Rachel Mynfreda Sylvester (born 1969) is a British political journalist who writes for ''

The Times ''The Times'' is a British daily national newspaper based in London. It began in 1785 under the title ''The Daily Universal Register'', adopting its current name on 1 January 1788. ''The Times'' and its sister paper '' The Sunday Times'' (f ...

''.

Education and career

Sylvester was educated at

South Hampstead High School ) , established = as St. Johns Wood School , closed = , type = Independent day school , religious_affiliation = , president = , head_label = , head ...

, an independent school for girls in Hampstead in North West London, followed by

Somerville College Somerville College, a constituent college of the University of Oxford in England, was founded in 1879 as Somerville Hall, one of its first two women's colleges. Among its alumnae have been Margaret Thatcher, Indira Gandhi, Dorothy Hodgkin, ...

of 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 ...

. Sylvester joined ''

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 ...

'' newspaper in 1992. In 1998, she left for a one-year period as the political editor of the ''

Independent on Sunday ''The Independent'' is a British online newspaper. It was established in 1986 as a national morning printed paper. Nicknamed the ''Indy'', it began as a broadsheet and changed to tabloid format in 2003. The last printed edition was publis ...

'' newspaper. She returned to the ''Telegraph'' in 1999 as assistant editor (politics), a position she held until 2008. Sylvester joined ''

'' newspaper in June 2008, where she writes a weekly political column and a weekly interview piece, often collaborating with Alice Thomson. She was named 2015's Political Journalist of the Year at the

British Press Awards The Press Awards, formerly the British Press Awards, is an annual ceremony that celebrates the best of United Kingdom, British journalism. History Established in 1962 by ''The Sunday People, The People'' and ''Campaign (magazine), World's Press ...

Iain Martin Iain James Martin (born 2 October 1971) is a Scottish political commentator, author and public speaker. He writes a weekly column for ''The Times'' and is co-founder, editor and publisher of ''Reaction'' - a news site providing analysis and opi ...

has described her and Thomson's work as "highly skilled interviewers

ith The Ith () is a ridge in Germany's Central Uplands which is up to 439 m high. It lies about 40 km southwest of Hanover and, at 22 kilometres, is the longest line of crags in North Germany. Geography Location The Ith is immediatel ...

a gift for getting people to burble on until they say something highly revealing." Sylvester wrote an interview with

Conservative Party The Conservative Party is a name used by many political parties around the world. These political parties are generally right-wing though their exact ideologies can range from center-right to far-right. Political parties called The Conservative P ...

leadership candidate

Andrea Leadsom Dame Andrea Jacqueline Leadsom (; ' Salmon; born 13 May 1963) is a British politician serving as Member of Parliament (MP) for South Northamptonshire since 2010. A member of the Conservative Party, she served as Secretary of State for Environ ...

during the 2016 leadership election in which Leadsom made comments with reference to her childless competitor

Theresa May Theresa Mary May, Lady May (; née Brasier; born 1 October 1956) is a British politician who served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom and Leader of the Conservative Party from 2016 to 2019. She previously served in David Cameron's cabi ...

. Leadsom stood aside in the aftermath of the interview's release to allow May to become leader, which the ''

Evening Standard The ''Evening Standard'', formerly ''The Standard'' (1827–1904), also known as the ''London Evening Standard'', is a local free daily newspaper in London, England, published Monday to Friday in tabloid format. In October 2009, after be ...

'' said "confirmed Sylvester's status as one of the country's most influential political commentators". She was named 2016 Journalist of the Year by 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 ...

. Sylvester presents the interview series ''Past Imperfect'' with Alice Thomson on

Times Radio Times Radio is a British digital radio station owned by News UK. It is jointly operated by Wireless Group (which News UK acquired in 2016), ''The Times'' and ''The Sunday Times''. As of September 2022, the station broadcasts to a weekly audienc ...

, which began in July 2020. Their first guests included

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 ...

and Sir Paul Nurse.

References

External links

The Times

Daily Telegraph

Audio clips

''Woman's Hour'' 15 April 2010

''Woman's Hour'' 19 November 2009

''Woman's Hour'' 23 April 2009

''Woman's Hour'' 29 June 2007
1969 births Living people Alumni of Somerville College, Oxford British political journalists British women journalists The Daily Telegraph people Place of birth missing (living people) People educated at South Hampstead High School The Independent people The Times people

Rachel Rachel () was a Biblical figure, the favorite of Jacob's two wives, and the mother of Joseph and Benjamin, two of the twelve progenitors of the tribes of Israel. Rachel's father was Laban. Her older sister was Leah, Jacob's first wife. Her aun ...

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