John Junor

Sir John Donald Brown Junor (15 January 1919 – 3 May 1997) was a Scottish journalist and editor-in-chief of the Sunday Express between 1954 and 1986,[1] having previously worked as a columnist there.[2] He then moved to The Mail on Sunday.

For the rugby player, see John Junor (rugby union).

Early life

Born in Glasgow, he studied at Glasgow University and had a wartime commission in the Fleet Air Arm.[3] At Glasgow University he became president of the University Liberal Club, and later stood unsuccessfully three times for Parliament in Scotland for the Liberal Party.[4] In the 1945 General Election he contested Kincardine and Western Aberdeenshire. He then fought a by-election in 1947 for Edinburgh East, and finally was beaten at Dundee West in 1951. He was knighted in 1980.

Journalism

His Sunday Express column (which he continued to write in his years as editor-in-chief) was noted for recurrent catchphrases, two of them being "pass the sick-bag, Alice" and "I don't know, but I think we should be told". Junor frequently mentioned the small town of Auchtermuchty in Fife.[4]

Junor could be brutally forthright in his column. He once wrote: "[W]ith compatriots like these [the IRA Brighton bombers] wouldn't you rather admit to being a pig than be Irish?" Following complaints that the comment was racist, Junor was censured by the Press Council in May 1985.[5]

He was often lampooned in Private Eye where he was known as 'Sir Jonah Junor', and the Daily Express building on Fleet Street as 'the Black Lubyanka'.

Contempt of Parliament

On 24 January 1957, Junor was called to the Bar of the House of Commons to be reprimanded for contempt of Parliament[6] – the last non-politician to be so called.[7] The matter concerned an article about petrol allocation that appeared in the Sunday Express on 16 December 1956. Junor apologised:

Mr Speaker, I wish to express my sincere and unreserved apologies for any imputations or reflection which I may have cast upon the honour and integrity of the Members of this House in the article which I published in the Sunday Express of 16th December. At no time did I intend to be discourteous to Parliament. My only aim was to focus attention on what I considered to be an injustice in the allocation of petrol, namely, the petrol allowances given to political parties in the constituencies. In my judgment these allowances were a proper and, indeed, an inescapable subject of comment in a free Press. That was a view which I held then and hold now, Sir, but I do regret, deeply and sincerely, that the manner in which I expressed myself should have been such as to be a contempt of this House. I have nothing more to say. I now leave myself in the hands of this House.

Family

Junor married in 1942, and had two children.[4] The journalist Penny Junor is his daughter,[3] and the journalist Sam Leith, his grandson.

Works
  • The Best of JJ (1981)
  • Listening for a midnight tram: memoirs (1990)

References
  • Penny Junor (2002): Home Truths: Life Around My Father, ISBN 0-00-710213-5
  • Graham Lord (2012): Lord's Ladies and Gentlemen: 100 Legends of the 20th Century

Notes
  1. "'Top 40' UK journalists honoured". News.bbc.co.uk. 22 November 2005. Retrieved 12 December 2020.
  2. "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 23 February 2007. Retrieved 17 March 2007.CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
  3. Peregrine Worsthorne "Sympathy for the devil", New Statesman, 12 August 2002
  4. Julian Critchley Obituary: Sir John Junor, The Independent, 5 May 1997
  5. "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 16 June 2011. Retrieved 18 May 2010.CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link) Press Gazette
  6. "COMMITTEE OF PRIVILEGES (SECOND REPORT) (Hansard, 23 January 1957)". Hansard.millbanksystems.com. Retrieved 12 December 2020.
  7. "Law firm 'in contempt' of Commons". News.bbc.co.uk. 25 February 2010. Retrieved 12 December 2020.
Media offices
Preceded by
?		 Deputy Editor of the Evening Standard
1953–1954		 Succeeded by
Charles Wintour
Preceded by
Harold Keeble		 Editor of the Sunday Express
1954–1986		 Succeeded by
Robin Esser
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