Andreas Whittam Smith, the journalist who co-founded the Independent newspaper and later served as president of the British Board of Film Classification and senior lay member of the Church of England, has died aged 88.
His family confirmed the death on 29 November 2025, saying he was surrounded by loved ones. He is survived by his wife Valerie, two sons and three grandsons.
Whittam Smith began his career in financial journalism at the Stock Exchange Gazette, the Financial Times and the Times before senior roles at the Daily Telegraph, the Guardian and other publications. In 1986, with Stephen Glover and Matthew Symonds, he launched the Independent and served as its first editor until 1994.
As president of the British Board of Film Classification from 1998, he allowed the release of A Clockwork Orange and The Exorcist on home video and predicted the eventual disappearance of film classifications.
He was appointed CBE in 2003, knighted in 2015, and received the Canterbury Cross in 2017. Born in Cheshire in 1937, he studied at Keble College, Oxford, and served in national service before entering journalism.
Tributes came from former Independent editor Amol Rajan, who called him a “radical” and “pioneer”, and current editor-in-chief Geordie Greig, who praised his “zeal for journalism”.
