James Mates

James Mates (born 11 August 1961) is a British newsreader and journalist, currently employed by ITN, where he presents on ITV News and is Europe Editor.

Education and early career

Mates was educated at Marlborough College, an independent school in the market town of Marlborough in Wiltshire, which his children now attend.

He left Marlborough at the age of 16 to take A-levels at Farnham College in Farnham in Surrey and then studied at the University of Leeds from which he graduated, in 1983, with a degree in International History and Politics. During that time he had spent his 1981 summer vacation working as a researcher for John Tower on the Senate Armed Services Committee.

TV career

Mates joined ITN in 1983 as an editorial trainee and was appointed scriptwriter in the ITV newsroom two years later. He was made a general reporter at ITN in 1986.

Amongst his first assignments on becoming a reporter was to cover the Zeebrugge ferry disaster. He spent five weeks in Zeebrugge in 1987 during the operation to raise the capsized ferry 'Herald of Free Enterprise'. Another major assignment was to cover the UK's failed extradition attempt from Ireland of Father Patrick Ryan in 1989. The failure was attributed to prejudicial comments made in parliament by his father, Michael Mates, which implied that Ryan was a terrorist. Prime Minister, Margaret Thatcher, compounded the damage done by Mates' comments at PMQs on 29 November 1988. In October 1989, the Irish government refused the extradition request on the grounds that Ryan would not get a fair trial in Britain.