Sebastian Payne

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

Sebastian Payne
Born
Sebastian Early Payne[1]

(1989-07-02) 2 July 1989
Gateshead, Tyne and Wear, England
NationalityBritish
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)​

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 and sixth form at Dame Allan's School.[4] At Durham University, he wrote for the student newspaper Palatinate and was 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 graduated from the university's Van Mildert College[5] in 2010 with a BSc in computer science. He gained an MA in investigative journalism from City, University of London in 2011.[6][7]

Career

Payne became a data reporter at The Daily Telegraph in 2011, before leaving the newspaper the following year.[8] He was the online editor of The Spectator magazine[9] and the deputy editor of their Coffee House blog from 2012 to 2015.[10] During his time at The Spectator he participated in the Laurence Stern fellowship at The Washington Post.[11]

Payne became the Financial Times' political leader writer and digital opinion editor in 2016[12] and was appointed Whitehall correspondent in March 2019. In the role, he specialises in the Conservative Party, Brexit and foreign policy.[13] He writes a fortnightly political opinion column[14] 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.[15] He spoke that year at the Battle of Ideas festival on the North–South divide of England.[16]

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 will be published in autumn 2021.[17]

Personal life

Payne lives in North London.[6] 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.[18][19]

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

References
  1. "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.
  4. "Seb Payne's schooldays". The Spectator. 14 March 2015. Retrieved 20 October 2019.
  5. "Alumni". The Mildertian. 14 July 2014. p. 5. Retrieved 9 August 2020.
  6. "Sebastian Payne – Speakers for Schools". Retrieved 20 October 2019.
  7. "Leading alumni in online and digital". City, University of London. Retrieved 20 October 2019.
  8. "Sebastian Payne – Telegraph". The Daily Telegraph. Retrieved 20 October 2019.
  9. "Sebastian Payne". National Press Foundation. Retrieved 20 October 2019.
  10. "Author: Sebastian Payne". The Spectator. Retrieved 20 October 2019.
  11. "Sebastian Payne is The Washington Post's 2014 Stern Fellow". The Washington Post. 23 April 2014. Retrieved 9 August 2020.
  12. Jackson, Jasper (29 October 2015). "FT hires Spectator's Sebastian Payne as digital comment editor". The Guardian. Retrieved 15 December 2019.
  13. "Sebastian Payne". Battle of Ideas 2019. Retrieved 20 October 2019.
  14. Amos-Sansam, Nate (11 March 2019). "Sebastian Payne appointed Whitehall correspondent at Financial Times". ResponseSource. Retrieved 20 October 2019.
  15. Hunter Johnston, Lucy. "The Progress 1000: London's most influential people 2019 – Media: Print & Digital". London Evening Standard. Retrieved 1 November 2019.
  16. "How do we bridge the North-South divide?". Battle of Ideas 2019. Retrieved 20 October 2019.
  17. Chandler, Mark (16 September 2020). "Pan Mac wins four-publisher fight for Payne". thebookseller.com. Retrieved 3 October 2020.
  18. 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.
  19. "Sophia Gaston". London School of Economics. Retrieved 9 August 2020.
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