Nicholas Wapshott
Encyclopedia
Nicholas Wapshott is a prominent British
journalist and writer. He is a Reuters contributing columnist and an online content consultant to a number of media and private clients. He was the editor of The Times
Saturday edition as well as the founding editor of The Times
Magazine. He has written a number of biographies including those of Margaret Thatcher
and Carol Reed
. His book Keynes
Hayek
: The Clash That Defined Modern Economics is published by W. W. Norton in October 2011.
, Gloucestershire
, the second of four sons of Raymond and (Olivia) Beryl Wapshott. After attending Dursley County Primary School he won a Gloucester Foundation scholarship to Rendcomb College
, Cirencester. He graduated in politics from the University of York
in 1973. He is married to the author and academic Louise Nicholson
(1954- ), an expert on the culture of India. He has two sons, William (1988- ) and Oliver (1990- ).
as a graduate trainee in 1973, based in Edinburgh
, in 1976 he moved to London
to join the staff of The Times
, working first in editor William Rees-Mogg's
department as a letters page editor, then became a features editor during which time he wrote a series of long form profiles of politicians and artistic figures, among them the Labour
leader Michael Foot
, the heir apparent to the Labour leadership, Peter Shore
, the leader of the Liberal Democrats, Paddy Ashdown
, playwrights Alan Bennett
and Dennis Potter
, and actors Dirk Bogarde
and Alec Guinness
. When Kenneth Thomson sold the paper to Rupert Murdoch
, who installed Harold Evans
as editor, Wapshott set up a weekly listings section, Preview.
In 1983 he moved to The Observer
as features editor and founded a new weekly color magazine, Section 5. In 1987 he succeeded the novelist Robert Harris
as political editor and reported the final days of Margaret Thatcher
as Conservative leader. He was the first to report on the early life of John Major
, the surprise successor to Thatcher, and correctly predicted his unlikely rise with a timely profile that revealed that the family of the new prime minister had shared a landing with prostitutes, that his father had been a tight rope walker and latterly a maker of concrete garden gnomes, and that, during an extended period of unemployment, he had been beaten to a job as a bus conductor by a West Indian woman.
In 1992, Wapshott returned to The Times
to transform the lacklustre Saturday Review section into The Times Magazine, published each Saturday. On the strength of its success and a sharp improvement in Saturday sales he was made Saturday editor of the paper and added a number of separate sections that rivalled the heavyweight Sunday newspapers. As other papers were quick to follow suit, Wapshott is credited with transforming the Saturday newspaper market.
In 2001, he was appointed North America Correspondent of The Times, based in New York
. He arrived three weeks before the terrorist attacks of 11 September 2001, but had returned briefly to London and was aboard the QE2 en route to New York when the Twin Towers fell. In 2005 he began writing business features and news stories for The Sunday Telegraph
and the following year joined The New York Sun
as national and foreign editor, writing a well regarded weekly political column.
, MSNBC
, Fox News, ABC
and the Charlie Rose Show and contributed on American matters to The New Statesman
. In 2008 he was invited by Tina Brown
to help launch The Daily Beast
and was appointed Senior Editor. In 2009 he became an adjunct professor at The New School
, New York, teaching short biographies and profiles. The same year he became a consultant to Oprah Winfrey's website Oprah.com. He now writes a column for Thomson Reuters.
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
journalist and writer. He is a Reuters contributing columnist and an online content consultant to a number of media and private clients. He was the editor of 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...
Saturday edition as well as the founding editor of 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...
Magazine. He has written a number of biographies including those of Margaret Thatcher
Margaret Thatcher
Margaret Hilda Thatcher, Baroness Thatcher, was Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 1979 to 1990...
and Carol Reed
Carol Reed
Sir Carol Reed was an English film director best known for Odd Man Out , The Fallen Idol , The Third Man and Oliver!...
. His book Keynes
John Maynard Keynes
John Maynard Keynes, Baron Keynes of Tilton, CB FBA , was a British economist whose ideas have profoundly affected the theory and practice of modern macroeconomics, as well as the economic policies of governments...
Hayek
Friedrich Hayek
Friedrich August Hayek CH , born in Austria-Hungary as Friedrich August von Hayek, was an economist and philosopher best known for his defense of classical liberalism and free-market capitalism against socialist and collectivist thought...
: The Clash That Defined Modern Economics is published by W. W. Norton in October 2011.
Early life
He was born in DursleyDursley
Dursley is a market town in Gloucestershire, England. It is under the North East flank of Stinchcombe Hill , and about 6 km South East of the River Severn. The town is adjacent with Cam which, though a village, is a community of double the size...
, Gloucestershire
Gloucestershire
Gloucestershire is a county in South West England. The county comprises part of the Cotswold Hills, part of the flat fertile valley of the River Severn, and the entire Forest of Dean....
