 | |
Type of site | Blog |
|---|---|
| Editors | Paul Staines |
| URL | www |
| Launched | 2004 |
| Current status | Active |
Guido Fawkes is aright-wing political website published by British-Irish political bloggerPaul Staines.[1][2][3]
In September 2004, Staines began writing ananonymous blog aboutBritish politics under the name ofGuido Fawkes, an alternative name ofGuy Fawkes, one of the group that plotted to blow up thePalace of Westminster in 1605.[4] In February 2005,The Guardian reported that the Fawkes blog shared a fax number with Staines.[5] Although he subsequently refused to confirm the links, further media coverage continued to name Staines as Fawkes until the airing of aBBC Radio 4 documentary[6] about him on 10 February 2007, which gave a detailed history and background, and prompted his blog post "So Much for Anonymity".[7]
In 2005,Guido was voted the best in the Political Commentary category of The Backbencher Political Weblog Awards, run byThe Guardian. It was not a survey ofGuardian readers explicitly, but instead an internet poll linked to theGuido Fawkes website.[8] In May 2006, Staines (as Guido Fawkes) co-authored a book withIain Dale, which was critical of theLabour Party's practices since taking office in 1997.[9]
In April 2006, Staines was one of numerous bloggers subject to an injunction[10] fromNews International for publishing a picture of the undercover journalistMazher Mahmood. Staines agreed to publish[11] the photo if 10 other bloggers would do so.[12] The picture remained onGuido, and, following legal action fromGeorge Galloway, was subsequently released into the public domain.[citation needed]
Guido reported the allegation that Deputy Prime MinisterJohn Prescott was having an extramarital affair with an MP. It also named the woman in question, saying that such rumours had long been shared among Westminster journalists, but that the blog was being less hypocritical and breaking the clique by refusing to cover up such stories.[13] The coverage of the Prescott affair drew considerable extra traffic to Staines's blog.[14]
He was named at number 36 in the "Top 50 newsmakers of 2006" inThe Independent,[15] for his blog, and his role in the Prescott scandal in particular. In 2011GQ ranked him, alongside co-authorHarry Cole, jointly at number 28 in the magazine's list of the 100 Most Influential Men in Britain.[16]
Staines encourages readers to forward political documents and information, which he publishes on his blog. One such leak was a strategy document for thePeter Hain for Deputy Leader of the Labour Party campaign. This leak caused embarrassment to Hain's campaign[17] as it included information on MPs who had not gone public with their support, as well as others who were supposed to be independent.
"Tottywatch"[18] is an irregular feature that comprises pictures of attendees at political events. Although the pictures are of both men and women, the majority are of attractive young women. Staines' wife is referred to as Mrs Fawkes and his daughters as Miss Fawkes and Ms Fawkes. On Monday mornings, the blog features a Monday Morning Point of View cartoon by "Rich&Mark", cartoonistRich Johnston, archived at the RichAndMark website.[19]
In 2012,RTÉ Radio 1 broadcast a documentary about Staines,Our Man in Westminster, as part of itsDocumentary on One series.[20]
Vote Leave employeeTom Harwood was hired as aGuido reporter in July 2018;[21] he left in 2021 to joinGB News.[22]
Staines has said thatSteve Bannon, a former senior adviser[23] toDonald Trump and head ofBreitbart News, once tried to buyGuido.[24] "That fell through over price," Staines toldPress Gazette. "I never could work out whether we were talkingdollars orsterling".[25]
In November 2024, after celebrating the twentieth anniversary ofGuido Fawkes, Staines announced he would be standing down as editor, with Ross Kempsall being confirmed as taking over the role.[26]
Staines has made a number of posts on his blog relating to theSmith Institute, a charitable think tank set up in memory of former Labour leaderJohn Smith, which he alleged to have engaged in party political activities (forbidden under charity law) and to have close links toGordon Brown. These complaints led on 1 February 2007 to a formal investigation by theCharity Commission.[27] The Commission threatened him withcontempt of court proceedings if he did not release any documents, obtained from whistleblowers, relating to political activities by the Smith Institute.[28] Staines stated on his blog that he intends to protect his anonymous sources,[29]
