Harry Cole (journalist)

Harry Cole
Cole in 2012
Born (1986-04-27) 27 April 1986 (age 38)
NationalityBritish
EducationSevenoaks School
Tonbridge School
Alma materUniversity of Edinburgh
OccupationJournalist

Harry Cole (born 27 April 1986) is a British journalist who has been the political editor of The Sun since 2020, having previously been the deputy political editor of The Mail On Sunday. He studied Anthropology and Economic History at the University of Edinburgh.

Early life and education

Cole was born on 27 April 1986.[1][2] His early education was at Sevenoaks School and Tonbridge School, both private schools in Kent. He studied anthropology and economic history at the University of Edinburgh, graduating with an undergraduate Master of Arts (MA Hons) degree in 2009.[3] While at university, he was Vice-Chairman and Treasurer of the Edinburgh University Conservative Association.[4] and was Vice-President of Scottish Conservative Future.[5] He also wrote the Tory Bear blog which focussed on right-wing political gossip.[6]

He ran to become Edinburgh University Students' Association President in 2008.[7] Cole withdrew his candidacy after the student newspaper The Journal reported that his campaign was behind the anonymous blog EUSAless which had criticised the union and other candidates including an attack on another candidate's sexual orientation.[7] He had previously denied involvement when asked and had urged other candidates to sign a clean campaign pledge.[8]

Career

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Paul Staines hired Cole initially as an intern for his right-wing website Guido Fawkes due to his involvement in EUSAless. His first major story was coverage of the United Kingdom parliamentary expenses scandal in 2009.[9] Cole reported that Guido Fawkes made most of its money through selling stories to newspapers but this revenue stream dwindled after the Leveson Inquiry so he later became a diarist in the tabloid newspapers The Daily Star Sunday in 2012 and The Sun on Sunday in 2013.[9] During his time at Guido Fawkes, he was also a contributing editor for The Spectator. He left Guido Fawkes in 2015 to become the Westminster Correspondent for The Sun.[10] Cole then moved to The Mail on Sunday in 2018 as deputy political editor before returning to The Sun and replacing Tom Newton Dunn as its political editor in 2020.[11][12]

Cole's stories include the then Health Secretary Matt Hancock's extramarital affair with his aide Gina Coladangelo and their breaking of COVID-19 social distancing restrictions in 2021 which won Scoop of the Year at the British Journalism Awards.[13] In September 2022, it was announced that Cole and fellow journalist James Heale would be writing a book about the British Conservative Party politician Liz Truss who had recently become prime minister after winning the July–September 2022 Conservative Party leadership election called Out of the Blue.[14] It was published in November 2022.[15] Out of the Blue was named as The Sunday Times political book of the year.[16] In 2023, the New Statesman named Cole as one of the 50 most influential right-wing figures in the UK.[17]

He started hosting Never Mind the Ballots, a weekly politics show by The Sun in March 2024.[18]

References

  1. ^ "GQ 100 Most Influential Men In Britain 2013 List". GQ. Archived from the original on 7 January 2014.
  2. ^ Wickham, Alex (28 April 2022). "London Playbook: Pestminster 5 years on — Heat on Harris — Only Keir for the beer". Politico Europe.
  3. ^ "Harry Cole". LinkedIn. Retrieved 14 July 2022.
  4. ^ "Apply for your Fresher's Pack". ConservativeHome. 31 July 2007. Archived from the original on 3 August 2008.
  5. ^ Barrett, Matthew (May 2011). "The Westminster Brat Pack". ConservativeHome.
  6. ^ "Free Speech". BBC Three. Retrieved 1 February 2023.
  7. ^ a b "Cole and Ward jostle as front-runners". The Journal. 13 February 2008. pp. 16–17.
  8. ^ "Cole campaign behind anonymous EUSAless blog". The Journal. 26 February 2008. Archived from the original on 5 March 2008.
  9. ^ a b Turvill, William (23 July 2013). "Guido Fawkes news editor Harry Cole on 'morally bankrupt' Lobby, 'moany' Private Eye and Chris Huhne". Press Gazette.
  10. ^ Jackson, Jasper (24 June 2015). "Guido Fawkes' Harry Cole joins Sun as Westminster correspondent". The Guardian.
  11. ^ Mayhew, Freddy (16 September 2019). "Mail on Sunday puts Black Dog 'in his kennel' for political gossip column by Harry Cole". Press Gazette.
  12. ^ Warrington, James (14 May 2020). "Times Radio snaps up Sun political editor Tom Newton Dunn". City A.M.
  13. ^ Tobitt, Charlotte (13 December 2021). "The Sun's Harry Cole slams 'continuing erosion of journalistic rights' after Hancock scoop win". Press Gazette.
  14. ^ Shaffi, Sarah (8 September 2022). "Lord Ashcroft and Sun political editor to publish Liz Truss biographies". The Guardian.
  15. ^ Anthony, Andrew (7 November 2022). "Out of the Blue by Harry Cole and James Heale – the salad days of Lettuce Liz Truss". The Observer.
  16. ^ Maguire, Patrick; Pogrund, Gabriel (27 November 2022). "15 best political and current affairs books of 2022". The Times.(subscription required)
  17. ^ Statesman, New (27 September 2023). "The New Statesman's right power list". New Statesman. Retrieved 14 December 2023.
  18. ^ "The Sun Launches Never Mind the Ballots". News UK. Retrieved 28 May 2024.
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Preceded by Political Editor of The Sun
2020–present 		Incumbent