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Allegra Stratton

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Allegra Stratton
Stratton in 2015
Downing Street Press Secretary
In office
8 October 2020 – 20 April 2021
Prime MinisterBoris Johnson
Preceded byRob Oxley
Succeeded byRosie Bate-Williams[1]
Personal details
Born
Allegra Elizabeth Jane Stratton

(1980-04-10) 10 April 1980 (age 44)
Nottingham, England
Political partyConservative
Spouse
​
(m. 2011)​
Children2
Alma materEmmanuel College, Cambridge
Occupation
  • Political aide
  • journalist
  • writer

Allegra Elizabeth Jane Stratton (born 10 April 1980) is a British former political aide, journalist, and writer who served as Downing Street Press Secretary under Boris Johnson from November 2020 to April 2021.

Stratton worked for The Guardian as a political correspondent until joining the BBC in 2012, where she was political editor of BBC Two's Newsnight from 2012 to 2016. She worked for ITV as national editor of ITV News from 2016 to 2018 and co-presenter of Peston on Sunday from 2016 to 2018. After leaving journalism, she became a spokesperson for the British government. She was Chancellor Rishi Sunak's Director of Strategic Communications at the Treasury from April until October 2020, when she became the press secretary for 10 Downing Street.

In April 2021, Stratton was appointed as spokesperson for COP26 President Alok Sharma. She resigned from this post in December 2021 after footage was released of her at a December 2020 press conference rehearsal, in which she joked with colleagues about a Christmas party that secretly took place at 10 Downing Street while the country was in a COVID-19 lockdown.

Early life

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Allegra Elizabeth Jane Stratton was born in Nottingham on 10 April 1980, one of four children born to a translator father and textile artist mother.[2][3] She grew up in the Chiswick area of London.[4] She was named after Allegra Byron, a daughter of the poet Lord Byron.[5] She attended Chiswick Community School and Latymer Upper School, an independent school in the Hammersmith district of London, before studying archaeology and anthropology at Emmanuel College, Cambridge.[6][7]

Career

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Journalism

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Stratton worked as a producer for the BBC Television current affairs programme Newsnight,[8][9] on the foreign desk at The Times, and wrote for The Independent and the New Statesman.[10] She then joined The Guardian as a political correspondent, presenting the newspaper's Politics Weekly podcast with journalist Tom Clark.[11]

In 2006, Stratton published a non-fiction book, Muhajababes,[12] that explored the youth culture of the Middle East and the contradictions of the modern life of young adults in Muslim societies.[13][14] The book was based on Stratton's experiences of travelling in the region in 2005.[12]

Stratton returned to the BBC on 20 February 2012,[15] as political editor of Newsnight, replacing Michael Crick who left to become a political correspondent for Channel 4.[16] 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.[17] 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.[6] This incident led to a 20,000-signature petition soliciting an apology from Stratton and Newsnight.[18] Following an official complaint to the BBC's Editorial Complaints Unit, a correction and apology was issued by Peter Rippon, the editor of Newsnight, in August.[18][19]

In November 2015, the BBC announced that Stratton was leaving to join ITV News as its national editor.[20] 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.[21]

After a six-month hiatus, in June 2022, Stratton joined Bloomberg News as UK contributing editor, writing an afternoon newsletter called "Readout".[22]

Government communications

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Stratton left ITV News in April 2020 to become Director of Strategic Communications at the Treasury under Chancellor Rishi Sunak.[23] Six months later, in October 2020, she was given the newly created role of Downing Street Press Secretary, to present proposed televised press briefings[9][24] initially scheduled for launch in November 2020. The briefings were subsequently delayed to January 2021 and it was reported that they would take place when the House of Commons was sitting on Mondays, Tuesdays and Thursdays.[25] The January launch date was repeatedly pushed back due to the COVID-19 lockdowns and on 20 April it was announced that the briefings would be scrapped entirely, with Stratton instead becoming the spokesperson for the COP26 summit that was held in Glasgow in November 2021.[26][27][28][29] In this role, she made comments that a diesel car suited her lifestyle better than an electric car, that not rinsing plates before putting them in the dishwasher would help the environment,[30] and that the public should join the Green Party in order to combat the climate crisis. During the conference The Guardian reported she "stayed in the background" and had "an unclear role".[31]