, the second of four sons of Raymond and (Olivia) Beryl Wapshott. After attending Dursley County Primary School he won a Gloucester Foundation scholarship to Rendcomb College
Rendcomb College
Rendcomb College is a co-educational boarding and day school for 3 to 18-year-olds, located in the village of Rendcomb five miles north of Cirencester in Gloucestershire, England. The school is a member of the Headmasters' and Headmistresses' Conference....
, Cirencester. He graduated in politics from the University of York
University of York
The University of York , is an academic institution located in the city of York, England. Established in 1963, the campus university has expanded to more than thirty departments and centres, covering a wide range of subjects...
in 1973. He is married to the author and academic Louise Nicholson
Louise Nicholson
Louise Nicholson is a prominent British arts journalist, award- winning author and lecturer who concentrates upon the art and culture of India and London. She is a regular contributor to and Fine Art Connoisseur where she writes about art collectors, their collections, art leaders, museums and...
(1954- ), an expert on the culture of India. He has two sons, William (1988- ) and Oliver (1990- ).
Career
After joining the ScotsmanThe Scotsman
The Scotsman is a British newspaper, published in Edinburgh.As of August 2011 it had an audited circulation of 38,423, down from about 100,000 in the 1980s....
as a graduate trainee in 1973, based in Edinburgh
Edinburgh
Edinburgh is the capital city of Scotland, the second largest city in Scotland, and the eighth most populous in the United Kingdom. The City of Edinburgh Council governs one of Scotland's 32 local government council areas. The council area includes urban Edinburgh and a rural area...
, in 1976 he moved to London
London
London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...
to join the staff of 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...
, working first in editor William Rees-Mogg's
William Rees-Mogg
William Rees-Mogg, Baron Rees-Mogg is an English journalist and life peer.-Education:Rees-Mogg was educated at Clifton College Preparatory School in Bristol and Charterhouse School in Godalming, followed by Balliol College, Oxford...
department as a letters page editor, then became a features editor during which time he wrote a series of long form profiles of politicians and artistic figures, among them the Labour
Labour Party (UK)
The Labour Party is a centre-left democratic socialist party in the United Kingdom. It surpassed the Liberal Party in general elections during the early 1920s, forming minority governments under Ramsay MacDonald in 1924 and 1929-1931. The party was in a wartime coalition from 1940 to 1945, after...
leader Michael Foot
Michael Foot
Michael Mackintosh Foot, FRSL, PC was a British Labour Party politician, journalist and author, who was a Member of Parliament from 1945 to 1955 and from 1960 until 1992...
, the heir apparent to the Labour leadership, Peter Shore
Peter Shore
Peter David Shore, Baron Shore of Stepney PC was a British Labour politician and former Cabinet Minister, noted in part for his opposition to the United Kingdom's entry into the European Economic Community. His idiosyncratic left-wing nationalism led to comparison with the French politician...
, the leader of the Liberal Democrats, Paddy Ashdown
Paddy Ashdown
Jeremy John Durham Ashdown, Baron Ashdown of Norton-sub-Hamdon, GCMG, KBE, PC , usually known as Paddy Ashdown, is a British politician and diplomat....
, playwrights Alan Bennett
Alan Bennett
Alan Bennett is a British playwright, screenwriter, actor and author. Born in Leeds, he attended Oxford University where he studied history and performed with The Oxford Revue. He stayed to teach and research mediaeval history at the university for several years...
and Dennis Potter
Dennis Potter
Dennis Christopher George Potter was an English dramatist, best known for The Singing Detective. His widely acclaimed television dramas mixed fantasy and reality, the personal and the social. He was particularly fond of using themes and images from popular culture.-Biography:Dennis Potter was born...
, and actors Dirk Bogarde
Dirk Bogarde
Sir Dirk Bogarde was an English actor and novelist. Initially a matinee idol in such films as Doctor in the House and other Rank Organisation pictures, Bogarde later acted in art-house films such as Death in Venice...
and Alec Guinness
Alec Guinness
Sir Alec Guinness, CH, CBE was an English actor. He was featured in several of the Ealing Comedies, including Kind Hearts and Coronets in which he played eight different characters. He later won the Academy Award for Best Actor for his role as Colonel Nicholson in The Bridge on the River Kwai...
. When Kenneth Thomson sold the paper to Rupert Murdoch
Rupert Murdoch
Keith Rupert Murdoch, AC, KSG is an Australian-American business magnate. He is the founder and Chairman and CEO of , the world's second-largest media conglomerate....
, who installed Harold Evans
Harold Evans
Sir Harold Matthew Evans is a British-born journalist and writer who was editor of The Sunday Times from 1967 to 1981. He has written various books on history and journalism...
as editor, Wapshott set up a weekly listings section, Preview.
