Political editor
The political editor of a newspaper or broadcaster is the senior political reporter who covers politics and related matters for the newspaper or station. They may have a large team of political correspondents working under them.
In publishing, because of their seniority, a political editor's byline is often added to stories which actually are the work of more junior colleagues to give the story more credibility and to indicate their seniority within the publication. The political editor usually carries out the major interviews with a country's prime minister and senior government figures and covers major events like party conferences.
United Kingdom
BBC News
BBC News introduced the role of political editor in 1970.[1] In addition to the nation-wide political editors, Brian Taylor has been political editor for BBC Scotland since 1985, while Nick Servini has been political editor for BBC Wales since 2009.
| Political editor | Tenure | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Hardiman Scott | 1970–1975 | Then Chief Assistant to the Director-General of the BBC |
| David Holmes | 1975–1980 | Retired |
| John Simpson | 1980–1981 | Now BBC World Affairs Editor |
| John Cole | 1981–1992 | Retired |
| Robin Oakley | 1992–2000 | Now at CNN |
| Andrew Marr | 2000–2005 | Now a BBC TV presenter |
| Nick Robinson | 2005–2015 | Political editor of ITV News 2002–2005, now a Today Programme presenter |
| Laura Kuenssberg | 2015–present |
ITV News
ITN produces news programmes for ITV, Channel 4 and Channel 5. The ITN brand was used on ITV until 1999, when it was rebranded as ITV News.
| Political editor | Tenure | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Julian Haviland | 1975–1981 | Subsequently political editor of The Times newspaper |
| Glyn Mathias | 1981–1986 | Subsequently political editor of BBC Wales and Electoral Commissioner |
| Michael Brunson | 1986–2000 | Retired |
| John Sergeant | 2000–2002 | Retired, previously Political Correspondent of BBC News 1981–1992 and Chief Political Correspondent 1992–2000 |
| Nick Robinson | 2002–2005 | Political editor of BBC News 2005–2015, now a Today Programme presenter |
| Tom Bradby | 2005–2015 | Now an ITV News at Ten presenter |
| Robert Peston | 2015–present |
Additionally, Bernard Ponsonby has been the political editor for STV News in Scotland since 2000, when he replaced Fiona Ross.
Channel 4 News
Political editors for Channel 4 News include:
- Elinor Goodman, 1988–2005[2]
- Gary Gibbon, 2005–present (also political correspondent 1994–2005)[3]
5 News
ITN produced the 5 News programme for Channel 5 from the channel's launch in 1997 until 2005 and again from 2012, with Sky News providing news coverage in the intervening years. Andy Bell has been the programme's political editor since 1999.
Sky News
Sky News launched in 1989 with Adam Boulton as political editor. Faisal Islam took over the role in 2014 before moving to the BBC as Economics Editor in 2019. Islam was replaced as Sky's political editor by his former deputy, Beth Rigby.
The Guardian
| Political editor | Tenure | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Ian Aitken | 1975–1990 | |
| Michael White | 1990–2006 | |
| Patrick Wintour | 2006–2015 | |
| Anushka Asthana | 2016–2018 | Asthana was political editor in a job share arrangement with Heather Stewart beginning in early 2016 |
| Heather Stewart | 2016–present | |
The Sun
| Political editor | Tenure | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Trevor Kavanagh | 1983–2005 | |
| George Pascoe-Watson | 2006–2009 | |
| Tom Newton Dunn | 2009–2020 | |
| Harry Cole | 2020–present | |
The Sunday Times
| Political editor | Tenure | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Isabel Oakeshott | 2010–2014 | |
| Tim Shipman | 2014–present | |
Rest of the world
New Zealand
- Patrick Gower (Newshub) - 2012–2018
United States
- Brooke Brower (CNN) - 2017-present
- Patrick Healy (New York Times) - 2018-present
- Chris Stirewalt (Fox News) - 2010-present
- Peter Wallsten (Washington Post) - 2013-present
References
- Witts, Preston (21 March 2014). "Obituary: Former BBC political editor David Holmes". BBC News. Retrieved 25 January 2020.
- Singh, Anita (22 July 2015). "Laura Kuenssberg confirmed as new BBC Political Editor after Corporation's Twitter gaffe". The Daily Telegraph. Retrieved 25 January 2020.
- "Gary Gibbon". Channel 4 Television Corporation. 25 January 2020. Retrieved 25 January 2020.