Mark Wallace (journalist)

Wallace grew up in Whitley Bay, North Tyneside,[1] and was educated at the Royal Grammar School, Newcastle upon Tyne.[2] He studied Archaeology at St Chad's College, Durham University.[3] After graduating, he worked on archaeological excavations at Bamburgh Castle.[4]

In 2005, Wallace was appointed Campaign Manager of The Freedom Association (TFA), a libertarian and Eurosceptic pressure group. In the autumn of the same year he was stopped and filmed by Sussex Police under counter-terrorism powers while protesting against the proposed introduction of Identity Cards outside the Labour Party conference.[5]

Wallace co-founded Better Off Out, a cross-party campaign calling for the United Kingdom to leave the European Union, in April 2006.[6] He continues to sit on the Association's Council and Management Committee.[7]

In 2007, he became Campaign Director of low-tax pressure group the TaxPayers' Alliance.[8] His campaigns at the TaxPayers' Alliance included pressing for transparency on MPs' expenses,[9] and for MPs to be punished for any fraudulent abuse of the system.[10] The same year he featured in the Channel 4 political documentary, Make Me a Tory.

In July 2010, Wallace was recruited by Portland Communications, a PR and public affairs agency,[11] before becoming Head of Media Relations at the Institute of Directors in March 2012.[12]

In April 2013, the centre-right political website ConservativeHome announced that Wallace would join its editorial team the following month as Executive Editor,[13] following the departure of its founder, Tim Montgomerie. In January 2020 it was announced that he is becoming the website's Chief Executive.[14]

Wallace has stated that his particular interest is in "the way political machines are evolving in the age of low party memberships and digital innovation",[15] and has published investigations into the success of the Conservative Party's campaign in the 2015 general election,[16] and the failure of the Party's subsequent campaign in the 2017 general election.[17][18][19]

Beyond ConservativeHome, Wallace is a regular commentator in the media. He writes a fortnightly column on Brexit for the i paper,[20] and has also written on politics for The Guardian,[21] The Observer, the Financial Times,[22] The Times[23][24] and the Daily Telegraph.[25] Wallace is also a regular paper reviewer for Sky News.

In October 2017, he was placed at Number 89 in 'The Top 100 Most Influential People on the Right' by political commentator Iain Dale.[26] In September 2019, he was placed at Number 58 in 'The Top 100 Most Influential Conservatives of 2019', again by Dale.[27]

Described by website Guido Fawkes as "a secret quiz buff",[28] Wallace has appeared as a contestant on several television quizzes. In 2004, he represented Durham University on University Challenge.[3] In 2013, he won The Chase.[29] In 2016, he captained The Beekeepers on Only Connect,[30] reaching the Quarter-Finals.[31]