Thepolitical 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'sbyline is often added to stories that 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'sprime minister and senior government figures and covers major events likeparty conferences.
BBC News introduced the role of political editor in 1970.[1] In addition to the nationwide political editors,Glenn Campbell has been political editor forBBC Scotland since 2021,Felicity Evans has been political editor forBBC Cymru Wales since 2018[2] andNicholas Watt has been political editor forNewsnight since 2016.[3]
| Political editor | Tenure | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Hardiman Scott | 1970–1975 | Then Chief Assistant to the Director-General of the BBC |
| David Holmes | 1975–1980 | |
| John Simpson | 1980–1981 | BBC World Affairs Editor from 1988 to present |
| John Cole | 1981–1992 | Retired from political journalism |
| Robin Oakley | 1992–2000 | European political editor ofCNN 2000–2008 |
| Andrew Marr | 2000–2005 | PresentedThe Andrew Marr Show from 2005 to 2021, now atLBC |
| Nick Robinson | 2005–2015 | Political editor of ITV News 2002–2005, now aToday programme presenter |
| Laura Kuenssberg | 2015–2022 | PresentingSunday with Laura Kuenssberg since 2022 |
| Chris Mason | 2022–present |
ITN produces news programmes forITV,Channel 4 andChannel 5. The ITN brand was used on ITV until 1999, when it was rebranded asITV News.
| Political editor | Tenure | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Julian Haviland | 1975–1981 | Subsequently political editor ofThe Times newspaper |
| Glyn Mathias | 1981–1986 | Subsequently political editor ofBBC Wales andElectoral 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 aToday programme presenter |
| Tom Bradby | 2005–2015 | Now anITV News at Ten presenter |
| Robert Peston | 2015–present |
Additionally,Colin Mackay has been the political editor forSTV News in Scotland since 2019, when he replacedBernard Ponsonby.
Political editors forChannel 4 News include:
ITN produced the5 News programme forChannel 5 from the channel's launch in 1997 until 2005 and again from 2012, withSky News providing news coverage in the intervening years.Andy Bell has been the programme's political editor since 1999.
Sky News launched in 1989 withAdam 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.
| Political editor | Tenure | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Adam Boulton | 1989-2014 | |
| Faisal Islam | 2014 - 2019 | |
| Beth Rigby | 2019- present |
| Political Editor | Tenure | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Ken Reid | 1993-2021 | |
| Tracey Magee | 2021- present |
| Political Editor | Tenure | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Mark Devenport | 2005-2020 | |
| Enda McClafferty | 2020-present |
| Political editor | Tenure | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Ian Aitken | 1975–1990 | |
| Michael White | 1990–2006 | |
| Patrick Wintour | 2006–2015 | |
| Heather Stewart | 2016–2022 | |
| Anushka Asthana | 2016–2018 | Asthana was political editor in a job-share arrangement with Heather Stewart beginning in early 2016 |
| Pippa Crerar | 2022–present |
| Political editor | Tenure | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Trevor Kavanagh | 1983–2005 | |
| George Pascoe-Watson | 2006–2009 | |
| Tom Newton Dunn | 2009–2020 | |
| Harry Cole | 2020–present |
| Political editor | Tenure | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Isabel Oakeshott | 2010–2014 | |
| Tim Shipman | 2014–2021 | |
| Caroline Wheeler | 2021–present | [6] |
![[icon]](/mt/?noimg=&dark=on&url=https%3a%2f%2fen.wikipedia.org%2fwiki%2fFile%3aWiki_letter_w_cropped.svg) | This sectionneeds expansion. You can help byadding to it.(May 2020) |
| Political editor | Tenure | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Chris Uhlmann | 2015–2017 | Position created; Political Editor forNine News 2017–2022[7][8][9] |
| Andrew Probyn | 2017–present | Previously7.30 Political Editor[10][11][12] |
| Political editor | Tenure | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Mark Riley | 2004–present | [13] |
| Political editor | Tenure | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Laurie Oakes | 1984–2017 | [14][15][16] |
| Chris Uhlmann | 2017–2022 | [17][18] |
| Charles Croucher | 2022–present | [19][20] |
| Political editor | Tenure | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Dennis Shanahan | 1989–2021 | [21] |
| Simon Benson | 2021–present | [22][23] |
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