -…
- Profile
Dolce & Gabbana
Italy's famous couture couple Dolce & Gabbana have fallen out with Elton John over off-colour comments they made about IVF babies and gay families. But they…
- Profile
Nigel Dodds
Mark Coles profiles the DUP's leader at Westminster, Nigel Dodds, one of a number of possible post-election kingmakers. Dodds, furious to find his party…
- Profile
Qassem Suleimani
Iraqi army and militia forces are fighting to take back Tikrit from the so-called Islamic State. Pulling the strings on the Iraqi side is an Iranian…
- Profile
Natalie Bennett
After a rocky campaign launch, the Green leader Natalie Bennett has been in the headlines this week. Mark Coles hears how she moved from journalism in…
- Profile
Yanis Varoufakis
The casually-dressed Greek finance minster Yanis Varoufakis has, in challenging the eurozone, become - almost overnight - one of the most important politicians…