Sebastian Payne

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Sebastian Payne
Born
Sebastian Early Payne[1]

(1989-07-02) 2 July 1989 (age 32)
Gateshead, Tyne and Wear, England
EducationSt Thomas More Catholic School, Blaydon
Dame Allan's School
Alma materDurham University (BSc)
City, University of London (MA)
OccupationJournalist
Years active2011–present
EmployerFinancial Times
Spouse(s)
Sophia Gaston
​
(m. 2019)​

Sebastian Early Payne[1] (born 2 July 1989) is a British journalist, and the Whitehall editor for the Financial Times.

Early life[]

Payne was born "six weeks early",[1] on 2 July 1989,[2][3] in Gateshead, England. He attended St Thomas More Catholic School, Blaydon, before moving to the independent Dame Allan's School for sixth form,[4] where he began studying politics.[5] At Durham University, he was the media editor[5] of the student newspaper Palatinate,[1] and the manager of Purple Radio, a student radio station where he also presented a show. He was a bassist for a band, The Gatefold, which performed in the Durham area.[1] He ran for president of his junior common room, but lost by 40 votes.[5] He graduated from the university's Van Mildert College[6] in 2010 with a BSc in computer science.[7][8][failed verification]

Payne did an internship on the media desk of The Guardian, when he contributed to reporting on the manhunt for fugitive Raoul Moat.[5] He gained an MA in investigative journalism from City, University of London in 2011.[7][8]

Career[]

Payne became a data reporter at The Daily Telegraph in 2011, before leaving the newspaper the following year.[9] He was the online editor of The Spectator magazine[10] and the deputy editor of their Coffee House blog from 2012 to 2015.[11] During his time at The Spectator he participated in the Laurence Stern fellowship at The Washington Post.[12]

Payne joined the Financial Times as digital opinion editor[13] at the beginning of 2016.[5] He became the newspaper's political leader writer,[13] before being appointed Whitehall correspondent in March 2019. In the role, he specialises in the Conservative Party, Brexit and foreign policy.[14] He writes a fortnightly political opinion column[15] and presents the weekly Payne's Politics podcast. He appears regularly on both the BBC and Sky News. In 2019, he was named by the Evening Standard as one of the most influential journalists in London.[16] He spoke that year at the Battle of Ideas festival on the North–South divide of England.[17]

In September 2020 Pan Macmillan announced that after a four-way auction it had secured Payne's book, Broken Heartlands: A Journey Through Labour's Lost England, about the red wall areas that voted Conservative in the 2019 general election. It was published in autumn 2021.[18]

Personal life[]

Payne lives in Crouch End, North London.[7] He married Sophia Gaston, director of the think tank The British Foreign Policy Group and London School of Economics academic fellow, on 20 July 2019.[19][20]

His musical interests include Talking Heads and Pink Floyd, and he also has an interest in photography.[1]

Payne contracted COVID-19 during the COVID-19 pandemic.[5]

References[]

  1. ^ a b c d e f "Sebastian E. Payne > Personalia". Archived from the original on 7 July 2009. Retrieved 3 October 2020.
  2. ^ Payne, Sebastian (16 November 2011). "How true to life is Channel 4's Fresh Meat?". The Daily Telegraph. ISSN 0307-1235. Retrieved 20 October 2019.
  3. ^ Payne, Sebastian. "Happy Birthday @SebastianEPayne". Twitter. Retrieved 12 January 2020.[non-primary source needed]
  4. ^ "Seb Payne's schooldays". The Spectator. 14 March 2015. Retrieved 20 October 2019.
  5. ^ a b c d e f Iain Dale (8 October 2021). "Chapter 147 : Sebastian Payne". globalplayer.com (Podcast). Iain Dale's Book Club. Retrieved 8 October 2021.
  6. ^ "Alumni". The Mildertian. 14 July 2014. p. 5. Retrieved 9 August 2020.
  7. ^ a b c "Sebastian Payne – Speakers for Schools". Retrieved 20 October 2019.
  8. ^ a b "Leading alumni in online and digital". City, University of London. Retrieved 20 October 2019.
  9. ^ "Sebastian Payne – Telegraph". The Daily Telegraph. Archived from the original on 11 July 2011. Retrieved 20 October 2019.
  10. ^ "Sebastian Payne". National Press Foundation. Retrieved 20 October 2019.
  11. ^ "Author: Sebastian Payne". The Spectator. Retrieved 20 October 2019.
  12. ^ "Sebastian Payne is The Washington Post's 2014 Stern Fellow". The Washington Post. 23 April 2014. Retrieved 9 August 2020.
  13. ^ a b Jackson, Jasper (29 October 2015). "FT hires Spectator's Sebastian Payne as digital comment editor". The Guardian. Retrieved 15 December 2019.
  14. ^ "Sebastian Payne". Battle of Ideas 2019. Retrieved 20 October 2019.
  15. ^ Amos-Sansam, Nate (11 March 2019). "Sebastian Payne appointed Whitehall correspondent at Financial Times". ResponseSource. Retrieved 20 October 2019.
  16. ^ Hunter Johnston, Lucy. "The Progress 1000: London's most influential people 2019 – Media: Print & Digital". London Evening Standard. Retrieved 1 November 2019.
  17. ^ "How do we bridge the North-South divide?". Battle of Ideas 2019. Retrieved 20 October 2019.
  18. ^ Chandler, Mark (16 September 2020). "Pan Mac wins four-publisher fight for Payne". thebookseller.com. Retrieved 3 October 2020.
  19. ^ Blanchard, Jack (19 July 2019). "Politico London Playbook, presented by Lloyds Banking Group: I'm a Cabinet minister get me out of here — Our fractured nation — Boris care pledge". Politico Europe. Retrieved 9 August 2020.
  20. ^ "Sophia Gaston". London School of Economics. Retrieved 9 August 2020.

External links[]

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