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, Glenn Campbell has been political editor for BBC Scotland since 2021, Felicity Evans has been political editor for BBC Cymru Wales since 2018[2] and Nicholas Watt has been political editor for Newsnight since 2016.[3]

Political editor Tenure Notes
Hardiman Scott1970–1975Then Chief Assistant to the Director-General of the BBC
David Holmes1975–1980
John Simpson1980–1981BBC World Affairs Editor from 1988 to present
John Cole1981–1992Retired from political journalism
Robin Oakley1992–2000European political editor of CNN 2000–2008
Andrew Marr2000–2005Presented The Andrew Marr Show from 2005 to 2021, now at LBC
Nick Robinson2005–2015Political editor of ITV News 2002–2005, now a Today programme presenter
Laura Kuenssberg2015–2022Presenting Sunday with Laura Kuenssberg since 2022
Chris Mason2022–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 Haviland1975–1981Subsequently political editor of The Times newspaper
Glyn Mathias1981–1986Subsequently political editor of BBC Wales and Electoral Commissioner
Michael Brunson1986–2000Retired
John Sergeant2000–2002Retired, previously Political Correspondent of BBC News 1981–1992 and Chief Political Correspondent 1992–2000
Nick Robinson2002–2005Political editor of BBC News 2005–2015, now a Today programme presenter
Tom Bradby2005–2015Now an ITV News at Ten presenter
Robert Peston2015–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:

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 Aitken1975–1990
Michael White1990–2006
Patrick Wintour2006–2015
Heather Stewart2016–2022
Anushka Asthana2016–2018Asthana was political editor in a job share arrangement with Heather Stewart beginning in early 2016
Pippa Crerar2022–present

The Sun
Political editor Tenure Notes
Trevor Kavanagh1983–2005
George Pascoe-Watson2006–2009
Tom Newton Dunn2009–2020
Harry Cole2020–present

The Sunday Times
Political editor Tenure Notes
Isabel Oakeshott2010–2014
Tim Shipman2014–2021
Caroline Wheeler2021–present[6]

Rest of the world

ABC News
Political editor Tenure Notes
Chris Uhlmann2015–2017Position created; Political Editor for Nine News 2017-2022 [7][8][9]
Andrew Probyn2017–presentPreviously 7.30 Political Editor [10][11][12]

7NEWS
Political editor Tenure Notes
Mark Riley2004–present[13]

Nine News
Political editor Tenure Notes
Laurie Oakes1984–2017[14][15][16]
Chris Uhlmann2017–2022[17][18]
Charles Croucher2022–present[19][20]

The Australian
Political editor Tenure Notes
Dennis Shanahan1989–2021[21]
Simon Benson2021–present[22][23]

New Zealand

United States

References
  1. Witts, Preston (21 March 2014). "Obituary: Former BBC political editor David Holmes". BBC News. Retrieved 25 January 2020.
  2. "Felicity Evans appointed new BBC Cymru Wales Political Editor". BBC Media Centre. 23 July 2018. Retrieved 18 March 2021.
  3. Jackson, Jasper (23 March 2016). "BBC2's Newsnight hires Guardian's Nick Watt to replace Allegra Stratton". The Guardian. Retrieved 20 June 2017.
  4. 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.
  5. "Gary Gibbon". Channel 4 Television Corporation. 25 January 2020. Retrieved 25 January 2020.
  6. Ahmed, Mariam (8 October 2021). "Sunday Times appoints Wheeler political editor". Talking Biz News. Retrieved 15 November 2021.
  7. "Chris Uhlmann named ABC Political Editor". About the ABC. Retrieved 2023-04-18.
  8. "Chris Uhlmann - ABC News". ABC News. Retrieved 2023-04-18.
  9. "Chris Uhlmann leaving ABC to take Laurie Oakes's job at Nine". ABC News. 2017-08-30. Retrieved 2023-04-18.
  10. Carmody, Broede (2017-08-31). "ABC's Chris Uhlmann to replace Laurie Oakes on Channel Nine". The Sydney Morning Herald. Retrieved 2023-04-18.
  11. "Andrew Probyn - ABC News". ABC News. Retrieved 2023-04-18.
  12. "Lipson, Probyn to step up at ABC after Chris Uhlmann exit". TV Tonight. Retrieved 2023-04-18.
  13. "Mark Riley Seven News Political Editor". 7NEWS. Retrieved 2023-04-18.
  14. "'Disillusioned' Laurie Oakes announces retirement". ABC News. 2017-08-03. Retrieved 2023-04-18.
  15. Carmody, Broede (2017-08-03). "'An absolute giant': Laurie Oakes announces retirement". The Sydney Morning Herald. Retrieved 2023-04-18.
  16. "'It's time': Nine Network Political Editor Laurie Oakes retires". Nine News. Retrieved 2023-04-18.
  17. "Chris Uhlmann leaving ABC to take Laurie Oakes's job at Nine". ABC News. 2017-08-30. Retrieved 2023-04-18.
  18. "Charles Croucher becomes Nine's Chief Political Editor". TV Tonight. Retrieved 2023-04-18.
  19. "Charles Croucher becomes Nine's Chief Political Editor". TV Tonight. Retrieved 2023-04-18.
  20. Samios, Zoe (2022-10-15). "Charles Croucher named Nine's new political editor". The Sydney Morning Herald. Retrieved 2023-04-18.
  21. "Dennis Shanahan". The Australian. 18 April 2023.
  22. "Simon Benson The Australian". The Australian. 18 April 2023.
  23. "Simon Benson". LinkedIn. 18 April 2023.


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