2020 Downing Street Christmas party controversy

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Main article: Partygate

On 7 December 2021, ITV News released a video of a mock press conference from 22 December 2020, in which Stratton and other Downing Street staff made joking references to a Christmas gathering at 10 Downing Street that took place four days earlier.[32] In the leaked 47-second clip, filmed from the Downing Street Press Briefing Room,[33] Stratton and the other staff joked about the "fictional party" being just "cheese and wine" and a "business meeting" with "no social distancing".[34] BBC News reported that the event had "several dozen" attendees and that "party games were played, food and drink were served, and the party went on past midnight".[35] At the time of the alleged party, London was under COVID-19 tier 3 lockdown restrictions.[35] The restrictions prohibited indoor gatherings of more than six people, with exceptions for certain work-related activities.[36]

The day after the ITV story was broadcast, Prime Minister Boris Johnson apologised for the video during Prime Minister's Questions, describing himself as "furious" about it, but continued to deny that a party had taken place and declared that an investigation would be undertaken by Cabinet Secretary Simon Case.[37][38] Three hours later, Stratton resigned from her position as government spokesperson for the COP26 summit and apologised for her remarks which she asserted she would regret "for the rest of [her] days".[39][40] On 15 December, a picture was leaked showing Johnson taking part in a Christmas quiz at 10 Downing Street around the same time that the parties happened in 2020; the quiz was virtual and happened online, but the picture showed Johnson sitting in a room with at least two other people.[41]

Personal life

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Stratton is married to James Forsyth, former political editor of The Spectator magazine and former Political Secretary to the Prime Minister, Rishi Sunak.[4] They have two children and live in the Canonbury area of north London.[42][43] Future Prime Minister Rishi Sunak was best man at their wedding in 2011,[4] and they and Sunak are godparents to each other's children.[44]

In November 2020, Stratton told The Sunday Telegraph that she had voted for the Labour Party, the Green Party, and the Liberal Democrats in the past, but later supported Brexit and described herself as "a Johnson Tory".[45] She is said to be an ally and friend of Johnson's wife Carrie.[46][47]

Publications

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  • Stratton, Allegra (2006). Muhajababes (first ed.). London: Constable. ISBN 978-1-84529-427-4.

