Stephen Kupakwesu Bush (born 21 March 1990) is a British journalist. He is columnist and associate editor at the ''

Financial Times The ''Financial Times'' (''FT'') is a British daily newspaper printed in broadsheet and published digitally that focuses on business and economic current affairs. Based in London, England, the paper is owned by a Japanese holding company, Nik ...

'' and has also written for ''

The Guardian ''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'', and changed its name in 1959. Along with its sister papers '' The Observer'' and '' The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardian'' is part of the ...

'', ''

The Telegraph ''The Telegraph'', ''Daily Telegraph'', ''Sunday Telegraph'' and other variant names are popular names for newspapers. Newspapers with these titles include: Australia * ''The Telegraph'' (Adelaide), a newspaper in Adelaide, South Australia, publ ...

,'' '' i'' and ''

New Statesman The ''New Statesman'' is a British political and cultural magazine published in London. Founded as a weekly review of politics and literature on 12 April 1913, it was at first connected with Sidney and Beatrice Webb and other leading members ...

''.

Early life and education

Bush is mixed race with Jewish heritage. He was educated at

Morpeth School Morpeth Secondary School is a secondary school in situated in Bethnal Green with nearly 1200 pupils. The current headteacher is Jemima Reilly. Morpeth's pupils come from a wide range of ethnic backgrounds; over half are from Bangladeshi back ...

, a state comprehensive school in Globe Town, near

Bethnal Green Bethnal Green is an area in the East End of London northeast of Charing Cross. The area emerged from the small settlement which developed around the Green, much of which survives today as Bethnal Green Gardens, beside Cambridge Heath Road. By ...

East London East or Orient is one of the four cardinal directions or points of the compass. It is the opposite direction from west and is the direction from which the Sun rises on the Earth. Etymology As in other languages, the word is formed from the ...

, followed by

Balliol College Balliol College () is one of the constituent colleges of the University of Oxford in England. One of Oxford's oldest colleges, it was founded around 1263 by John I de Balliol, a landowner from Barnard Castle in County Durham, who provided the ...

at the

University of Oxford , mottoeng = The Lord is my light , established = , endowment = £6.1 billion (including colleges) (2019) , budget = £2.145 billion (2019–20) , chancellor ...

, where he studied history. At university, he was a member of the Oxford University Labour Club and volunteered for

Andy Burnham Andrew Murray Burnham (born 7 January 1970) is a British politician who has served as Mayor of Greater Manchester since 2017. He served in Gordon Brown's Cabinet as Chief Secretary to the Treasury from 2007 to 2008, Culture Secretary from 200 ...

's unsuccessful campaign to become Labour Party leader in

2010 File:2010 Events Collage New.png, From top left, clockwise: The 2010 Chile earthquake was one of the strongest recorded in history; The Eruption of Eyjafjallajökull in Iceland disrupts air travel in Europe; A scene from the opening ceremony of ...

. Bush matriculated in 2008 and graduated in 2011. He supports

Arsenal An arsenal is a place where arms and ammunition are made, maintained and repaired, stored, or issued, in any combination, whether privately or publicly owned. Arsenal and armoury (British English) or armory (American English) are mostl ...

football club.

Career

Bush worked for the magazine ''

Progress Progress is the movement towards a refined, improved, or otherwise desired state. In the context of progressivism, it refers to the proposition that advancements in technology, science, and social organization have resulted, and by extension w ...

'' (linked to the organisation of the same name) before writing for ''

The Daily Telegraph ''The Daily Telegraph'', known online and elsewhere as ''The Telegraph'', is a national British daily broadsheet newspaper published in London by Telegraph Media Group and distributed across the United Kingdom and internationally. It was f ...

'', including working on the Morning Briefing email as editorial assistant to

Benedict Brogan Benedict Brogan is a British former journalist, formerly deputy editor and chief political commentator of ''The Daily Telegraph''.Jack Sommer"Telegraph Cuts High-Profile Journalists Benedict Brogan and Damian Thompson in Latest Cull" ''The Huffi ...

. He joined the ''New Statesman'' from the ''Telegraph'' in February 2015. Later that year, he was the first political commentator to predict

Jeremy Corbyn Jeremy Bernard Corbyn (; born 26 May 1949) is a British politician who served as Leader of the Opposition and Leader of the Labour Party from 2015 to 2020. On the political left of the Labour Party, Corbyn describes himself as a socialis ...

's election as Labour leader after obtaining leaked internal poll data. He has appeared on the BBC's current affairs programme ''

Newsnight ''Newsnight'' (or ''BBC Newsnight'') is BBC Two's news and current affairs programme, providing in-depth investigation and analysis of the stories behind the day's headlines. The programme is broadcast on weekdays at 22:30. and is also availa ...

'', commenting on UK politics, and was tipped as an outsider to succeed Nick Robinson as the BBC's political editor in 2015, a position that eventually went to

Laura Kuenssberg Laura Juliet Kuenssberg (born 8 August 1976) is a British journalist who currently presents the BBC's flagship Sunday morning politics show. She succeeded Nick Robinson as political editor of BBC News in July 2015, and was the first woman to ...

. From 2016 to 2017, he contributed a weekly column to ''The Guardian''s Lifestyle pages on cooking, called "The Delia Project", where he recounted his efforts to relearn cookery skills using only Delia Smith's ''Delia's Complete How to Cook''. In December 2018 he was appointed political editor of the ''New Statesman,'' while also writing a fortnightly column for the '' i'' newspaper. He eventually left the publication in February 2022 to become a columnist and associate editor at the ''

,'' where he continues to write a morning political briefing email. While at the New Statesman he was appointed to chair the

Board of Deputies of British Jews The Board of Deputies of British Jews, commonly referred to as the Board of Deputies, is the largest and second oldest Jewish communal organisation in the United Kingdom, after only the Initiation Society which was founded in 1745. Established ...

' commission on racial inclusivity within the Jewish community. He recommended the Jewish community adopt a "proactive attitude to inclusion" to draw in "people of all backgrounds who have felt marginalised, left out or turned off from Jewish life".

Awards

In 2015 Bush received a commendation and was runner-up in the Young Journalist of the Year awards category in the Press Awards. In 2017, he was awarded the

Political Studies Association The Political Studies Association (PSA) is a learned society in the United Kingdom which exists to develop and promote the study of politics. It is the leading association in its field in the United Kingdom, with an international membership includi ...

's Journalist of the Year award.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Bush, Stephen Living people 1990 births 21st-century British Jews Alumni of Balliol College, Oxford Black British journalists British Jewish writers British male journalists British political commentators Financial Times people Jewish journalists New Statesman people The Daily Telegraph people