Rosie Boycott, Baroness Boycott
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Rosel Marie "Rosie" Boycott, Baroness Boycott (born 13 May 1951) is a British journalist and
feminist Feminism is a range of socio-political movements and ideology, ideologies that aim to define and establish the political, economic, personal, and social gender equality, equality of the sexes. Feminism holds the position that modern soci ...
.


Early life

The daughter of Major Charles Boycott and Betty Le Sueur Boycott, Rosel Marie "Rosie" Boycott was born in
Saint Helier St Helier (; Jèrriais: ; ) is the Capital city, capital of Jersey, the largest of the Channel Islands in the English Channel. It is the most populous of the twelve parishes of Jersey, with a population of 35,822, over one-third of the island' ...
,
Jersey Jersey ( ; ), officially the Bailiwick of Jersey, is an autonomous and self-governing island territory of the British Islands. Although as a British Crown Dependency it is not a sovereign state, it has its own distinguishing civil and gov ...
. She was privately educated at the independent
Cheltenham Ladies' College Cheltenham Ladies' College (CLC) is a private schools in the United Kingdom, private boarding and day school for girls aged 11 or older in Cheltenham, Gloucestershire, England. The school was established in 1853 to provide "a sound academic edu ...
and read mathematics at the
University of Kent The University of Kent (formerly the University of Kent at Canterbury, abbreviated as UKC) is a Collegiate university, collegiate public university, public research university based in Kent, United Kingdom. The university was granted its roya ...
.


Journalism career

Boycott worked for a year or so with '' Frendz'' radical magazineibiblio
Friends magazine: Rosie Boycott
/ref> and in 1972, she co-founded the feminist magazine '' Spare Rib'' with Marsha Rowe. Later, both women became directors of Virago Press, a publisher committed to women's writing, with Carmen Callil, who had founded the company in 1973. From 1992 to 1996, Boycott was editor of the UK edition of the men's magazine ''
Esquire Esquire (, ; abbreviated Esq.) is usually a courtesy title. In the United Kingdom, ''esquire'' historically was a title of respect accorded to men of higher social rank, particularly members of the landed gentry above the rank of gentleman ...
''. From 1996 to 1998, she headed ''
The Independent ''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 ...
'' and its sister publication the '' Independent on Sunday''. Later, she edited the ''
Daily Express The ''Daily Express'' is a national daily United Kingdom middle-market newspaper printed in Tabloid (newspaper format), tabloid format. Published in London, it is the flagship of Express Newspapers, owned by publisher Reach plc. It was first ...
'' (May 1998–January 2001), leaving soon after the newspaper was bought by
Richard Desmond Richard Clive Desmond (born 8 December 1951) is a British publisher, businessman, and former Pornography, pornographer. According to the 2021 ''Sunday Times Rich List'', Desmond was the 107th richest person in the United Kingdom. He is the fo ...
, who replaced her with Chris Williams. Boycott is currently the travel editor for ''
The Oldie ''The Oldie'' is a British monthly magazine written for older people "as a light-hearted alternative to a press obsessed with youth and celebrity", according to its website. The magazine was launched in 1992 by Richard Ingrams, who was its edit ...
'' magazine and hosts ''The Oldie'' Travel Awards each year.


