Lionel Barber is a British journalist, educated at Dulwich College, who was appointed editor of the Financial Times in November 2005. Previously he was the Financial Times' U.S. managing editor, based in New York, with responsibility for the FT's US edition, and for all US news on FT.com.

Before moving to the US he was the editor of the FT's Continental European edition (2000-2002), during which time he briefed President George W. Bush in the Oval Office ahead of his first trip to Europe. Other positions at the FT include news editor (1998-2000), Brussels bureau chief (1992-1998), and both Washington correspondent and US editor (1986-1992) where he covered the end of the Cold War and the first Gulf war as well as two US presidential campaigns.

Barber began his career in journalism in 1978 as a reporter for The Scotsman. In 1981, after being named Young Journalist of the Year in the British press awards, he moved to The Sunday Times, where he was a business correspondent.

Barber has extensive television and radio experience in both the US and Europe. In the US, he has appeared on ABC, CBS and CNN and was a regular guest on the Diane Rehm radio show. In Europe, he has appeared on Danish, Dutch, Finnish, French and German television.

He graduated from Oxford University with a joint honours degree in German and modern history. He speaks fluent French and German and modest Russian.

Barber has co-written several books including a history of Reuters news agency (The Price of Truth, 1985) and the Westland political scandal (Not with Honour, 1986) He has also lectured widely on US foreign policy, transatlantic relations, European security and monetary union at campuses in the US and Europe, including Harvard, Georgetown, Ohio Wesleyan, the University of Pittsburgh, and Stanford.

In 1985, he was the Laurence Stern fellow at the Washington Post, working on the newspaper's national staff. In 1992, he was a visiting scholar at the University of California at Berkeley, working under Nelson Polsby at the Institute of Governmental Studies. In 1996, he was a visiting fellow at the Robert Schuman centre at the European University Institute in Florence.

Barber lives with his wife, Victoria, and two children in London. His son, Dashiell (Dash for short), is 16 years old and is excelling in his drama career and played prince Harry in the film The Queen. His daughter, Francesca, graduated from Fieldston Ethical Culture school in New York in June 2006.