Allegra Stratton
Allegra Stratton | |
---|---|
![]() Stratton in 2015 | |
Downing Street Press Secretary | |
In office 8 October 2020 – 20 April 2021 | |
Prime Minister | Boris Johnson |
Preceded by | Rob Oxley |
Succeeded by | Rosie Bate-Williams[1] |
Personal details | |
Born | Allegra Elizabeth Jane Stratton 10 April 1980 Chiswick[disputed ], London, England[2] |
Political party | Conservative |
Spouse(s) | [2] |
Children | 2 |
Education | Latymer Upper School |
Alma mater | Emmanuel College, Cambridge |
Occupation | Journalist, writer |
Allegra Elizabeth Jane Stratton (born 10 April 1980)[3][4] is a British political aide, writer, and former journalist who served as the Downing Street Press Secretary under Prime Minister Boris Johnson from November 2020 to April 2021.
Stratton worked for The Guardian as a political correspondent until joining the BBC in 2012, where she became political editor of BBC Two's Newsnight from 2012 to 2016. She worked for ITV as national editor of ITV News from 2016 to 2018 and co-presenter of Peston on Sunday from 2016 to 2018.
After leaving her journalism career, Stratton became a Conservative Party political advisor. She was Chancellor Rishi Sunak's director of strategic communications at the Treasury from April to October 2020. She became the press secretary for 10 Downing Street in October 2020. In April 2021 she was newly appointed as spokesperson for COP26 President Alok Sharma.
Early life[]
Stratton was born in Chiswick[disputed ], West London on 10 April 1980 as one of four children of a translator father and textile artist mother.[2] She was named after Allegra Byron, a daughter of the poet Lord Byron.[5] Stratton attended Chiswick Community School and Latymer Upper School, an independent school in West London, before studying at Emmanuel College, Cambridge where she read archaeology and anthropology.[6][7]
Career[]
Stratton worked as a producer for the BBC,[8] on the foreign desk at The Times and wrote for The Independent and the New Statesman.[9] She then joined The Guardian as a political correspondent, presenting the newspaper's "Politics Weekly" podcast with journalist Tom Clark.[10]
During this period she wrote the novel Muhajababes, which explores the youth culture of the Middle East and the contradictions of the modern life of young adults in Muslim societies.[11][12] The book was based on Stratton's experiences of travelling in the region in 2005.[13]
Stratton returned to the BBC on 20 February 2012,[14] as political editor of Newsnight, replacing Michael Crick who left to become a political correspondent for Channel 4.[15] In May the same year, she faced criticism for a Newsnight interview with a single mother who was claiming housing benefit. The interviewee described feeling "humiliated" by Stratton, who misrepresented her as unemployed.[16] Private Eye magazine reported that Stratton had chosen the single mother over several other interviewees offered, including a couple with four children who had lost their jobs and faced homelessness.[6] This incident led to a 20,000-signature petition soliciting an apology from Stratton and Newsnight.[17] Following an official complaint to the BBC's Editorial Complaints Unit, a correction and apology was issued in August.[17][18]
In November 2015, the BBC announced that Stratton was leaving to join ITV News as its national editor.[19] She made her first appearance on ITV's News at Ten in January 2016 and co-presented Peston on Sunday with Robert Peston until April 2018, when she departed to spend weekends with her children.[20]
In April 2020, she quit ITV News to become director of strategic communications at the Treasury under Chancellor Rishi Sunak.[21] Six months later, in October 2020, she was given the newly-created role of Downing Street Press Secretary, to present proposed televised press briefings[8][22] initially scheduled for launch in November 2020. The briefings were delayed to 11 January 2021 and it was reported that they would take place when the House of Commons was sitting on Mondays, Tuesdays and Thursdays.[23] The January launch date was repeatedly pushed back due to the COVID-19 lockdowns and on 20 April it was announced that the briefings would be scrapped entirely, with Stratton instead becoming the spokesperson for the COP26 summit to be held in Glasgow in November.[24][25][26][27]
Personal life[]
Stratton is married to James Forsyth, political editor of The Spectator magazine.[28] The couple have two children and live in Canonbury, North London.[29][30] Future Chancellor Rishi Sunak was best man at their wedding in 2011,[2] and they and Sunak are godparents to each other's children.[31]
In November 2020, Stratton told The Sunday Telegraph that despite voting for the Labour Party, the Green Party and the Liberal Democrats in the past, she voted for Brexit and describes herself as "a Johnson Tory".[32] She is said to be an ally and friend of Boris Johnson's wife, Carrie (née Symonds).[33][34]
Publications[]
- Stratton, Allegra (2006). Muhajababes (first ed.). London: Constable. ISBN 9781845294274.
References[]
- ^ Allegretti, Aubrey; Elgot, Jessica (21 April 2021). "Few tears likely to be shed as plan for No 10 TV press briefings dropped". The Guardian. Retrieved 21 May 2021.
- ^ Jump up to: a b c d Silverman, Rosa (9 October 2020). "Who is Allegra Stratton – the woman set to be Boris's press secretary?". The Daily Telegraph. Retrieved 10 October 2020.(registration required)
- ^ "Stratton, Allegra Elizabeth Jane, (born 10 April 1980), National Editor, ITV News, since 2016". WHO'S WHO & WHO WAS WHO. 2016. doi:10.1093/ww/9780199540884.013.U284230.(registration required)
- ^ Stratton, Allegra Elizabeth Jane, (born 10 April 1980), National Editor, ITV News, since 2016 extract of WHO'S WHO & WHO WAS WHO, archived from the original requiring log-in on 5 June 2018. Retrieved 27 April 2021
- ^ Woods, Judith (20 February 2016). "Allegra Stratton: The real reason that Jeremy Paxman quit Newsnight". The Sunday Telegraph. Archived from the original on 21 February 2016. Retrieved 9 October 2020. Alt URL
- ^ Jump up to: a b Stone, Jon (8 October 2020). "Who is Allegra Stratton, Boris Johnson's new spokesperson?". The Independent. Retrieved 9 October 2020.