Staines has been credited with being the first blogger whose activities led to the resignation of a serving British minister;Peter Hain from the offices ofSecretary of State for Work and Pensions andSecretary of State for Wales in January 2008.[30][31][32]
Over the weekend of 11–12 April 2009, Staines exposed in his blog that a series of e-mails had been prepared byDamian McBride, a political adviser working at10 Downing Street, smearing a number of Conservative MPs which had been sent toDerek Draper for consideration for publication on theRed Rag blogsite.[33] This led to the resignation of McBride and expressions of regret to the MPs concerned from theprime minister,Gordon Brown.[34] Staines provided copies of these emails to theNews of the World andThe Sunday Times and states that, contrary to the comments of his detractors, he did not receive any payments for this.[35]
His success in the McBride affair has occasioned serious criticism from him of the UK lobby correspondent system, which he believes has succumbed to the ethos ofpolitical spin.[36]
In late November 2011 Staines posted on hisGuido Fawkes blog theLeveson Inquiry pre-submission of journalist and former Labour Party press secretaryAlastair Campbell. All pre-submissions are given under strict and full confidentiality, and all core participants – including victims, theMetropolitan Police and theCrown Prosecution Service – are also signatories. Staines stated that he had obtained the submission legally.Lord Justice Leveson immediately called him to the inquiry to make a statement under cross-examination.[37]
Staines gave written evidence denying any fault or breach of the Inquiry Act. At the start of his oral evidence to the Inquiry, Campbell admitted sending his evidence to "two or three journalists" and some friends. The order for Staines to appear was dropped.[citation needed]
In late December 2011 Staines was invited to give further evidence.[38]
Staines has been criticised for his approach to blogging. He often criticises the mainstream media, stating that they are too close to the political establishment and that they also keep internal secrets about political scandals from the public. When allegations aboutJohn Prescott's private life appeared, Staines wrote that "You can tell it is a big story becauseNick Robinson is ignoring it". Robinson responded via his own blog,[39] accusing Staines of having a political agenda to damage the government. These criticisms were echoed byPeter Wilby, in theNew Statesman, who suggested that Staines's claims to have made the news on Prescott were unfounded, as the story had previously been covered inThe Times, and that Staines' contribution to the debate was persistent implications of scandal without supporting evidence.[40]
Colin Brown, in response to criticisms from Staines that the media are too cosy with politicians, said: "We would love to go into print with things that we hear and believe to be true, but cannot prove, but the libel laws are such that we cannot put things into newspapers that he [Guido Fawkes] seems to think that he can get away with on the internet. They don't seem to run by the same rules".[13] Staines responded by stating that he is more vulnerable to libel suits than the print media are; as an individual, he does not have a large company backing him, although he says the fact that his blog is published through aNevis-registered firm offers some protection,[41] as plaintiffs are required to depositUS$25,000 in court before commencing any action in Nevis.[42][43] The site is hosted in the United States to take advantage ofFirst Amendment protections, and the editor Paul Staines is resident in Ireland.[44]
The same firm is majority shareholder in MessageSpace, a blog advertising network that sells advertising space on many British political blogs, including PoliticalBetting.com,Iain Dale,ConservativeHome andLabourhome.[45][46]
Staines was criticised byIain Dale andMichael White in September 2010 for publishing rumours aboutWilliam Hague, alleging that he shared a hotel room with his newly appointedspecial advisor. Hague confirmed he had shared a hotel room, but denied any "improper relationship".[47][48] Later in February 2012, at the Leveson Inquiry, Staines said he had been paid £20,000 by theNews of the World for a picture of Hague's special adviser, Christopher Myers, in a gay bar. The picture was not published by theNews of the World.[49]
In 2014, at Guido's tenth anniversary party,London MayorBoris Johnson said that the site "has long been the dung on the rosebush of politics".[1]
The Guardian's Anne Perkins has calledGuido "a cross between a comic and a propaganda machine".[1]
A number of journalists began their career on the blog, including:
