The Spectator
Encyclopedia
The Spectator is a weekly British magazine first published on 6 July 1828. It is currently owned by David and Frederick Barclay
, who also owns The Daily Telegraph
. Its principal subject areas are politics and culture. It generally takes a right-of-centre, conservative editorial line, although regular contributors such as Frank Field and Martin Bright
write from a more left-wing perspective. The magazine also has extensive arts pages on books, music, opera, and film and TV reviews. In late 2008, Spectator Australia was launched. This offers 12 pages of "Unique Australian Content" (including a separate Editorial page) in addition to the full UK contents. The magazine had an ABC
circulation figure of 77,146 in 2008.
Editorship of The Spectator has often been part of a route to high office in the Conservative Party
; past editors include Iain Macleod
, Ian Gilmour and Nigel Lawson
, all of whom became cabinet ministers. Editorship can also be a springboard for a greater role in public affairs, as with Boris Johnson
(1999 to 2005), Conservative Mayor of London
.
Like its sister publication The Daily Telegraph, The Spectator is generally Atlanticist and Eurosceptic
in outlook, favouring close ties with the United States rather than with the European Union
, and it is usually supportive of Israel
. However, it has expressed strong doubts about the Iraq war, and some of its contributors, such as Matthew Parris
and Stuart Reid, express a more Americosceptic, old-school conservative line. Other contributors such as Irwin Stelzer
argue from an American-style neoconservative position. Like much of the British press it is critical of the unilateral extradition treaty that allowed the Natwest three
to be extradited, and in July 2006 the magazine devoted a leading article to lambasting the US Senate. According to former editor Boris Johnson
, the Spectator's baseline editorial policy is to "always be roughly speaking in favour of getting rid of Saddam, sticking up for Israel, free-market economics, expanding choice", though it is "not necessarily a Thatcherite Conservative or a neo-conservative magazine, even though in our editorial coverage we tend to follow roughly the conclusions of those lines of arguments."
, in the way that (for example) The Daily Telegraph
did under W.F. Deedes, or The Times
did under William Haley
. The magazine coined the phrase "young fogey
" in 1984 (in an article by Alan Watkins
).
The Spectator does have a popular music column, though it only appears every four weeks, while a cinema column contains a review of one film each week by the non-specialist Deborah Ross. By contrast, opera, fine art, books, poetry and classical music all receive extensive weekly coverage.
("a student in arms"), Auberon Waugh
, Jeffrey Bernard
(the "Low Life" column) and Taki (the "High Life" column). Following Bernard's death, the "Low Life" column is now written by Jeremy Clarke. Joan Collins
contributes regularly as Guest Diarist, as does Barry Humphries
. For the past few years the weekly provider of Spectator’s Notes has been Charles Moore
. Some recent reviewers include semi-residents, Deborah Ross and James Delingpole
, notable for their unusual styles of Cinema and TV criticism. John Cleese
acted as 'Contributing Editor' ten days after the Ides of March
2009.
The book reviews are often 'outsourced' to outsiders who are experts in the given subject, so consequently it is rare to see the same review author twice in as many weeks. The restaurant section is also an irregular piece. British-born South African journalist Jani Allan
is also a former correspondent.
The chess columnist since 1977 has been Raymond Keene
, who retains the role despite the unauthorised copying of a piece by Edward Winter for his column of 7 June 2008. The matter was reported in Private Eye
.
, and while still supporting the Conservatives was also friendly to the Hugh Gaitskell
wing of the Labour Party. Gilmour sold The Spectator to the businessman Harold Creighton
in 1967 for £75,000.
Creighton’s took the magazine in a new right-wing direction, and strongly opposed British membership of the Common Market
. Circulation fell from 36,000 in 1966 to below 17,000, and in 1975 Creighton sold The Spectator to Henry Keswick
, again for £75,000. However Creighton sold the 99 Gower Street premises separately, so the magazine moved to premises in Doughty Street.
, who gave The Spectator more appeal with his famous profile and controversial character, resigned in December 2005, on taking up an appointment as Shadow Minister for Higher Education
. Johnson's final months as editor were marred by the negative reaction to an editorial written by Simon Heffer
criticising the people of Liverpool
for engaging in vicarious victimhood following the death of Ken Bigley
. Johnson made a personal apology. Recent articles have resumed the theme in commenting on public declarations of grief following the murder of Rhys Jones
.
The circulation was not at all hindered by the notoriety the magazine achieved after revelations about Johnson's affair with one of his columnists Petronella Wyatt
, the extramarital adventures of its publisher Kimberly Quinn
and affair of the associate editor Rod Liddle
.
. The Telegraph had considered the article too risky to publish, but Spectator editor Dominic Lawson
thought Cash's idea was as old as Hollywood itself and that Lawson's being a Jew would mitigate adverse reactions to publication. There was, however, considerable controversy, although owner Conrad Black
did not personally rebuke Lawson. Max Hastings
, then editor of The Daily Telegraph, wrote with regard to Telegraph group owner Conrad Black
, who also owned The Jerusalem Post
at the time, "It was one of the few moments in my time with Conrad when I saw him look seriously rattled: 'You don't understand, Max. My entire interests in the United States and internationally could be seriously damaged by this'."
The article was defended by some conservatives. John Derbyshire
, who says he has "complicated and sometimes self-contradictory feelings about Jews", wrote on National Review Online regarding what he saw as the Jewish overreaction to the article that "It was a display of arrogance, cruelty, ignorance, stupidity, and sheer bad manners by rich and powerful people towards a harmless, helpless young writer, and the Jews who whipped up this preposterous storm should all be thoroughly ashamed of themselves".
David and Frederick Barclay
Sir David Rowat Barclay and Sir Frederick Hugh Barclay are British businessmen. The identical twin brothers have very substantial business interests primarily in media, retail and property. The Sunday Times Rich List of 2007 estimated their wealth at £1.8 billion...
, who also owns The Daily Telegraph
The Daily Telegraph
The Daily Telegraph is a daily morning broadsheet newspaper distributed throughout the United Kingdom and internationally. The newspaper was founded by Arthur B...
. Its principal subject areas are politics and culture. It generally takes a right-of-centre, conservative editorial line, although regular contributors such as Frank Field and Martin Bright
Martin Bright
Martin Bright is a British journalist. He worked for the BBC World Service and The Guardian before becoming The Observer's education correspondent and then home affairs editor...
write from a more left-wing perspective. The magazine also has extensive arts pages on books, music, opera, and film and TV reviews. In late 2008, Spectator Australia was launched. This offers 12 pages of "Unique Australian Content" (including a separate Editorial page) in addition to the full UK contents. The magazine had an ABC
ABC (Audit Bureau of Circulations UK)
In the United Kingdom and Ireland, ABC has two roles:* To manage and uphold standards which reflect media industry needs...
circulation figure of 77,146 in 2008.
Editorship of The Spectator has often been part of a route to high office in the Conservative Party
Conservative Party (UK)
The Conservative Party, formally the Conservative and Unionist Party, is a centre-right political party in the United Kingdom that adheres to the philosophies of conservatism and British unionism. It is the largest political party in the UK, and is currently the largest single party in the House...
; past editors include Iain Macleod
Iain Macleod
Iain Norman Macleod was a British Conservative Party politician and government minister.-Early life:...
, Ian Gilmour and Nigel Lawson
Nigel Lawson
Nigel Lawson, Baron Lawson of Blaby, PC , is a British Conservative politician and journalist. He was a Member of Parliament representing the constituency of Blaby from 1974–92, and served as the Chancellor of the Exchequer in the government of Margaret Thatcher from June 1983 to October 1989...
, all of whom became cabinet ministers. Editorship can also be a springboard for a greater role in public affairs, as with Boris Johnson
Boris Johnson
Alexander Boris de Pfeffel Johnson is a British journalist and Conservative Party politician, who has been the elected Mayor of London since 2008...
(1999 to 2005), Conservative Mayor of London
Mayor of London
The Mayor of London is an elected politician who, along with the London Assembly of 25 members, is accountable for the strategic government of Greater London. Conservative Boris Johnson has held the position since 4 May 2008...
.
Policy positions
From its founding in 1828 The Spectator has taken a pro-British line in foreign affairs.Like its sister publication The Daily Telegraph, The Spectator is generally Atlanticist and Eurosceptic
Euroscepticism
Euroscepticism is a general term used to describe criticism of the European Union , and opposition to the process of European integration, existing throughout the political spectrum. Traditionally, the main source of euroscepticism has been the notion that integration weakens the nation state...
in outlook, favouring close ties with the United States rather than with the European Union
European Union
The European Union is an economic and political union of 27 independent member states which are located primarily in Europe. The EU traces its origins from the European Coal and Steel Community and the European Economic Community , formed by six countries in 1958...
, and it is usually supportive of Israel
Israel
The State of Israel is a parliamentary republic located in the Middle East, along the eastern shore of the Mediterranean Sea...
. However, it has expressed strong doubts about the Iraq war, and some of its contributors, such as Matthew Parris
Matthew Parris
Matthew Francis Parris is a UK-based journalist and former Conservative politician.-Early life and family:...
and Stuart Reid, express a more Americosceptic, old-school conservative line. Other contributors such as Irwin Stelzer
Irwin Stelzer
Irwin M. Stelzer is an American economist who is the U.S. economic and business columnist for the Sunday Times, the Courier-Mail, the Guardian and a contributing editor of the Weekly Standard. He is also an occasional contributor to the Daily Telegraph and the New Statesman...
argue from an American-style neoconservative position. Like much of the British press it is critical of the unilateral extradition treaty that allowed the Natwest three
NatWest Three
The NatWest Three, also known as the Enron Three, are three British businessmen - Giles Darby, David Bermingham and Gary Mulgrew. In 2002 they were indicted in Houston, Texas on seven counts of wire fraud against their former employer Greenwich NatWest, at the time a division of National...
to be extradited, and in July 2006 the magazine devoted a leading article to lambasting the US Senate. According to former editor Boris Johnson
Boris Johnson
Alexander Boris de Pfeffel Johnson is a British journalist and Conservative Party politician, who has been the elected Mayor of London since 2008...
, the Spectator's baseline editorial policy is to "always be roughly speaking in favour of getting rid of Saddam, sticking up for Israel, free-market economics, expanding choice", though it is "not necessarily a Thatcherite Conservative or a neo-conservative magazine, even though in our editorial coverage we tend to follow roughly the conclusions of those lines of arguments."
Cultural positions
The Spectator is one of the few British publications that still ignores or dismisses most examples of popular culturePopular culture
Popular culture is the totality of ideas, perspectives, attitudes, memes, images and other phenomena that are deemed preferred per an informal consensus within the mainstream of a given culture, especially Western culture of the early to mid 20th century and the emerging global mainstream of the...
, in the way that (for example) The Daily Telegraph
The Daily Telegraph
The Daily Telegraph is a daily morning broadsheet newspaper distributed throughout the United Kingdom and internationally. The newspaper was founded by Arthur B...
did under W.F. Deedes, or The Times
The Times
The Times is a British daily national newspaper, first published in London in 1785 under the title The Daily Universal Register . The Times and its sister paper The Sunday Times are published by Times Newspapers Limited, a subsidiary since 1981 of News International...
did under William Haley
William Haley
Sir William John Haley, KCMG was a British newspaper editor and broadcasting administrator.-Biography:Early in his career on the Manchester Evening News, Haley was found to be too shy to work as a reporter...
. The magazine coined the phrase "young fogey
Young Fogey
The term young fogey was humorously applied, in British context, to some younger-generation, rather buttoned-down writers and journalists, such as Simon Heffer, Charles Moore and, for a while, A. N. Wilson...
" in 1984 (in an article by Alan Watkins
Alan Watkins
Alan Rhun Watkins was for over 50 years a British political columnist in various London-based magazines and newspapers...
).
The Spectator does have a popular music column, though it only appears every four weeks, while a cinema column contains a review of one film each week by the non-specialist Deborah Ross. By contrast, opera, fine art, books, poetry and classical music all receive extensive weekly coverage.
Contributors
Although there is a permanent staff of writers, The Spectator has always had room for a wide array of contributors. These have included Donald HankeyDonald Hankey
Donald William Alers Hankey was an English soldier best known for two volumes of essays about the British volunteer army in World War I both titled A Student in Arms.-Biography:...
("a student in arms"), Auberon Waugh
Auberon Waugh
Auberon Alexander Waugh was a British author and journalist, son of the novelist Evelyn Waugh. He was known to his family and friends as Bron Waugh.-Life and career:...
, Jeffrey Bernard
Jeffrey Bernard
Jeffrey Bernard was a British journalist, best known for his weekly column "Low Life" in the Spectator magazine, and also notorious for a feckless and chaotic career and life of alcohol abuse. He became associated with the louche and bohemian atmosphere that existed in London's Soho district...
(the "Low Life" column) and Taki (the "High Life" column). Following Bernard's death, the "Low Life" column is now written by Jeremy Clarke. Joan Collins
Joan Collins
Joan Henrietta Collins, OBE , is an English actress, author, and columnist. Born in Paddington and raised in Maida Vale, Collins grew up during the Second World War. At the age of nine, she made her stage debut in A Doll's House and after attending school, she was classically trained as an actress...
contributes regularly as Guest Diarist, as does Barry Humphries
Barry Humphries
John Barry Humphries, AO, CBE is an Australian comedian, satirist, dadaist, artist, author and character actor, best known for his on-stage and television alter egos Dame Edna Everage, a Melbourne housewife and "gigastar", and Sir Les Patterson, Australia's foul-mouthed cultural attaché to the...
. For the past few years the weekly provider of Spectator’s Notes has been Charles Moore
Charles Moore (journalist)
Charles Hilary Moore is a British journalist and former editor of The Daily Telegraph.-Early life:He was educated at Eton and Trinity College, Cambridge where he was awarded a BA in History and was a friend of Oliver Letwin.-Career:A former editor of The Spectator , the Sunday Telegraph and The...
. Some recent reviewers include semi-residents, Deborah Ross and James Delingpole
James Delingpole
James Delingpole is an English columnist and novelist. A self-described libertarian conservative, he writes for The Times, The Daily Telegraph, and The Spectator. He has published several novels and four political books, most recently Watermelons: The Green Movement's True Colors [2011]...
, notable for their unusual styles of Cinema and TV criticism. John Cleese
John Cleese
John Marwood Cleese is an English actor, comedian, writer, and film producer. He achieved success at the Edinburgh Festival Fringe and as a scriptwriter and performer on The Frost Report...
acted as 'Contributing Editor' ten days after the Ides of March
Ides of March
The Ides of March is the name of the 15th day of March in the Roman calendar, probably referring to the day of the full moon. The word Ides comes from the Latin word "Idus" and means "half division" especially in relation to a month. It is a word that was used widely in the Roman calendar...
2009.
The book reviews are often 'outsourced' to outsiders who are experts in the given subject, so consequently it is rare to see the same review author twice in as many weeks. The restaurant section is also an irregular piece. British-born South African journalist Jani Allan
Jani Allan
Jani Allan is a South African columnist and radio commentator. She became a household name as a columnist for the Sunday Times where she worked between 1979-90. She is also known for her alleged affair with an interviewee, the late right-wing political leader Eugène Terre'Blanche...
is also a former correspondent.
The chess columnist since 1977 has been Raymond Keene
Raymond Keene
Raymond Dennis Keene OBE is an English chess Grandmaster, a FIDE International Arbiter, a chess organiser, and a journalist and author.p196 He won the British Chess Championship in 1971, and was the first player from England to earn a Grandmaster norm, in 1974. In 1976 he became the second...
, who retains the role despite the unauthorised copying of a piece by Edward Winter for his column of 7 June 2008. The matter was reported in Private Eye
Private Eye
Private Eye is a fortnightly British satirical and current affairs magazine, edited by Ian Hislop.Since its first publication in 1961, Private Eye has been a prominent critic and lampooner of public figures and entities that it deemed guilty of any of the sins of incompetence, inefficiency,...
.
History
John St. Loe Strachey edited the Spectator from 1887 to 1925.Ian Gilmour and Henry Keswick as proprietors
Ian Gilmour bought The Spectator in 1954 and was its editor from 1954 to 1959, refreshing its outlook. The magazine adopted a libertarian and pro-European outlook, and took a position against the Suez War. The magazine was critical of the government of Harold MacmillanHarold Macmillan
Maurice Harold Macmillan, 1st Earl of Stockton, OM, PC was Conservative Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 10 January 1957 to 18 October 1963....
, and while still supporting the Conservatives was also friendly to the Hugh Gaitskell
Hugh Gaitskell
Hugh Todd Naylor Gaitskell CBE was a British Labour politician, who held Cabinet office in Clement Attlee's governments, and was the Leader of the Labour Party and Leader of the Opposition from 1955, until his death in 1963.-Early life:He was born in Kensington, London, the third and youngest...
wing of the Labour Party. Gilmour sold The Spectator to the businessman Harold Creighton
Harold Creighton
Harold Digby Fitzgerald Creighton was a British businessman and machine tool pioneer, who bought The Spectator magazine in 1967 for £75,000. Towards the end of the Second World War and after, he served a National Service commission in the Royal Armoured Corps of the British Army, based in Egypt...
in 1967 for £75,000.
Creighton’s took the magazine in a new right-wing direction, and strongly opposed British membership of the Common Market
European Economic Community
The European Economic Community The European Economic Community (EEC) The European Economic Community (EEC) (also known as the Common Market in the English-speaking world, renamed the European Community (EC) in 1993The information in this article primarily covers the EEC's time as an independent...
. Circulation fell from 36,000 in 1966 to below 17,000, and in 1975 Creighton sold The Spectator to Henry Keswick
Henry Keswick
Sir Henry Neville Lindley Keswick is a Scottish businessman. He was educated at Eton College and Trinity College, Cambridge.Henry married Tessa, Lady Reay, younger daughter of the late Simon Fraser, 15th Lord Lovat in 1985...
, again for £75,000. However Creighton sold the 99 Gower Street premises separately, so the magazine moved to premises in Doughty Street.
Twenty-first century
The magazine has prospered in recent times. Former editor Boris JohnsonBoris Johnson
Alexander Boris de Pfeffel Johnson is a British journalist and Conservative Party politician, who has been the elected Mayor of London since 2008...
, who gave The Spectator more appeal with his famous profile and controversial character, resigned in December 2005, on taking up an appointment as Shadow Minister for Higher Education
Official opposition frontbench (UK)
The frontbench of Her Majesty's Loyal Opposition in the Parliament of the United Kingdom consists of the Shadow Cabinet and other official shadow ministers of the political party currently serving as the Official Opposition. Her Majesty's Loyal Opposition is currently the Labour Party, and the...
. Johnson's final months as editor were marred by the negative reaction to an editorial written by Simon Heffer
Simon Heffer
Simon James Heffer is a British journalist, columnist and writer.-Education:Heffer was educated at King Edward VI Grammar School in Chelmsford and Corpus Christi College, Cambridge.-Career:...
criticising the people of Liverpool
Liverpool
Liverpool is a city and metropolitan borough of Merseyside, England, along the eastern side of the Mersey Estuary. It was founded as a borough in 1207 and was granted city status in 1880...
for engaging in vicarious victimhood following the death of Ken Bigley
Kenneth Bigley
Kenneth John Bigley , born Liverpool, England, was a civil engineer who was kidnapped in the al-Mansour district of Baghdad, Iraq on 16 September 2004, along with his colleagues Jack Hensley and Eugene Armstrong, both U.S. citizens...
. Johnson made a personal apology. Recent articles have resumed the theme in commenting on public declarations of grief following the murder of Rhys Jones
Murder of Rhys Jones
The murder of Rhys Milford Jones occurred in Liverpool, England, when he was shot in the back. An 18-year-old youth, Sean Mercer, went on trial on 2 October 2008 and was convicted of murder on 16 December 2008....
.
The circulation was not at all hindered by the notoriety the magazine achieved after revelations about Johnson's affair with one of his columnists Petronella Wyatt
Petronella Wyatt
Petronella Wyatt , is a British journalist and author. She is the daughter of the former journalist and Labour politician, the late Woodrow Wyatt, and his fourth wife, the Hungarian Veronica Banszky Von Ambroz.-Biography:...
, the extramarital adventures of its publisher Kimberly Quinn
Kimberly Quinn
Kimberly Quinn , is an American journalist, commentator and magazine publisher and writer. Latterly the publisher of British conservative news magazine The Spectator....
and affair of the associate editor Rod Liddle
Rod Liddle
Roderick E. L. Liddle is an English print, radio, and television journalist.He is an associate editor of The Spectator, and former editor of BBC Radio 4's Today programme, he is the author of Too Beautiful for You , Love Will Destroy Everything , and co-author of The Best of Liddle Britain...
.
The "Kings of the Deal" article
The Spectator caused controversy in 1994 when it printed an article entitled "Kings of the Deal" on a claimed Jewish influence in Hollywood, written by William Cash, who at the time was based in Los Angeles and working mainly for The Daily TelegraphThe Daily Telegraph
The Daily Telegraph is a daily morning broadsheet newspaper distributed throughout the United Kingdom and internationally. The newspaper was founded by Arthur B...
. The Telegraph had considered the article too risky to publish, but Spectator editor Dominic Lawson
Dominic Lawson
Dominic Ralph Campden Lawson is a British journalist.-Background:Educated at Westminster School and then Christ Church, Oxford, he is the elder son of a former Conservative Chancellor of the Exchequer Lord Lawson and socialite Vanessa Salmon, heir to the Lyons Corner House empire, who died of...
thought Cash's idea was as old as Hollywood itself and that Lawson's being a Jew would mitigate adverse reactions to publication. There was, however, considerable controversy, although owner Conrad Black
Conrad Black
Conrad Moffat Black, Baron Black of Crossharbour, OC, KCSG, PC is a Canadian-born member of the British House of Lords, and a historian, columnist and publisher, who was for a time the third largest newspaper magnate in the world. Lord Black controlled Hollinger International, Inc...
did not personally rebuke Lawson. Max Hastings
Max Hastings
Sir Max Hugh Macdonald Hastings, FRSL is a British journalist, editor, historian and author. He is the son of Macdonald Hastings, the noted British journalist and war correspondent and Anne Scott-James, sometime editor of Harper's Bazaar.-Life and career:Hastings was educated at Charterhouse...
, then editor of The Daily Telegraph, wrote with regard to Telegraph group owner Conrad Black
Conrad Black
Conrad Moffat Black, Baron Black of Crossharbour, OC, KCSG, PC is a Canadian-born member of the British House of Lords, and a historian, columnist and publisher, who was for a time the third largest newspaper magnate in the world. Lord Black controlled Hollinger International, Inc...
, who also owned The Jerusalem Post
The Jerusalem Post
The Jerusalem Post is an Israeli daily English-language broadsheet newspaper, founded on December 1, 1932 by Gershon Agron as The Palestine Post. The daily readership numbers do not approach those of the major Hebrew newspapers....
at the time, "It was one of the few moments in my time with Conrad when I saw him look seriously rattled: 'You don't understand, Max. My entire interests in the United States and internationally could be seriously damaged by this'."
The article was defended by some conservatives. John Derbyshire
John Derbyshire
John Derbyshire is a British-American writer. His columns in National Review and cover a broad range of political-cultural topics, including immigration, China, history, mathematics, and race. Derbyshire's 1996 novel, Seeing Calvin Coolidge in a Dream, was a New York Times "Notable Book of the...
, who says he has "complicated and sometimes self-contradictory feelings about Jews", wrote on National Review Online regarding what he saw as the Jewish overreaction to the article that "It was a display of arrogance, cruelty, ignorance, stupidity, and sheer bad manners by rich and powerful people towards a harmless, helpless young writer, and the Jews who whipped up this preposterous storm should all be thoroughly ashamed of themselves".
Editors
- Robert Stephen RintoulRobert Stephen RintoulRobert Stephen Rintoul , British journalist, was born at Tibbermore, Perthshire, in 1787, and educated at the Aberdalgie parish school...
1828, as founder, until his death in 1858 - Mr. Scott 1858–61
- Meredith Townsend 1861, as sole editor for a short time, then as co-editor with R.H. Hutton until 1886 and sole editor again until 1887
- Richard Holt HuttonRichard Holt HuttonRichard Holt Hutton was an English writer and theologian.The son of Joseph Hutton, Unitarian minister, he was born at Leeds. His family moved to London in 1835, and he was educated at University College School and University College, London, where he began a lifelong friendship with Walter...
