Press Gazette magazine has this month named the top 50 political reporters in British journalism as rated by journalists themselves and the general public.
Number one political reporter in the UK is former BBC political editor Andrew Marr – who made into the number one slot thanks largely to a major slice of the public vote.
Number two was Times election editor Philip Webster, who is stepping down after the general election following a 16-year-stint as the paper’s political editor to become the paper’s Europe editor. Webster was the political reporter who Marr said he most rates.
The Evening Standard was the only paper to get two journalists in the top ten: political editor Joe Murphy and his deputy Paul Waugh.
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The BBC has more journalists than any other news organisation in the top 50, with ten, followed by The Guardian on six, The Times and the Financial Times with four and the Daily Telegraph with three.
The top 50 was compiled following a survey of senior journalists working in the field of political journalism and an opinion poll conducted by iCD research of 1,000 members of the public. Journalists and the general public were specifically asked to name the political reporters they rate most highly.
Marr, who has been presenter of the Andrew Marr show since 2005, told Press Gazette that he thinks “a basic fair mindedness” is an important attribute for a political reporter.
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He said: “You have to accept that most of the people in the political game have mixed motives but part of their motives are good ones and the do want to make the world better, whether they are on the right, centre or left.”
The full list of top 50 political reporters appears in the April edition of Press Gazette magazine.
Top ten political reporters
1 – Andrew Marr, BBC
2 – Philip Webster, election editor, The Times
3 – Joe Murphy, political editor, the Evening Standard
4 – George Parker, political editor, Financial Times
5 – Adam Boulton, political editor, Sky News
6 – Nick Robinson, political editor, BBC
7 – Simon Walters, political editor, Mail on Sunday
8 – Patrick Wintour, political editor, The Guardian
9 – Paul Waugh, deputy political editor, Evening Standard
10 – Jeremy Paxman, presenter, Newsnight
The Press Gazette top 50 political reporters was sponsored by Freedom and Responsiblity..
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