''Left Foot Forward'' (''LFF'') is a

left-wing Left-wing politics describes the range of political ideologies that support and seek to achieve social equality and egalitarianism, often in opposition to social hierarchy. Left-wing politics typically involve a concern for those in soci ...

political news and comment site in the UK, established in 2009. Its creator,

Will Straw William David John Straw, CBE (born 1980) works in the charitable sector. He worked as a civil servant, founded the political blog ''Left Foot Forward,'' was an associate director of the think-tank Institute for Public Policy Research, speciali ...

, the son of Alice Perkins and

Jack Straw John Whitaker Straw (born 3 August 1946) is a British politician who served in the Cabinet from 1997 to 2010 under the Labour governments of Tony Blair and Gordon Brown. He held two of the traditional Great Offices of State, as Home Secretary ...

, edited the newspaper until December 2010. Straw was succeeded by Shamik Das, who was succeeded in February 2013 by

James Bloodworth James Bloodworth may refer to: * James Bloodworth (journalist), English journalist * James Bloodworth Jr. (1925–2006), American physician, pathologist, and researcher * James N. Bloodworth (1921–1980), Justice of the Supreme Court of Alabama ...

, then in February 2016 by Niamh Ní Mhaoileoin. In June 2017, Josiah Mortimer took over as Editor. In 2020, Joe Lo joined as co-editor, before being replaced by former ''

Newsweek ''Newsweek'' is an American weekly online news magazine co-owned 50 percent each by Dev Pragad, its president and CEO, and Johnathan Davis (businessman), Johnathan Davis, who has no operational role at ''Newsweek''. Founded as a weekly print m ...

'' journalist Basit Mahmood in May 2021. The site is part of a cohort of British left-wing blogs which attracted interest from the media in 2010 and 2011. In January 2014, the charity

Oxfam Oxfam is a British-founded confederation of 21 independent charitable organizations focusing on the alleviation of global poverty, founded in 1942 and led by Oxfam International. History Founded at 17 Broad Street, Oxford, as the Oxford Co ...

cancelled an event at the

East London Mosque The East London Mosque (ELM) is situated in the London Borough of Tower Hamlets between Whitechapel and Aldgate East. Combined with the adjoining London Muslim Centre and Maryam Centre, it is one of the largest mosques in Europe accommodating ...

after ''Left Foot Forward'' made the charity aware of the profile of one of its headline speakers,

Ibrahim Hewitt Ibrahim Hewitt is chairman of the board of trustees of Interpal and a senior editor at Middle East Monitor. He is a Muslim activist from Leicester, U.K. who is often alleged to be an Islamist extremist in the British press. Hewitt is a media and ...

, who had written a book for

GCSE The General Certificate of Secondary Education (GCSE) is an academic qualification in a particular subject, taken in England, Wales, and Northern Ireland. State schools in Scotland use the Scottish Qualifications Certificate instead. Private sc ...

students calling

homosexuality Homosexuality is romantic attraction, sexual attraction, or sexual behavior between members of the same sex or gender. As a sexual orientation, homosexuality is "an enduring pattern of emotional, romantic, and/or sexual attractions" to peop ...

a "great sin", and saying that gay people should be "severely punished" under Islamic law. In 2016, ''Left Foot Forward'' described itself as "progressive" and "in agreement with left of centre policies and politicians". It regarded as sister blogs ''

ThinkProgress ''ThinkProgress'' was an American progressive news website that was active from 2005 to 2019. It was a project of the Center for American Progress Action Fund (CAP Action), a progressive public policy research and advocacy organization. Founde ...

'' in the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...

, and ''Chifley'' in

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a Sovereign state, sovereign country comprising the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous List of islands of Australia, sma ...

. In 2018, a not-for-profit co-operative called Political Pixel started supporting the operation of ''Left Foot Forward'', alongside other left-wing blogs

LabourList LabourList is a British news website supportive of, but independent of, the Labour Party, launched in 2009. Describing itself as Labour's "biggest independent grassroots e-network", the site's content includes news, commentary, interviews, campa ...

and

Political Scrapbook ''Political Scrapbook'' was a left wing political blog. The site was described as "influential" by ''The Independent'' and was viewed, along with outlets such as ''Left Foot Forward'', as part of a cohort of British left-wing blogs which attracte ...

. In 2020, ''Left Foot Forward'' became independent of Political Pixel. In March 2018, ''Left Foot Forward'' joined Parliament's Press Gallery to report from Parliament and the outlet joined the state-approved press regulator

IMPRESS The Independent Monitor for the Press (IMPRESS) is an independent press regulator in the UK. It was the first to be recognised by the Press Recognition Panel. Unlike the Independent Press Standards Organisation (IPSO), IMPRESS is fully compliant ...

in January 2019. LFF was one of the outlets which questioned government ministers during the daily

COVID-19 Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is a contagious disease caused by a virus, the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The first known case was COVID-19 pandemic in Hubei, identified in Wuhan, China, in December ...

press conferences in April 2020. Contributing editors to the site include accounting professor

Prem Sikka Prem Nath Sikka, Baron Sikka (born 1 August 1951) is a British-Indian accountant and academic. He holds the position of Professor of Accounting at the University of Sheffield, and is Emeritus Professor of Accounting at the University of Essex. ...

, former

Green Party A green party is a formally organized political party based on the principles of green politics, such as social justice, environmentalism and nonviolence. Greens believe that these issues are inherently related to one another as a foundation ...

leader

Natalie Bennett Natalie Louise Bennett, Baroness Bennett of Manor Castle (born 10 February 1966) is a Australian-British politician and journalist who served as Leader of the Green Party of England and Wales from 2012 to 2016. Bennett was given a peerage in ...

, and

Unite the Union Unite the Union, commonly known as Unite, is a British and Irish trade union which was formed on 1 May 2007 by the merger of Amicus and the Transport and General Workers' Union (TGWU). Unite is the second largest trade union in the UK (after ...

Assistant General Secretary

Tony Burke Anthony Stephen Burke (born 4 November 1969) is an Australian politician serving as Leader of the House, Minister for Employment and Workplace Relations and Minister for the Arts since 2022. He is a member of the Australian Labor Party (ALP ...

References

External links

Left Foot Forward
2009 establishments in the United Kingdom British political blogs Internet properties established in 2009 Left-wing politics in the United Kingdom {{blog-stub

See also

References

External links