, as co-editor, 1861–86 - John St Loe Strachey 1887–1925
- Sir Evelyn Leslie WrenchEvelyn WrenchSir John Evelyn Leslie Wrench, CMG, LL.D was born on 29 October 1882, in Brookeborough, County Fermanagh, part of the Province of Ulster in Ireland, the son of Frederick Stringer Wrench , an Irish Land Commissioner, and Charlotte Mary Bellingham .At the age of five years, his favorite literature...
1925–32 - Henry Wilson Harris 1932–53
- Walter TaplinWalter Taplin- References :...
1953–4 - Ian Gilmour 1954–9, also proprietor until 1967
- Brian InglisBrian InglisBrian Inglis was an Irish journalist, historian and television presenter. He was born in Dublin, Ireland, and retained an interest in Irish history and politics....
1959–62 - Iain Hamilton 1962–3
- Iain MacleodIain MacleodIain Norman Macleod was a British Conservative Party politician and government minister.-Early life:...
1963–5 - Nigel LawsonNigel LawsonNigel Lawson, Baron Lawson of Blaby, PC , is a British Conservative politician and journalist. He was a Member of Parliament representing the constituency of Blaby from 1974–92, and served as the Chancellor of the Exchequer in the government of Margaret Thatcher from June 1983 to October 1989...
1966–70 - George GaleGeorge Gale (journalist)George Gale was a British journalist who was editor of the British political magazine The Spectator from 1970 to 1973. He was educated at the independent Royal Grammar School, Newcastle and Peterhouse, Cambridge where he graduated with a double-first in History.In 1951 he joined Manchester...
1970–73 - Harold CreightonHarold CreightonHarold Digby Fitzgerald Creighton was a British businessman and machine tool pioneer, who bought The Spectator magazine in 1967 for £75,000. Towards the end of the Second World War and after, he served a National Service commission in the Royal Armoured Corps of the British Army, based in Egypt...
1973–75 - Alexander ChancellorAlexander ChancellorAlexander Chancellor is a British journalist. He was educated at Eton College and Trinity Hall, Cambridge. He was the editor of the conservative Spectator magazine from 1975 to 1984, and now contributes a weekly column in The Guardian, published in the "Weekend" supplement each Saturday...
1975–84 - Charles MooreCharles Moore (journalist)Charles Hilary Moore is a British journalist and former editor of The Daily Telegraph.-Early life:He was educated at Eton and Trinity College, Cambridge where he was awarded a BA in History and was a friend of Oliver Letwin.-Career:A former editor of The Spectator , the Sunday Telegraph and The...
1984–90 - Dominic LawsonDominic LawsonDominic Ralph Campden Lawson is a British journalist.-Background:Educated at Westminster School and then Christ Church, Oxford, he is the elder son of a former Conservative Chancellor of the Exchequer Lord Lawson and socialite Vanessa Salmon, heir to the Lyons Corner House empire, who died of...
1990–5 - Frank JohnsonFrank Johnson (journalist)Frank Robert Johnson was an English journalist.-Education:Johnson failed his Eleven Plus examination, and was educated at a state secondary school in Shoreditch in East London, which he left at the age of 16...
1995–9 - Boris JohnsonBoris JohnsonAlexander Boris de Pfeffel Johnson is a British journalist and Conservative Party politician, who has been the elected Mayor of London since 2008...
1999–2005 - Matthew d'AnconaMatthew d'AnconaMatthew d'Ancona is a British journalist. A former deputy editor of The Sunday Telegraph, he was appointed editor of The Spectator in February 2006, a post he retained until August 2009.-Early life:...
2006–9 - Fraser NelsonFraser NelsonFraser Nelson is a British political journalist and editor of The Spectator magazine.-Early life:Educated at Nairn Academy and Dollar Academy, Nelson went on to study History at the University of Glasgow and Journalism at City University, London....
2009–
External links
- The Spectator official site
- Exact Editions digital edition
- The Spectator iPhone/iPad app