References

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  1. ^ Allegretti, Aubrey; Elgot, Jessica (21 April 2021). "Few tears likely to be shed as plan for No 10 TV press briefings dropped". The Guardian. Retrieved 21 May 2021.
  2. ^ "Stratton, Allegra Elizabeth Jane, (born 10 April 1980), National Editor, ITV News, since 2016". WHO'S WHO & WHO WAS WHO. 2020. doi:10.1093/ww/9780199540884.013.U284230. ISBN 978-0-19-954088-4.(registration required)
  3. ^ Stratton, Allegra Elizabeth Jane, (born 10 April 1980), National Editor, ITV News, since 2016 extract of WHO'S WHO & WHO WAS WHO, archived from the original requiring log-in on 5 June 2018. Retrieved 27 April 2021
  4. ^ a b c 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.(registration required)
  5. ^ 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. Alt URL
  6. ^ a b Stone, Jon (8 October 2020). "Who is Allegra Stratton, Boris Johnson's new spokesperson?". The Independent. Archived from the original on 8 October 2020. Retrieved 9 October 2020.
  7. ^ Bloxham, Andy (22 November 2011). "Allegra Stratton appointed political editor of BBC's Newsnight". The Telegraph. Retrieved 9 October 2020.
  8. ^ "Downing Street party: Who is Allegra Stratton and why has she quit?". BBC News. 8 December 2021. Retrieved 2 August 2022.
  9. ^ a b "Ex-Journalist Stratton to lead No 10 TV briefings". BBC News. 8 October 2020. Retrieved 8 October 2020.
  10. ^ "Allegra Stratton". New Statesman. Retrieved 28 April 2021.
  11. ^ "Politics Weekly". The Guardian. Archived from the original on 31 July 2013. Retrieved 21 February 2012.
  12. ^ a b Aspden, Rachel (23 July 2006). "Islam and the porno devils". The Guardian. Retrieved 9 October 2020.
  13. ^ 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. pp. 1–3. Archived from the original on 10 July 2008. Retrieved 13 August 2019.
  14. ^ Easton, Susan (19 June 2007). "Hijabs and Muhajababes". Human Events. Archived from the original on 19 June 2007. Retrieved 13 August 2019.
  15. ^ Murphy, Verity (20 February 2012). "Newsnight: From the web team: Monday 20 February 2012". BBC. Retrieved 21 February 2012.
  16. ^ Plunkett, John (30 November 2015). "Channel 4 News appoints Michael Crick as political correspondent". The Guardian. Retrieved 10 January 2016.
  17. ^ "How Newsnight humiliated single mother Shanene Thorpe". New Statesman. 29 May 2012. Retrieved 9 October 2020.
  18. ^ a b "Outgoing RTS boss accuses BBC News heads of 'culture of denial'". The Guardian. 12 December 2012.
  19. ^ Rippon, Peter (31 August 2012). "Complaints - Newsnight, BBC Two, Wednesday 23 May 2012". BBC. Archived from the original on 10 June 2012.
  20. ^ "Newsnight political editor Stratton follows Peston to ITV". BBC News. 30 November 2015. Retrieved 13 August 2019.
  21. ^ "The Londoner: Co-anchor Allegra Stratton departs Peston". Evening Standard. 16 April 2018. Retrieved 9 October 2020.
  22. ^ Griffiths, Robbie (7 June 2022). "Londoner's Diary: A new chapter beckons for Allegra Stratton". Evening Standard. Retrieved 7 June 2022.
  23. ^ Griggs, Ian (27 April 2020). "Chancellor picks top political journalist as comms chief". PR Week. Retrieved 6 May 2020.
  24. ^ Stewart, Heather (9 October 2020). "Could being the face of Boris Johnson be the worst job in politics?". The Guardian. Retrieved 12 October 2020.
  25. ^ 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.
  26. ^ "Ex-Journalist Stratton to lead No 10 TV briefings". BBC News. 8 October 2020. Retrieved 10 October 2020.
  27. ^ Walker, Peter (22 January 2021). "PM's press secretary Allegra Stratton to self-isolate due to Covid rules". The Guardian. ISSN 0261-3077. Retrieved 18 February 2021.
  28. ^ Gye, Hugo (6 January 2021). "No 10 televised briefings hosted by Allegra Stratton delayed again due to third lockdown". inews.co.uk. Retrieved 18 February 2021.
  29. ^ "Downing Street scraps plans for White House-style press briefings". BBC News. 20 April 2021. Retrieved 20 April 2021.
  30. ^ "Anger as Johnson's Cop26 spokesperson Allegra Stratton suggests 'not rinsing dishes' to tackle climate crisis". The Independent. 28 July 2021. Retrieved 3 January 2023.
  31. ^ Waterson, Jim (8 December 2021). "How Allegra Stratton's struggles kept press briefing project off air". The Guardian. Retrieved 8 December 2021.
  32. ^ "No 10 staff joke in leaked recording about Christmas party they later denied". ITV News. 7 December 2021. Retrieved 7 December 2021.
  33. ^ Murphy, Joe (29 March 2021). "Union jacks, oak and lots of Tory blue: inside Downing Street's new £2.6 million press room". Evening Standard. Retrieved 7 December 2021.
  34. ^ "Leaked video shows Downing Street staff joking about Christmas party they later denied | ITV News". YouTube. 7 December 2021. Retrieved 7 December 2021.
  35. ^ a b "Covid bereaved families 'sickened' over No 10 Christmas party". BBC News. 2 December 2021. Retrieved 7 December 2021.
  36. ^ Baker, Carl; Kirk-Wade, Esme; Brown, Jennifer; Barber, Sarah (12 July 2021). "Coronavirus: A history of English lockdown laws". commonslibrary.parliament.uk.
  37. ^ Walker, Peter; Mason, Rowena (8 December 2021). "Johnson 'apologises unreservedly' over No 10 Christmas party video". The Guardian. Retrieved 8 December 2021.
  38. ^ "Allegra Stratton resigns over No 10 Christmas party video". BBC News. 8 December 2021. Retrieved 8 December 2021.
  39. ^ Walker, Peter (8 December 2021). "Allegra Stratton resigns after No 10 Christmas party video". The Guardian. Retrieved 8 December 2021.
  40. ^ "PMQs: Boris Johnson sorry for offence caused by aides joking about lockdown party". BBC News. 8 December 2021. Retrieved 8 December 2021.
  41. ^ "Downing Street garden photo shows people working, says Boris Johnson". BBC. 20 December 2021. Retrieved 14 January 2022.
  42. ^ "Allegra Stratton's My London". Evening Standard. 28 March 2013. Retrieved 31 December 2014.
  43. ^ "The Londoner: Co-anchor Allegra Stratton departs Peston". Evening Standard. 16 April 2018.
  44. ^ 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.
  45. ^ 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.
  46. ^ Courea, Eleni (27 May 2021). "Carrie Symonds 'tried to install friends in key roles', Dominic Cummings claims". The Times. Retrieved 1 June 2021.
  47. ^ Pogrund, Gabriel (30 May 2021). "How calm Ellie was dumped in favour of risky Allegra — on Carrie's orders". The Sunday Times. Retrieved 1 June 2021.
[edit]
Media offices
Preceded by Political Editor: Newsnight
2012–2016 		Succeeded by
Government offices
Preceded by Downing Street Press Secretary
2020–2021 		Succeeded by
Rosie Bate-Williams
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