Background
Webb commented that his mother"s split from Woods may have been as much her doing as his, saying "I do not believe she was abandoned." Woods provided financially for Webb but saw his son only once, when he was six months old.
Webb commented that his mother"s split from Woods may have been as much her doing as his, saying "I do not believe she was abandoned." Woods provided financially for Webb but saw his son only once, when he was six months old.
He was educated at Sidcot School, a Quaker school in Somerset, and the London School of Economics, where he was editor of student newspaper The Beaver.
Since August 2009, he has presented on the Today programme, and also regularly writes for The Radio Times. Webb grew up in Bath. Webb joined the British Broadcasting Corporation as a graduate trainee in 1984 working in Northern Ireland for British Broadcasting Corporation Radio Ulster based in Belfast.
He then worked as a reporter for British Broadcasting Corporation Radio 4"s Today programme, before becoming a foreign affairs correspondent based in London and covering news around the world.
He reported on the Gulf War and the war in Bosnia, the collapse of the Soviet Union and the first democratic elections in South Africa. He then became a British Broadcasting Corporation News presenter based in London, and the main presenter on British Broadcasting Corporation One"s Breakfast News programme from 1992 to 1997.
He also presented the British Broadcasting Corporation"s One and Six O"Clock News bulletins and presented British Broadcasting Corporation Radio 4"s The World Tonight from 1997-1998. From 1998 he spent three years working as the British Broadcasting Corporation"s Europe correspondent based in Brussels.
During that time he reported on the workings of the European Commission and Parliament, the politics surrounding Britain"s decision on whether to join the single currency and the enlargement on the European Union.
In 2001, Webb moved to the United States, as the British Broadcasting Corporation"s chief Washington correspondent. Much of his time was spent on local Washington Radio, most notably,WAMU, on the Diane Rheme Show. He raised eyebrows within the British Broadcasting Corporation in 2006 when, at a seminar on impartiality, he claimed the corporation was anti-American and treated the United States with "scorn and derision", according it "no moral weight".
He has also presented a Radio 4 series on anti-Americanism.
In December 2007, he became North American Editor for British Broadcasting Corporation News, a role newly created in time for the American presidential election of 2008. He replaced Matt Frei who moved to present the new World News America bulletin.
Since November 2007, Webb has maintained a regularly updated blog on the British Broadcasting Corporation website. In August 2009, he returned to the United Kingdom to replace Edward Stourton on the Today programme.