Michael Jermey is a Gwilym Gibbon Fellow at Nuffield College and Chair of the Disasters Emergency Committee (DEC). The DEC brings together fifteen leading UK aid charities to raise funds quickly and efficiently at times of humanitarian crisis overseas.

Before joining the DEC, Michael had a long career as a journalist and broadcast news executive, serving as ITV’s Director of News and Current Affairs from 2009 to 2024. He led ITV’s journalism through a remarkable period – directing coverage of five UK General Elections, seven Prime Ministers, three US presidencies, the Covid pandemic, Brexit, the death of Queen Elizabeth and the wars in Ukraine and the Middle East.

Michael commissioned the historically important first leaders’ debate at the 2010 UK general election for ITV and oversaw TV debates at every subsequent election - 2015, 2017, 2019 and 2024 - helping to ensure that they became an established feature in UK politics.

Michael is an Honorary Visiting Professor of Journalism at Cardiff University and, in 2025, received the Royal Television Society’s Outstanding Contribution award. He has a degree in Philosophy, Politics and Economics from Oxford University