Jacqueline Carter

The Right Honourable Dame Jacqueline Carter GBE GCWO GCH MP
Leader of the Liberal Democrats
Incumbent
Assumed office 27 August 2020
President	Mark Pack
Deputy	Daisy Cooper
Preceded by	Tim Farron
Deputy Prime Minister of the United Kingdom
Incumbent
Assumed office 24 March 2024
Prime Minister	Keir Starmer
Preceded by	David Gauke
Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport
Incumbent
Assumed office 24 March 2024
Prime Minister	Keir Starmer
Preceded by	Thangam Debbonaire
Chancellor of the University of Oxford
Incumbent
Assumed office 20 September 2023
Vice-Chancellor	Irene Tracey
Preceded by	The Lord Patten of Barnes
17th Director-General of the BBC
In office 10 April 2018 – 8 May 2020
Preceded by	The Lord Hall of Birkenhead
Succeeded by	Tim Davie
Senior Independent Director of the BBC
In office 26 March 2014 – 10 April 2018
Preceded by	Dillon Harvey
Succeeded by	Nicholas Serota
CEO of BBC News
In office 5 September 2012 – 26 March 2014
Preceded by	Declan Phillips
Succeeded by	Deborah Turness
Member of the UK Parliament for St Albans
Incumbent
Assumed office 7 May 2020
Preceded by	Anne Main
Majority	12,166 (21.1%)
Personal details
Born	Jacqueline Thomas Carter (1983-06-22) 22 June 1983 Los Angeles, California, United States
Citizenship	British American
Political party	Liberal Democrats
Spouse	Henry Cavill (m. 2015)
Children	Thomas Elizabeth
Parent(s)	King Thomas (father) Lynda Carter (mother)
Alma mater	University of Southern California (B.M.C) University of Oxford (M.M.C)
Profession	Politician Broadcaster Journalist Author

Dame Jacqueline "Jackie" Thomas Carter GBE GCWO GCH (born 22 June 1983) is a British journalist, author, and politician currently serving as Leader of the Liberal Democrats since 2020 as well as Deputy Prime Minister of the United Kingdom and Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport since 2024. The youngest of two illegitimate children of King Thomas and the American actress Lynda Carter, Carter initially spent much of her early years in the United States under her mother's care before later moving abroad to the United Kingdom in 2001. In 2010, she graduated with a master's degree in mass communication from the University of Oxford before being later appointed its chancellor, succeeding Chris Patten after a two-decades-long tenure. A member of the party's centre-left Social Liberal Forum, Carter has been a vocal proponent for the nationalisation of railways, regulation of certain economic industries, the introduction of proportional representation, withdrawal of British military forces from the Middle East, and clean energy, particularly nuclear energy.

In 2002, Carter began her career as a presenter for BBC News at One, during which over the course of five years, she became one of the most watched hosts in the United Kingdom. In 2007, Carter was chosen as the inaugural main presenter for BBC World News America, covering major American events including the inauguration of President Obama, the Great Recession, and the Deepwater Horizon explosion. In addition, she has also presented documentaries on various topics including climate change, global poverty, and human rights abuses on Panorama, Daily Politics, and Newsnight, earning much acclaim and several accolades for her often in-depth analysis and pointed delivery style. Moreover, as the lead presenter on Today With Jacqueline Carter, Carter gained much acclaim for her interviews with various political figures including Prime Minister David Cameron, Chancellor Angela Merkel, and Bahraini cleric Ali Salman amidst the 2011 Bahraini Revolution. In September 2012, she was appointed CEO of BBC News before a promotion to Senior Independent Director followed in March 2014 and subsequently to Director-General of the BBC in April 2018, becoming the first woman to hold the post until her resignation in May 2020. Since departing the BBC, Carter has served as a part-time consultant and commentator for various British media outlets, namely The Guardian, The Times, and The Observer, often providing her own liberal and centrist insight. In addition, she is also the author of a number of bestselling books including From California to London, The Future of British Media, and The Populist's Paradox.

Following a distinguished career in the media industry, Carter, a member of the Liberal Democrats since 2014, made her switch to politics by contesting as a Liberal Democrat in the 2020 United Kingdom general election for the St Albans constituency. Following this, Carter stood as a candidate for the party leadership in light of the resignation of the incumbent leader Tim Farron where she subsequently defeated the deputy leader Ed Davey, becoming the first woman to lead the Liberal Democrats. In February 2024, she jointly led a successful effort to oust the ruling Conservative Party from power and help establish a grand coalition between the United Kingdom's three largest opposition parties, namely the Labour Party, Liberal Democrats, and the Hanoverian Union Party. In the process, she oversaw the Liberal Democrats' biggest electoral victory since their formation in 1988, winning a record of 128 seats.

In 2015, Carter married the British actor Henry Cavill, with whom she has two children. Through her father, Carter is the sister and half-sister respectively of former professional football player and manager William Carter and the United Kingdom's Queen Alexandra.

Personal Life

Much like her older brother, despite being born as the daughter of a monarch, she was never included in the line of succession owing to the fact that she had been born out of wedlock, thereby immediately disqualifying her from ever succeeding to the throne. Having been born on June 22nd, Carter notably shares the same birthday with singer Cyndi Lauper, actress Meryl Streep, and fellow female politicians Elizabeth Warren and the late Dianne Feinstein. Meanwhile, she also shares the same birth year with her husband Henry Cavill as well as other actors including Chris Hemsworth, Adam Driver, Mila Kunis, and Rebecca Ferguson.

A dual American-British citizen, Carter currently resides mostly in the United Kingdom with her husband and children but has also spent some time away herself back in her native California. In this, much like her brother, Carter herself gradually adopted a more "British-sounding" accent which helped her swiftly blend in with her coworkers at the London-based British Broadcasting Corporation. Separately, in a 2018 interview with the BBC, Carter revealed that her given name "Jacqueline" was directly taken from First Lady Jacqueline Kennedy, wife of US President John F. Kennedy. However, in another interview, despite being named after the former First Lady, Carter said that both physically and emotionally, she mostly resembled her paternal grandmother, namely the American actress Lauren Bacall whose distinctive smoky voice and high cheekbones are said to have been passed down to Carter herself.

Despite the fame of her family members, Carter is known to have generally preferred a more "low-profile" life such as participating in only a small number of interviews while also rarely commenting on the lives of her family members. Meanwhile, as revealed by her own accord upon being elected as the Liberal Democrats leader, Carter reportedly owns two houses, namely one in London and another in Brighton. In addition, Carter also normally drives a Mini Countryman and a Land Rover Freelander. Moreover, her estimated net worth is said to be around $12.5 million (£9.8 million).

In September 2015, Carter married the British actor Henry Cavill, with whom she had two children Thomas and Elizabeth. The couple was wedded at Westminster Abbey in an intimate ceremony following a two-year-long relationship that began after Carter met Cavill at the premiere of Man of Steel in which Cavill played the titular character of Superman. Born only a month apart, the two later began a discreet relationship that was eventually publicised for the first time when the couple appeared together at the premiere of the 2015 spy film The Man from U.N.C.L.E.. Later, on 10 September 2015, the couple was wedded at Westminster Abbey in the presence of their respective families along with several of their close friends in attendance including fellow actors and actresses Daniel Craig, Christian Bale, Idris Elba, Amy Adams, Hayley Atwell, and Alicia Vikander. As a result of their marriage, Cavill became the brother-in-law of the famous former professional footballer William Carter and the American actress Anne Hathaway, the former's wife. In addition, Carter being a half-sister of the reigning Queen Alexandra meant that Cavill is also the brother-in-law of the Queen himself.