George Pascoe-Watson

George Pascoe-Watson (born 21 August 1966) is a British journalist and public relations consultant. He was formerly Political Editor of The Sun newspaper, succeeding Trevor Kavanagh in January 2006. He currently works for the Portland Communications agency founded by Tony Blair's former advisor Tim Allan in 2001.[1]

George Pascoe-Watson
Born (1966-08-21) 21 August 1966
Edinburgh, Scotland
NationalityBritish
EducationGeorge Heriot's School
Royal High School, Edinburgh
Alma materNapier College
OccupationJournalist
Spouse(s)
Natalie Kirby
​
(m. 2011)​

Early life

Pascoe-Watson was born in Edinburgh in 1966 to an RAF pilot and a nursing sister. He was educated at George Heriot's School and the Royal High School. He completed a two-year journalism diploma at Napier College in Edinburgh.

Career

Pascoe-Walton worked for local newspapers, a news agency and then joined The Sun at the age of 21. He was transferred off The Sun for a spell after he exposed a continued lack of security at Heathrow Airport shortly after the Lockerbie bombing. In his early days at the paper, he was bylined 'Pascoe Watson' as his superiors thought the forename George and his double-barrelled surname to be too effete for the red-top's primarily working-class readership. However they relented after he went into the Lobby.[2]

In 2020, during the COVID pandemic Pascoe-Watson was appointed to an unpaid advisory role by the Department of Health and Social Care (DHSC); he participated in daily strategic discussions chaired by Lord Bethell.[3] He also sent information about government policy to his paying clients before this was made public.[4][5]

Personal life

Pascoe-Watson married Natalie Kirby in January 2011.[6]

References
  1. Tryhorn, Chris (15 October 2009). "Sun political editor George Pascoe-Watson to join Tim Allan's PR agency". The Guardian. Retrieved 3 October 2015.
  2. Interview: George Pascoe-Watson | Media | The Guardian
  3. Pogrund, Gabriel (15 November 2020). "George Pascoe-Watson among lobbyists given secret access to Covid meetings". The Sunday Times. Retrieved 15 November 2020.
  4. Stone, Jon (15 November 2020). "Government gave lobbyists access to confidential coronavirus briefings". The Independent. Retrieved 15 November 2020.
  5. Diver, Tony (15 November 2020). "National lockdown was revealed by lobbyists before press leaks". The Sunday Telegraph. Retrieved 15 November 2020.
  6. "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 4 February 2011. Retrieved 2 February 2011.CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
Media offices
Preceded by
Trevor Kavanagh		 Political Editor of The Sun
2006–2009		 Succeeded by
Tom Newton Dunn


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