- ^ Bloxham, Andy (22 November 2011). "Allegra Stratton appointed political editor of BBC's Newsnight". The Telegraph. Retrieved 9 October 2020.
- ^ Jump up to: a b "Ex-Journalist Stratton to lead No 10 TV briefings". BBC News. 8 October 2020. Retrieved 8 October 2020.
- ^ "Allegra Stratton". New Statesman. Retrieved 28 April 2021.
- ^ "Politics Weekly". The Guardian. Archived from the original on 31 July 2013. Retrieved 21 February 2012.
- ^ Miller, Laura (10 July 2008). "Here come the muhajababes!: How sex, booze and heavy metal fit into the world of hip young Arabs today". Salon. p. 1-3. Archived from the original on 10 July 2008. Retrieved 13 August 2019.
- ^ Easton, Susan (19 June 2007). "Hijabs and Muhajababes". Human Events. Archived from the original on 19 June 2007. Retrieved 13 August 2019.
- ^ Aspden, Rachel (23 July 2006). "Islam and the porno devils". The Guardian. Retrieved 9 October 2020.
- ^ Murphy, Verity (20 February 2012). "Newsnight: From the web team: Monday 20 February 2012". BBC. Retrieved 21 February 2012.
- ^ Plunkett, John (30 November 2015). "Channel 4 News appoints Michael Crick as political correspondent". The Guardian. London. Retrieved 10 January 2016.
- ^ "How Newsnight humiliated single mother Shanene Thorpe". New Statesman. 29 May 2012. Retrieved 9 October 2020.
- ^ Jump up to: a b "Outgoing RTS boss accuses BBC News heads of 'culture of denial'". The Guardian. 12 December 2012.
- ^ Rippon, Peter (31 August 2012). "Complaints - Newsnight, BBC Two, Wednesday 23 May 2012". BBC. Archived from the original on 10 June 2012.
- ^ "Newsnight political editor Stratton follows Peston to ITV". BBC News. 30 November 2015. Retrieved 13 August 2019.
- ^ "The Londoner: Co-anchor Allegra Stratton departs Peston". Evening Standard. 16 April 2018. Retrieved 9 October 2020.
- ^ Griggs, Ian (27 April 2020). "Chancellor picks top political journalist as comms chief". PR Week. Retrieved 6 May 2020.
- ^ Stewart, Heather (9 October 2020). "Could being the face of Boris Johnson be the worst job in politics?". The Guardian. Retrieved 12 October 2020.
- ^ Peston, Robert [@Peston] (24 November 2020). "The revolution of televised briefings by the PM's press secretary, Allegra Stratton, is scheduled to start 11 Jan and will be every Monday, Tuesday and Thursday when Commons is sitting. Interesting that the briefing won't take place on #PMQs day. I guess on Wednesdays..." (Tweet) – via Twitter.
- ^ "Ex-Journalist Stratton to lead No 10 TV briefings". BBC News. 8 October 2020. Retrieved 10 October 2020.
- ^ Walker, Peter (22 January 2021). "PM's press secretary Allegra Stratton to self-isolate due to Covid rules". The Guardian. ISSN 0261-3077. Retrieved 18 February 2021.
- ^ "No 10 televised briefings hosted by Allegra Stratton delayed again due to third lockdown". inews.co.uk. 6 January 2021. Retrieved 18 February 2021.
- ^ "Downing Street scraps plans for White House-style press briefings". BBC News. 20 April 2021. Retrieved 20 April 2021.
- ^ Hoggart, Simon (13 August 2011). "Simon Hoggart's week: sailing through dire economic straits". The Guardian. Retrieved 13 August 2019.
- ^ "Allegra Stratton's My London". Evening Standard. 28 March 2013. Retrieved 31 December 2014.
- ^ "The Londoner: Co-anchor Allegra Stratton departs Peston". Evening Standard. 16 April 2018.
- ^ Edwardes, Charlotte (1 August 2020). "Meet the chancellor: the real Rishi Sunak, by the people who know him best". The Times. Archived from the original on 11 September 2020. Retrieved 11 September 2020.
- ^ Malnick, Edward (15 November 2020). "Allegra Stratton exclusive: 'I'm a Johnson Tory and voted for Brexit' insists new face of No 10". www.telegraph.co.uk. Retrieved 15 November 2020.
- ^ Courea, Eleni (27 May 2021). "Carrie Symonds 'tried to install friends in key roles', Dominic Cummings claims". The Times. Retrieved 1 June 2021.
- ^ Pogrund, Gabriel (30 May 2021). "How calm Ellie was dumped in favour of risky Allegra — on Carrie's orders". The Sunday Times. Retrieved 1 June 2021.
External links[]
- "Guardian blogs | All guardian.co.uk blogposts". The Guardian. Retrieved 31 December 2014.
- "Allegra Stratton". The Guardian. Retrieved 31 December 2014.
- Profile: Allegra Stratton November 2020 profile on BBC Radio 4
- 1980 births
- Living people
- Alumni of Emmanuel College, Cambridge
- BBC newsreaders and journalists
- BBC television producers
- British political journalists
- British reporters and correspondents
- Conservative Party (UK) officials
- ITN newsreaders and journalists
- People educated at Latymer Upper School
- People from Canonbury
- People from Chiswick