Pippa Crerar (born 19 June 1976) is a British journalist who is the political editor of The Guardian. She was previously the Daily Mirror's political editor from 2018 to 2022. While at the Mirror, she reported extensively on Partygate, a political scandal which culminated in the resignation of Prime Minister Boris Johnson.

Early life

Crerar was born in Edinburgh, Scotland, on 19 June 1976. She spent her childhood in Edinburgh and in Glasgow, where she attended The Glasgow Academy.^[1] Her father ran a printing company and her mother is an academic. Crerar attended Newcastle University, where she studied English. She was a Scott Trust Bursary recipient on City University's postgraduate newspaper journalism course.^[2]

She is married to Tom Whitehead, who works as a senior civil servant in the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office (FCDO).^[3]

Career

Before joining the Daily Mirror, Crerar worked as Political Correspondent and City Hall editor for the Evening Standard^[4] throughout Boris Johnson’s tenure as London Mayor. She has also previously been deputy political editor at The Guardian,^[5] where she was a presenter of the Politics Weekly podcast.^[6] Crerar is a presenter of BBC Radio 4's programme The Week in Westminster,^[7] and has appeared regularly on The Andrew Marr Show, Politics Live, as well as weekly on Sky News.^[8]

Crerar was the Daily Mirror's political editor from 2018 to 2022.^[9] She was chair of the Parliamentary Press Gallery 2020/21.^[10]

In May 2020, Crerar revealed that Prime Minister Boris Johnson's special adviser Dominic Cummings had broken COVID-19 lockdown rules by travelling from London to County Durham while experiencing symptoms of the disease, and that he had been investigated by police. Cummings made a statement in the garden of 10 Downing Street acknowledging his movements, but retained his position.^[11]

In November 2021, Crerar published an article stating that a Christmas party had taken place in Downing Street in 2020, in contravention of lockdown rules.^[12] The article was followed by further articles in the Mirror, as well as content from other publications and broadcasters alleging further parties in what became known as Partygate.^[13] In December 2021, she published a photograph in the Mirror showing former Conservative London mayoral candidate Shaun Bailey at a Christmas party in December 2020.^[14] In January 2022, she published further articles on Partygate, including on "wine time" Fridays at Downing Street^[15] and a festive quiz.^[16] On January 25, the Metropolitan Police announced that it would investigate Downing Street parties during lockdown.^[17]

Johnson was later forced to apologise^[18] after being fined over illegal parties held at 10 Downing Street^[19] when Covid-19 restrictions were in place. After a series of scandals, including Partygate and the Chris Pincher affair, he stood down as prime minister.^[20]

The committee chair, Harriet Harman MP, later praised Crerar's journalism in the Commons, adding: "This episode has shown that wrongdoing has not gone undiscovered and attempts to cover it up have failed, but it would have been undiscovered had not the press doggedly investigated."^[21]

Senior Labour MP Margaret Hodge added: "That evidence might not have been available but for the revelations first made by Pippa Crerar, so I pay tribute to Pippa for her work as one of the most talented journalists of our time.^[22]

In March 2022, the British Journalism Review said of Crerar: "Our profession should ultimately be about only one thing: fearless truth-telling and truthful reporting, regardless of the consequences. She’s shown how the job should be done, and in the process played a major role in turning the Mirror back into a paper of which its legendary campaigning boss Hugh Cudlipp could feel proud".^[23]

Crerar became political editor of The Guardian in August 2022, succeeding Heather Stewart.^[24]

In November 2022, she reported that Rishi Sunak used a private GP practice that offered consultations for £250, against a backdrop of ongoing disputes over NHS pay. In January 2023, she revealed the prime minister was looking at a one-off cash offer to try to end the nurses' strike.^[25][26]

The day before the budget in March 2023, she was leaked the Chancellor's "rabbit out of the hat": that he was planning to announce a £4bn expansion of free childcare.^[27]

Crerar has continued to hold powerful politicians to account over conduct, revealing in November 2022 that Gavin Williamson had told a senior MoD civil servant to "slit your throat", triggering his departure from government.^[28]

Later that month, she wrote that officials had been offered "respite or a route out"^[29] amid bullying fears when Dominic Raab returned to the MoJ. It was the first in a series of exclusives about the deputy prime minister's behaviour across several Whitehall departments that resulted in an official investigation, which in April 2023 found him guilty of bullying, forcing him to stand down.^[30]

Awards

In 2022, she won Journalist of the Year at the London Press Club Awards, as well as Political Journalist of the Year, Journalist of the Year and Investigation of the Year for exposing the Partygate scandal at the Society of Editors' Media Freedom Awards. She won the Politics Journalism award, Journalist of the Year and Women In Journalism's Woman of the Year at the British Journalism Awards, where the judges said she had done "more than any other to hold our political leadership to account in the face of denials and outright dishonesty".^[31][32][33]

She won Political Journalist of the Year at the Press Awards 2023, where the judges said: "Crerar's fearless reporting over the last year - regardless of consequences - has exposed hypocrisy at the top of Government, pushed a law-breaking PM to the brink, consistently held power to account and always championed the public interest." She won Political Journalist of the Year at the Society of Editors' Media Freedom Awards 2023.^[34][35]

References