A leader writer is a senior journalist in a British newspaper who is charged with writing the paper's
editorial
An editorial, or leading article (UK) or leader (UK) is an article written by the senior editorial people or publisher of a newspaper, magazine, or any other written document, often unsigned. Australian and major United States newspapers, suc ...
either in the absence of the
editor
Editing is the process of selecting and preparing written, photographic, visual, audible, or cinematic material used by a person or an entity to convey a message or information. The editing process can involve correction, condensation, orga ...
or in cases where the editor chooses not to write editorials because their editorial skills may rest more in management of the company than in writing daily editorials. Some major newspapers have a number of leader writers. Often different individuals may write editorials in their own specialist areas, for example, the political editor would write some or all editorials on political matters, and so on. Leader writers are often also columnists in their newspapers. Outside the UK, leader writers are known as
editorial writer
An editorial, or leading article (UK) or leader (UK) is an article written by the senior editorial people or publisher of a newspaper, magazine, or any other written document, often unsigned. Australian and major United States newspapers, suc ...
s.
Some leader writers include:
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Daniel Finkelstein
Daniel William Finkelstein, Baron Finkelstein, (born 30 August 1962) is a British journalist and politician. He is a former executive editor of ''The Times'' and remains a weekly political columnist. He is a former chairman of Policy Exchange ...
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Amanda Platell
Amanda Jane Platell (born 12 November 1957) is an Australian journalist. Between 1999 and 2001 she was the press secretary to William Hague, the then leader of the British Conservative Party. She is currently based in the UK.
Personal life
Pl ...
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Jonathan Freedland
Jonathan Saul Freedland (born 25 February 1967) is a British journalist who writes a weekly column for ''The Guardian''. He presents BBC Radio 4's contemporary history series ''The Long View''. Freedland also writes thrillers, mainly under the ...
*
David Aaronovitch
David Morris Aaronovitch (born 8 July 1954) is an English journalist, television presenter and author. He is a regular columnist for ''The Times'' and the author of ''Paddling to Jerusalem: An Aquatic Tour of Our Small Country'' (2000), ''Voodoo ...
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Libby Purves
Elizabeth Mary Purves, (born 2 February 1950) is a British radio presenter, journalist and author.
Early life and career
Born in London, a diplomat's daughter, Purves was raised in her mother's Catholic faith and educated at convent school ...
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Matthew Parris
Matthew Francis Parris (born 7 August 1949) is a British political writer and broadcaster, formerly a Conservative Member of Parliament. He was born in South Africa to British parents.
Early life and family
Parris is the eldest of six children ...
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Simon Hoggart
Simon David Hoggart (26 May 1946 – 5 January 2014) was an English journalist and broadcaster. He wrote on politics for ''The Guardian'', and on wine for ''The Spectator''. Until 2006 he presented ''The News Quiz'' on BBC Radio 4. His journali ...
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Julia Hartley-Brewer
Julia Hartley-Brewer is an English radio presenter, political journalist and newspaper columnist. She hosts the weekday breakfast radio show on Talkradio.
Early life
Julia Hartley-Brewer's father, Michael John Hartley-Brewer, stood unsuccessfu ...
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Patrick Hennessy
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Quentin Letts
Quentin Richard Stephen Letts (born 6 February 1963) is an English journalist and theatre critic. He has written for ''The Daily Telegraph'', ''Daily Mail'', ''Mail on Sunday'', and ''The Oldie''. On 26 February 2019, it was announced that Lett ...
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Simon Heffer
Simon James Heffer (born 18 July 1960) is an English historian, journalist, author and political commentator. He has published several biographies and a series of books on the social history of Great Britain from the mid-nineteenth century unti ...
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Peter Hitchens
Peter Jonathan Hitchens (born 28 October 1951) is an English author, broadcaster, journalist, and commentator. He writes for ''The Mail on Sunday'' and was a foreign correspondent reporting from both Moscow and Washington, D.C. Peter Hitchens h ...
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Melanie Phillips
Melanie Phillips (born 4 June 1951) is a British journalist, author, and public commentator. She began her career writing for ''The Guardian'' and ''New Statesman''. During the 1990s, she came to identify with ideas more associated with the righ ...
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Oliver Kamm
Oliver Kamm (born 1963) is a British journalist and writer who is a leader writer and columnist for ''The Times''.
Early life and career
Kamm is the son of translator Anthea Bell and publisher Antony Kamm. Kamm is the grandson of Adrian Bell ...
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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 ...
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Michael White
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Peter Oborne
Peter Alan Oborne (; born 11 July 1957) is a British journalist and broadcaster. He is the former chief political commentator of ''The Daily Telegraph'', from which he resigned in early 2015. He is author of ''The Rise of Political Lying'', ''Th ...
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Andrew Rawnsley
Andrew Nicholas James Rawnsley (born 5 January 1962) is a British political journalist and broadcaster. A columnist and chief political commentator for ''The Observer'', he has written two books on New Labour.
Early life
Rawnsley was born in Le ...
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Annunziata Rees-Mogg
Annunziata Mary Rees-Mogg (; born 25 March 1979) is a freelance journalist whose focus is finance, economics, and European politics and has been a British Brexit Party then Conservative politician during 2019 and into early 2020.
She has been ...
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Peter Riddell
Sir Peter John Robert Riddell (born 14 October 1948) is a British journalist and author. He worked for the ''Financial Times'' from 1970 to 1991. From April 2016 to September 2021 he served as the British government's Commissioner for Public App ...
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Michael Portillo
Michael Denzil Xavier Portillo (; born 26 May 1953) is a British journalist, broadcaster and former politician. His broadcast series include railway documentaries such as ''Great British Railway Journeys'' and '' Great Continental Railway Journ ...
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Kevin Maguire
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Jackie Ashley
Jacqueline Ashley (born 10 September 1954) is an English journalist and broadcaster.
Early life
Ashley was born in St Pancras, London. She is the daughter of Pauline Kay () and Jack Ashley, Baron Ashley of Stoke, a Labour MP and life peer.
Sh ...
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Simon Jenkins
Sir Simon David Jenkins (born 10 June 1943) is a British author, a newspaper columnist and editor. He was editor of the ''Evening Standard'' from 1976 to 1978 and of ''The Times'' from 1990 to 1992.
Jenkins chaired the National Trust from 20 ...
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Polly Toynbee
Mary Louisa "Polly" Toynbee (; born 27 December 1946) is a British journalist and writer. She has been a columnist for ''The Guardian'' newspaper since 1998.
She is a social democrat and was a candidate for the Social Democratic Party in the 19 ...
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Tim Stanley
Timothy Randolph Stanley (born 1 January 1982) is a British journalist and historian.
Early life
Stanley was educated at The Judd School, a grammar school in Tonbridge, Kent. He then attended Trinity College, Cambridge, where he studied moder ...
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Michael Toner
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Liz Forgan
Dame Elizabeth Anne Lucy Forgan, DBE (born 31 August 1944) is an English journalist, and radio and television executive.
Early life
Forgan was educated at Benenden School, Kent, and St Hugh's College, Oxford, then an all-female college.
She ini ...
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