Huw Edwards ' six-figure salary prior to his resignation earlier this year has been revealed. The BBC published its annual report today, amid controversy about the culture and treatment of contestants on Strictly Come Dancing . The corporation highlighted its successes over the past year and disclosed the pay of its top talent - including former BBC News anchor Huw Edwards .
Director-general of the BBC Tim Davie was questioned about Edwards increased salary as the the report was made public and declared: "No one wants to waste a pound but you are trying to act proportionally and act appropriately and I think that is what we did." Edwards resigned from the corporation in April this year "on the basis of medical advice from his doctors" following allegations that the former BBC News reader paid a young person for sexually explicit photos. Prior to his resignation, Edwards had been off-air for almost a year - last presenting the News at One on 5 July 2023 before announcing his resignation 22 April 2024.
The journalist was initially suspended by the BBC last year after the allegations came to light, but the Metropolitan Police later said that no criminal offence had taken place. At the time of his resignation , Edwards was the BBC’s highest-paid newsreader, with a pay bracket of £435,000-£439,999 in the year 2022/2023. Following the BBC releasing its 2023/2024 report today, it has been confirmed that Edwards had been earning between £475,000 - £479,999 prior to his resignation in April - a minimum increase of £40,000 compared to his 2022/2023 salary at the state-funded broadcaster.
As the report was made public today, Tom Davie was asked how the BBC can justify paying Edwards such a high salary despite the former BBC newsreader only working for a few weeks during the annual period. The director-general of the BBC responded with: "I'm not going to get into who has spoken to who..
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we are always trying to be very judicious with the spending money and no one wants to waste a pound but you are trying to act proportionally and act appropriately and I think that is what we did. "We wouldn't have wasted money if we weren't doing the right thing. I wouldn't go into specifics but in terms of the increase of pay, prior to any breaking of any story, our pay progress is under inflation but people on the list would be getting pay rises and that is fairly normally business.
" Edwards had been absent from screens since the story first broke in July and his wife previously said he was receiving in-patient hospital care and suffering "serious mental health issues" after the Welsh broadcaster was named as the BBC star accused of paying a teenager for explicit images. The family of the unnamed young person originally complained to the BBC about Edwards in May 2023 , and Edwards was publicly named by his wife as the BBC presenter at the centre of the allegations in July . In the statement, Edwards' wife Vicky Flind said: "In light of the recent reporting regarding the 'BBC Presenter' I am making this statement on behalf of my husband Huw Edwards, after what have been five extremely difficult days for our family.
"I am doing this primarily out of concern for his mental well-being and to protect our children. Huw is suffering from serious mental health issues. As is well documented, he has been treated for severe depression in recent years.
The events of the last few days have greatly worsened matters, he has suffered another serious episode and is now receiving in-patient hospital care where he'll stay for the foreseeable future." She concluded: "Once well enough to do so, he intends to respond to the stories that have been published. To be clear Huw was first told that there were allegations being made against him last Thursday.
In the circumstances and given Huw's condition I would like to ask that the privacy of my family and everyone else caught up in these upsetting events is respected. I know that Huw is deeply sorry that so many colleagues have been impacted by the recent media speculation. We hope this statement will bring that to an end.
" On 22 April it was announced that Edwards had resigned from the BBC on "medical advice". "Huw Edwards has today resigned and left the BBC," a short statement from the corporation said at the time. "After 40 years of service, Huw has explained that his decision was made on the basis of medical advice from his doctors.
The BBC has accepted his resignation which it believes will allow all parties to move forward. We don't believe it appropriate to comment further." Speaking shortly after Edwards' BBC exit, the chairwoman of the Culture, Media and Sport Committee said she felt "very sorry" for Edwards and his family.
Speaking about how BBC handled the allegations, Culture, Media and Sport Committee chairwoman Dame Caroline Dinenage told the Voice of the Listener & Viewer (VLV) spring conference in April: "The BBC are in a really difficult position over things like this because at the point that the allegations were made last summer, it was unclear as to exactly who was making the allegations and exactly what they were. "It turns out now, of course, that the way Huw Edwards was conducting himself was outside of work time, on his own equipment, and it was a consensual activity with someone who was of age, so actually nothing, as much as it may be distasteful to some, it was nothing illegal happened and he’s entitled to a private life. "I feel very sorry for him and I feel particularly sorry for his family.
Whether there’s anything more that the BBC could have done to have changed that, I don’t know. But it’s horrible. It feels fundamentally wrong that someone’s whole life has been damaged irreparably by something like that.
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