The political editor of a newspaper or broadcaster is the senior political reporter who covers politics and related matters for the newspaper or station. They may have a large team of political correspondents working under them.
In publishing, because of their seniority, a political editor's byline is often added to stories that actually are the work of more junior colleagues to give the story more credibility and to indicate their seniority within the publication. The political editor usually carries out the major interviews with a country's prime minister and senior government figures and covers major events like party conferences.
United Kingdom
Broadcast journalism
BBC News
BBC News introduced the role of political editor in 1970. In addition to the nationwide political editors, Glenn Campbell has been political editor for BBC Scotland since 2021, Felicity Evans has been political editor for BBC Cymru Wales since 2018 and Nicholas Watt has been political editor for Newsnight since 2016.
| Political editor | Tenure | Notes |
|---|
| Hardiman Scott | 1970–1975 | Then Chief Assistant to the Director-General of the BBC |
| David Holmes | 1975–1980 | |
| John Simpson | 1980–1981 | BBC World Affairs Editor from 1988 to present |
| John Cole | 1981–1992 | Retired from political journalism |
| Robin Oakley | 1992–2000 | European political editor of CNN 2000–2008 |
| Andrew Marr | 2000–2005 | Presented The Andrew Marr Show from 2005 to 2021, now at LBC |
| Nick Robinson | 2005–2015 | Political editor of ITV News 2002–2005, now a Today programme presenter |
| Laura Kuenssberg | 2015–2022 | Presenting Sunday with Laura Kuenssberg since 2022 |
| Chris Mason | 2022–present | |
ITV News
ITN produces news programmes for ITV, Channel 4 and Channel 5. The ITN brand was used on ITV until 1999, when it was rebranded as ITV News.
| Political editor | Tenure | Notes |
|---|
| Julian Haviland | 1975–1981 | Subsequently political editor of The Times newspaper |
| Glyn Mathias | 1981–1986 | Subsequently political editor of BBC Wales and Electoral Commissioner |
| Michael Brunson | 1986–2000 | Retired |
| John Sergeant | 2000–2002 | Retired, previously Political Correspondent of BBC News 1981–1992 and Chief Political Correspondent 1992–2000 |
| Nick Robinson | 2002–2005 | Political editor of BBC News 2005–2015, now a Today programme presenter |
| Tom Bradby | 2005–2015 | Now an ITV News at Ten presenter |
| Robert Peston | 2015–present | |
Additionally, Colin Mackay has been the political editor for STV News in Scotland since 2019, when he replaced Bernard Ponsonby.
Channel 4 News
Political editors for Channel 4 News include:
- Elinor Goodman, 1988–2005
- Gary Gibbon, 2005–present (also political correspondent 1994–2005)
5 News
ITN produced the 5 News programme for Channel 5 from the channel's launch in 1997 until 2005 and again from 2012, with Sky News providing news coverage in the intervening years. Andy Bell has been the programme's political editor since 1999.
Sky News
Sky News launched in 1989 with Adam Boulton as political editor. Faisal Islam took over the role in 2014 before moving to the BBC as Economics Editor in 2019. Islam was replaced as Sky's political editor by his former deputy, Beth Rigby.
| Political editor | Tenure | Notes |
|---|
| Adam Boulton | 1989-2014 | |
| Faisal Islam | 2014 - 2019 | |
| Beth Rigby | 2019- present | |
UTV Northern Ireland
UTV Live
| Political Editor | Tenure | Notes |
|---|
| Ken Reid | 1993-2021 | |
| Tracey Magee | 2021- present | |
BBC Northern Ireland
BBC Newsline
| Political Editor | Tenure | Notes |
|---|
| Mark Devenport | 2005-2020 | |
| Enda McClafferty | 2020-present | |
Print journalism
The Guardian
| Political editor | Tenure | Notes |
|---|
| Ian Aitken | 1975–1990 | |
| Michael White | 1990–2006 | |
| Patrick Wintour | 2006–2015 | |
| Heather Stewart | 2016–2022 | |
| Anushka Asthana | 2016–2018 | Asthana was political editor in a job-share arrangement with Heather Stewart beginning in early 2016 |
| Pippa Crerar | 2022–present | |
The Sun
| Political editor | Tenure | Notes |
|---|
| Trevor Kavanagh | 1983–2005 | |
| George Pascoe-Watson | 2006–2009 | |
| Tom Newton Dunn | 2009–2020 | |
| Harry Cole | 2020–present | |
The Sunday Times
| Political editor | Tenure | Notes |
|---|
| Isabel Oakeshott | 2010–2014 | |
| Tim Shipman | 2014–2021 | |
| Caroline Wheeler | 2021–present | |
Rest of the world
Australia
ABC News
| Political editor | Tenure | Notes |
|---|
| Chris Uhlmann | 2015–2017 | Position created; Political Editor for Nine News 2017–2022 |
| Andrew Probyn | 2017–present | Previously 7.30 Political Editor |
7NEWS
| Political editor | Tenure | Notes |
|---|
| Mark Riley | 2004–present | |
Nine News
| Political editor | Tenure | Notes |
|---|
| Laurie Oakes | 1984–2017 | |
| Chris Uhlmann | 2017–2022 | |
| Charles Croucher | 2022–present | |
The Australian
| Political editor | Tenure | Notes |
|---|
| Dennis Shanahan | 1989–2021 | |
| Simon Benson | 2021–present | |
New Zealand
United States
- Brooke Brower (CNN) - 2017–present
- Patrick Healy (The New York Times) - 2018–present
- Chris Stirewalt (Fox News) - 2010–present
- Peter Wallsten (Washington Post) - 2013–present