Allegra Stratton

Allegra Elizabeth Jane Stratton[2] (born 10 April 1980)[2] is a British political aide, writer, and former journalist serving as the Downing Street Press Secretary under Prime Minister Boris Johnson since November 2020.

Allegra Stratton
Stratton in 2015
Downing Street Press Secretary
Incumbent
Assumed office 8 October 2020
Prime Minister	Boris Johnson
Preceded by	Rob Oxley
Personal details
Born	Allegra Elizabeth Jane Stratton 10 April 1980 Chiswick, London, England[1]
Political party	Conservative
Spouse(s)	James Forsyth ​ (m. 2011)​ [1]
Children	2
Education	Latymer Upper School
Alma mater	Emmanuel College, Cambridge
Occupation	Journalist, writer

Stratton worked for The Guardian as a political correspondent until joining the BBC in 2012. Stratton was the political editor of BBC Two's Newsnight from 2012 to 2015. She worked for ITV as national editor of ITV News from 2015 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 was announced as the new press secretary for 10 Downing Street on 8 October 2020.

Early life

Stratton was born in Chiswick, West London on 10 April 1980 as one of four children of a translator father and textile artist mother.[1] She was named after Allegra Byron.[3] Stratton attended Chiswick Community School and Latymer Upper School, an independent school in West London. She then transferred to Emmanuel College, Cambridge, where she read archaeology and anthropology.[4][5]

Career

Stratton worked as a producer for the BBC,[6] on the foreign desk at The Times and wrote for The Independent and the New Statesman. She then joined The Guardian as a political correspondent, presenting the newspaper's "Politics Weekly" podcast with journalist Tom Clark.[7]

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.[8][9] The book was based on Stratton's experiences of travelling in the region in 2005.[10]

Stratton returned to the BBC on 20 February 2012,[11] as political editor of Newsnight, replacing Michael Crick who left to become a political correspondent for Channel 4.[12] 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.[13] 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.[4] This incident led to a 20,000-signature petition soliciting an apology from Stratton and Newsnight.[14] Following an official complaint to the BBC's Editorial Complaints Unit, a correction and apology was issued in August.[14][15]

In November 2015, Stratton left the BBC to join ITV News as its national editor.[16] 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.[17]

In April 2020, she quit ITV News to become director of strategic communications at the Treasury under Chancellor Rishi Sunak.[18] Six months later, in October 2020, she was appointed the new Downing Street Press Secretary, and as such will be fronting the new televised press briefings[6][19] currently scheduled for launch in January 2021.[20] The briefings will begin on 11 January and will take place when the House of Commons will sit on Mondays, Tuesdays and Thursdays.[20]

Personal life

Stratton is married to James Forsyth, political editor of The Spectator magazine.[21] The couple have two children and live in Canonbury, North London.[22][23] Future Chancellor Rishi Sunak was best man at their wedding in 2011,[1] and they and Sunak are godparents to each other's children.[24]

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".[25]

Publications

• Stratton, Allegra (2006). Muhajababes (first ed.). London: Constable. ISBN 9781845294274.

References

1. 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.
2. "Stratton, Allegra Elizabeth Jane, (born 10 April 1980), National Editor, ITV News, since 2016". WHO'S WHO & WHO WAS WHO. doi:10.1093/ww/9780199540884.001.0001/ww-9780199540884-e-284230.
3. 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.
4. Stone, Jon (8 October 2020). "Who is Allegra Stratton, Boris Johnson's new spokesperson?". The Independent. Retrieved 9 October 2020.
5. Bloxham, Andy (22 November 2011). "Allegra Stratton appointed political editor of BBC's Newsnight". The Telegraph. Retrieved 9 October 2020.
6. "Ex-Journalist Stratton to lead No 10 TV briefings". BBC News. 8 October 2020. Retrieved 8 October 2020.
7. "Politics Weekly". The Guardian. Archived from the original on 31 July 2013. Retrieved 21 February 2012.
8. 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.
9. Easton, Susan (19 June 2007). "Hijabs and Muhajababes". Human Events. Archived from the original on 19 June 2007. Retrieved 13 August 2019.
10. Aspden, Rachel (23 July 2006). "Islam and the porno devils". The Guardian. Retrieved 9 October 2020.
11. Murphy, Verity (20 February 2012). "Newsnight: From the web team: Monday 20 February 2012". BBC. Retrieved 21 February 2012.
12. Plunkett, John (30 November 2015). "Channel 4 News appoints Michael Crick as political correspondent". The Guardian. London. Retrieved 10 January 2016.
13. "How Newsnight humiliated single mother Shanene Thorpe". New Statesman. 29 May 2012. Retrieved 9 October 2020.
14. "Outgoing RTS boss accuses BBC News heads of 'culture of denial'". The Guardian. 12 December 2012.
15. Rippon, Peter (31 August 2012). "Complaints - Newsnight, BBC Two, Wednesday 23 May 2012". BBC. Archived from the original on 10 June 2012.
16. "Newsnight political editor Stratton follows Peston to ITV". BBC News. 30 November 2015. Retrieved 13 August 2019.
17. "The Londoner: Co-anchor Allegra Stratton departs Peston". Evening Standard. 16 April 2018. Retrieved 9 October 2020.
18. Griggs, Ian (27 April 2020). "Chancellor picks top political journalist as comms chief". PR Week. Retrieved 6 May 2020.
19. Stewart, Heather (9 October 2020). "Could being the face of Boris Johnson be the worst job in politics?". The Guardian. Retrieved 12 October 2020.
20. 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.
21. Hoggart, Simon (13 August 2011). "Simon Hoggart's week: sailing through dire economic straits". The Guardian. Retrieved 13 August 2019.
22. "Allegra Stratton's My London". Evening Standard. 28 March 2013. Retrieved 31 December 2014.
23. "The Londoner: Co-anchor Allegra Stratton departs Peston". Evening Standard. 16 April 2018.
24. 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.
25. 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.

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