Gavin William James Esler (born 27 February 1953) is a Scottish journalist, television presenter and author.

On 11 March 2017, Esler confirmed via his Twitter profile that he would be leaving the BBC at the end of the month to concentrate on his writing activities.

[10] Based in Washington,[11] Esler's responsibilities now extended to shaping the corporation's coverage across the whole of North America, which included reporting on both the earlier George H. W. Bush and Clinton administrations.

Esler has also reported for news and documentary programmes across Europe, Russia, China and North and South America.

[citation needed] In January 2003, he joined Newsnight,[12] replacing Jeremy Vine, who had left to take over from Sir Jimmy Young on Radio 2.

[13] During his career Esler has interviewed heads of state and government including Bill Clinton, Jacques Chirac and King Abdullah II of Jordan.

He has also interviewed a wide range of cultural figures, including Dolly Parton, Doris Lessing, Penélope Cruz, Angelina Jolie, V. S. Naipaul, Roger Waters, Vikram Seth and Seamus Heaney.

The article appeared to endorse Hillary Clinton to be the next US President and it soon emerged that the news presenter in question was Esler.

The BBC report noted that "the apparent endorsement of one presidential candidate in elections in a country which, in his words, 'now seems seriously off course' could make it hard for that presenter to conduct American political interviews".

Esler has also hosted BBC Radio 4 factual series Four Corners along with fellow Scottish broadcaster Anne MacKenzie.

The novel A Scandalous Man was described by fellow author Bernard Cornwell as "a compelling book, its political sophistication made luminous with wisdom, sympathy and story telling".

Esler's 2019 book Brexit Without the Bullshit discusses some of the potential consequences of the UK's withdrawal from the European Union.

In London the party achieved 5.3% of the vote, but this was only just over half of the number required for Esler as lead candidate to win the 8th and last seat under the d'Hondt system of proportional representation used in the election.

He added, that he thought Nigel Farage was "affable" and a "good communicator", but whilst he was "more honest on that than many other politicians who support Brexit", his approach was reminiscent of Nazism; "The word 'betrayal' was used in Germany from 1919 onwards and throughout the 1920s with terrible results".

[33][34][35] Esler's report on the military build-up in the Aleutian Islands as part of the Reagan administration's New Maritime Strategy earned him a Royal Television Society award.