Outside journalism

Boycott has presented the
BBC Radio 4 BBC Radio 4 is a British national radio station owned and operated by the BBC. The station replaced the BBC Home Service on 30 September 1967 and broadcasts a wide variety of spoken-word programmes from the BBC's headquarters at Broadcasti ...
programme '' A Good Read''. She has sat on judging panels for
literary award A literary award or literary prize is an award presented in recognition of a particularly lauded Literature, literary piece or body of work. It is normally presented to an author. Organizations Most literary awards come with a corresponding award c ...
s, including chairing the panel responsible for choosing the 2001
Orange Prize for Fiction The Women's Prize for Fiction (previously with sponsor names Orange Prize for Fiction (1996–2006 and 2009–2012), Orange Broadband Prize for Fiction (2007–08) and Baileys Women's Prize for Fiction (2014–2017) is one of the United Kingdom's ...
. She is also a media advisor for the
Council of Europe The Council of Europe (CoE; , CdE) is an international organisation with the goal of upholding human rights, democracy and the Law in Europe, rule of law in Europe. Founded in 1949, it is Europe's oldest intergovernmental organisation, represe ...
. Boycott is a trustee of the
Hay Festival The Hay Festival of Literature & Arts, better known as the Hay Festival (), is an annual literature festival held in Hay-on-Wye, Powys, Wales, for 10 days from May to June. Devised by Norman, Rhoda and Peter Florence in 1988, the festival was d ...
in Wales and in Cartagena, Colombia. In March 2002, she denounced the
New Labour New Labour is the political philosophy that dominated the history of the British Labour Party from the mid-late 1990s to 2010 under the leadership of Tony Blair and Gordon Brown. The term originated in a conference slogan first used by the ...
government as "more reminiscent of a dictatorship than a free healthy democratic system",BBC News
"Mowlam turns up heat on Blair"
17 March 2002.
and announced her support for the Liberal Democrats. She was rumoured to have considered becoming a
Parliamentary In modern politics and history, a parliament is a legislative body of government. Generally, a modern parliament has three functions: Representation (politics), representing the Election#Suffrage, electorate, making laws, and overseeing ...
candidate. Boycott made several appearances on '' Newsnight Review'' and other cultural and current affairs programmes, where the fact that she is a recovering alcoholic was discussed. She started drinking heavily again after losing her job at the ''Express''. She was banned from driving for three years in September 2003 after crashing on the A303 in Wiltshire, injuring another driver. She was cut free from the wreckage. A court was told she had also been caught drunk driving the day before. Since her accident, Boycott has been running a farm in
Somerset Somerset ( , ), Archaism, archaically Somersetshire ( , , ) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in South West England. It is bordered by the Bristol Channel, Gloucestershire, and Bristol to the north, Wiltshire to the east ...
. She campaigned for
Diana, Princess of Wales Diana, Princess of Wales (born Diana Frances Spencer; 1 July 1961 – 31 August 1997), was a member of the British royal family. She was the first wife of Charles III (then Prince of Wales) and mother of Princes William, ...
in the 2002 BBC programme to find the greatest Briton. On 5 August 2008, Boycott was appointed as the chair of "London Food" as part of Conservative Mayor
Boris Johnson Alexander Boris de Pfeffel Johnson (born 19 June 1964) is a British politician and writer who served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom and Leader of the Conservative Party (UK), Leader of the Conservative Party from 2019 to 2022. He wa ...
's attempt to help improve Londoners' access to healthy, locally produced and affordable food. In September 2007, she appeared in the third series of ''
Hell's Kitchen Hell's Kitchen, also known as Clinton, or Midtown West on real estate listings, is a neighborhood on the West Side of Midtown Manhattan in New York City, New York. It is considered to be bordered by 34th Street (or 41st Street) to the south, ...
'', and was the first contestant to be voted off. In June 2009, she appeared on '' Celebrity MasterChef''. The same month she was one of five volunteers who took part in a BBC series of three programmes entitled ''Famous, Rich and Homeless'', about living penniless on the streets of London. In June 2018, Boycott was nominated for a
life peer In the United Kingdom, life peers are appointed members of the peerage whose titles cannot be inherited, in contrast to hereditary peers. Life peers are appointed by the monarch on the advice of the prime minister. With the exception of the D ...
age by the House of Lords Appointments Commission. She was created Baroness Boycott, of Whitefield in the County of Somerset, on 9 July. Boycott is a supporter of the Women's Equality Party.


Personal life

Boycott is married to Charles Howard KC. Her first marriage was to journalist David Leitch (1937–2004).


Publications

*''Batty Bloomers and Boycott: A Little Etymology of Eponymous Words'', New York: Peter Bedrick Books, 1983, *''The Fastest Diet'', London:
Sphere Books Sphere Books is the name of two British paperback publishers. History The original Sphere Books was launched in 1966 by Thomson Corporation. Sphere was sold to Pearson PLC in 1985 and became part of Penguin. Macdonald & Co. (Publishers) bough ...
, 1984. *''A Nice Girl Like Me: A Story of the Seventies'', Pavanne Books, 1988, *''All for Love'', London: Fontana, 1989, *''Our Farm: A Year in the Life of a Smallholding'', London:
Bloomsbury Bloomsbury is a district in the West End of London, part of the London Borough of Camden in England. It is considered a fashionable residential area, and is the location of numerous cultural institution, cultural, intellectual, and educational ...
, 2007,


References


External links


"Sisterhood Revisited"
'' Open Democracy'' public meeting at the
Institute of Contemporary Arts The Institute of Contemporary Arts (ICA) is an modernism, artistic and cultural centre on The Mall (London), The Mall in London, just off Trafalgar Square. Located within Nash House, part of Carlton House Terrace, near the Duke of York Steps a ...
, 7 March 2002
Rosie Boycott on ''Friends Magazine''
(Philm Freax) * Simon Hattenstone
"Rosie Outlook"
''The Guardian'' (Media Guardian), 30 July 2002.
''The Oldie'' magazineKnight Ayton Management page
{{DEFAULTSORT:Boycott, Rosie 1951 births Living people Peers recommended by the House of Lords Appointments Commission People educated at Cheltenham Ladies' College Alumni of the University of Kent British feminist writers British newspaper editors People from Saint Helier The Independent editors Daily Express people British women newspaper editors Women's Equality Party people The Independent on Sunday editors Life peeresses created by Elizabeth II Life peers created by Elizabeth II British women journalists