Economics editor Ahmed is named BBC’S editorial director of news

♦kamal Ahmed, the BBC’S economics editor, has been promoted to the corporation’s management team as editorial director of news.

Ahmed will be responsible for shaping editorial strategy, “focusing on storytelling and explanatory journalism, [and] providing the link between audience research and BBC output”, the corporation said.

The position was created by Fran Unsworth, director of news, who is assembling a new senior team. Gavin Allen, formerly controller of daily news programmes, will become head of news output, responsible for content on television, radio and online.

“Kamal will bring verve, ambition and fresh editorial insight to the role and I’m thrilled he’s joining my top team. I’m delighted to have Gavin’s extensive experience across many BBC programmes and strong editorial judgment leading this department.”

Ahmed, a former Telegraph journalist, joined the BBC in 2014 as business editor and moved into the role of economics editor two years later. He and Allen will start their new roles in the autumn.