In 1983 he moved to The Observer
The Observer
The Observer is a British newspaper, published on Sundays. In the same place on the political spectrum as its daily sister paper The Guardian, which acquired it in 1993, it takes a liberal or social democratic line on most issues. It is the world's oldest Sunday newspaper.-Origins:The first issue,...
as features editor and founded a new weekly color magazine, Section 5. In 1987 he succeeded the novelist Robert Harris
Robert Harris (novelist)
Robert Dennis Harris is an English novelist. He is a former journalist and BBC television reporter.-Early life:Born in Nottingham, Harris spent his childhood in a small rented house on a Nottingham council estate. His ambition to become a writer arose at an early age, from visits to the local...
as political editor and reported the final days of Margaret Thatcher
Margaret Thatcher
Margaret Hilda Thatcher, Baroness Thatcher, was Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 1979 to 1990...
as Conservative leader. He was the first to report on the early life of John Major
John Major
Sir John Major, is a British Conservative politician, who served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom and Leader of the Conservative Party from 1990–1997...
, the surprise successor to Thatcher, and correctly predicted his unlikely rise with a timely profile that revealed that the family of the new prime minister had shared a landing with prostitutes, that his father had been a tight rope walker and latterly a maker of concrete garden gnomes, and that, during an extended period of unemployment, he had been beaten to a job as a bus conductor by a West Indian woman.
In 1992, Wapshott returned to 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...
to transform the lacklustre Saturday Review section into The Times Magazine, published each Saturday. On the strength of its success and a sharp improvement in Saturday sales he was made Saturday editor of the paper and added a number of separate sections that rivalled the heavyweight Sunday newspapers. As other papers were quick to follow suit, Wapshott is credited with transforming the Saturday newspaper market.
In 2001, he was appointed North America Correspondent of The Times, based in New York
New York
New York is a state in the Northeastern region of the United States. It is the nation's third most populous state. New York is bordered by New Jersey and Pennsylvania to the south, and by Connecticut, Massachusetts and Vermont to the east...
. He arrived three weeks before the terrorist attacks of 11 September 2001, but had returned briefly to London and was aboard the QE2 en route to New York when the Twin Towers fell. In 2005 he began writing business features and news stories for The Sunday Telegraph
Sunday Telegraph
The Sunday Telegraph is a British broadsheet newspaper, founded in February 1961. It is the sister paper of The Daily Telegraph, but is run separately with a different editorial staff, although there is some cross-usage of stories...
and the following year joined The New York Sun
New York Sun
The New York Sun was a weekday daily newspaper published in New York City from 2002 to 2008. When it debuted on April 16, 2002, adopting the name, motto, and masthead of an otherwise unrelated earlier New York paper, The Sun , it became the first general-interest broadsheet newspaper to be started...
as national and foreign editor, writing a well regarded weekly political column.
Current Work
He is a regular guest on CNNCNN
Cable News Network is a U.S. cable news channel founded in 1980 by Ted Turner. Upon its launch, CNN was the first channel to provide 24-hour television news coverage, and the first all-news television channel in the United States...
, MSNBC
MSNBC
MSNBC is a cable news channel based in the United States available in the US, Germany , South Africa, the Middle East and Canada...
, Fox News, ABC
American Broadcasting Company
The American Broadcasting Company is an American commercial broadcasting television network. Created in 1943 from the former NBC Blue radio network, ABC is owned by The Walt Disney Company and is part of Disney-ABC Television Group. Its first broadcast on television was in 1948...
and the Charlie Rose Show and contributed on American matters to The New Statesman
New Statesman
New Statesman is a British centre-left political and cultural magazine published weekly in London. Founded in 1913, and connected with leading members of the Fabian Society, the magazine reached a circulation peak in the late 1960s....
. In 2008 he was invited by Tina Brown
Tina Brown
Tina Brown, Lady Evans, CBE , is a journalist, magazine editor, columnist, talk-show host and author of The Diana Chronicles, a biography of Diana, Princess of Wales. Born a British citizen, she took United States citizenship in 2005 after emigrating in 1984 to edit Vanity Fair...
to help launch The Daily Beast
The Daily Beast
The Daily Beast is an American news reporting and opinion website founded and published by Tina Brown, former editor of Vanity Fair and The New Yorker as well as the short-lived Talk Magazine. The Daily Beast was launched on October 6, 2008, and is owned by IAC...
and was appointed Senior Editor. In 2009 he became an adjunct professor at The New School
The New School
The New School is a university in New York City, located mostly in Greenwich Village. From its founding in 1919 by progressive New York academics, and for most of its history, the university was known as the New School for Social Research. Between 1997 and 2005 it was known as New School University...
, New York, teaching short biographies and profiles. The same year he became a consultant to Oprah Winfrey's website Oprah.com. He now writes a column for Thomson Reuters.