Kelvin MacKenzie's Biography

Kelvin MacKenzie was born on 22 October 1946 and grew up in south London.

His parents Ian and Mary were journalists. He was educated at Alleyns, but left school at 17, with just one O-level, to become a reporter at the South East London Mercury.

Kelvin MacKenzie worked his way up the ranks of the newspaper industry becoming managing editor of the New York Post, night editor of The Sun; night editor of the Daily Express, before becoming editor of The Sun from 1982 to 1994, having succeeded Larry Lamb, the Sun's launch editor.

MacKenzie's connection to Rupert Murdoch, The Sun's proprietor, continued when he became MD of BSkyB, however soon afterwards he joined Mirror Television where he relaunched, ultimately unsuccessfully, Live TV!

Kelvin MacKenzie then added an entrepreneurial string to his bow and became chairman and chief executive of the Wireless Group, which owned radio station talkSPORT. In June 2005 he sold the Wireless Group to UTV Plc.

Kelvin MacKenzie went on to write a weekly column in The Sun and make regular appearances in the media.

In 2010 Kelvin MacKenzie became a contestant on Marco's Kitchen Burnout.

In July 2016, Kelvin MacKenzie found himself in the middle of another controversy after he wrote in The Sun querying whether Fatima Manji should have been allowed to appear on Channel 4 News wearing a hijab while reporting a terrorist attack in Nice.

His comments attracted over 1400 complaints.

In May 2017, Kelvin Mackenzie was suspended from The Sun after writing controversial comments about Everton footballer Ross Barkley in his column.