George Pascoe-Watson (born 21 August 1966) is a British journalist and public relations consultant. He was formerly the Political Editor of '' The Sun'' newspaper, succeeding

Trevor Kavanagh Trevor Michael Thomas Kavanagh (born 19 January 1943) is a British/Australian journalist and former political editor of '' The Sun''. Early life and career Kavanagh was educated at Reigate Grammar School before leaving school at 17 to work fo ...

in January 2006. He currently works for the

Portland Communications Portland Communications is a political consultancy and public relations agency set up in 2001 by Tim Allan, a former adviser to Tony Blair and Director of Communications at BSkyB. In 2012 a majority stake in Portland was purchased by Omnicom. ...

agency founded by

Tony Blair Sir Anthony Charles Lynton Blair (born 6 May 1953) is a British former politician who served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 1997 to 2007 and Leader of the Labour Party from 1994 to 2007. He previously served as Leader of th ...

's former advisor

Tim Allan Timothy Neil Allan is a public relations consultant and was an advisor to Tony Blair from 1992 to 1998. He is the founder and managing director of Portland Communications in London, England. In April 2012 it was reported that Allan was set to se ...

in 2001.

Early life

Pascoe-Watson was born in

Edinburgh Edinburgh ( ; gd, Dùn Èideann ) is the capital city of Scotland and one of its 32 Council areas of Scotland, council areas. Historically part of the county of Midlothian (interchangeably Edinburghshire before 1921), it is located in Lothian ...

in 1966 to an RAF pilot and a nursing sister. He was educated at George Heriot's School and the Royal High School. He completed a two-year journalism diploma at Napier College in

Career

Pascoe-Walton worked for local newspapers, a news agency, and then joined ''The Sun'' at the age of 21. He was transferred off ''The Sun'' for a spell after he exposed a continued lack of security at

Heathrow Airport Heathrow Airport (), called ''London Airport'' until 1966 and now known as London Heathrow , is a major international airport in London, England. It is the largest of the six international airports in the London airport system (the others be ...

shortly after the Lockerbie bombing. In his early days at the paper, he was bylined 'Pascoe Watson' as his superiors thought the forename George and his double-barrelled surname to be too effete for the red-top's primarily working-class readership. However, they relented after he went into

the Lobby The terms the Lobby and Lobby journalists collectively characterise the political journalists in the United Kingdom Houses of Parliament. The term derives from the special access they receive to the Members' Lobby. Lobby journalism refers to th ...

. In 2020, during the COVID pandemic Pascoe-Watson was appointed to an unpaid advisory role by the Department of Health and Social Care (DHSC); he participated in daily strategic discussions chaired by Lord Bethell. He also sent information about government policy to his paying clients before this was made public.

Personal life

Pascoe-Watson married Natalie Kirby in January 2011.

References

External links

''Guardian'' January 2006

''LA Times'' 11 April 1989
1966 births Living people British male journalists People educated at George Heriot's School People educated at the Royal High School, Edinburgh The Sun (United Kingdom) people {{UK-journalist-stub