Andrew Pierce

Last updated

Andrew Pierce
Andrew Pierce, journalist.jpg
Pierce in 2013
Born
Patrick Connolly [1]

Bristol, England [1]
Education St Joseph's Catholic School, Swindon
Occupation(s)Journalist, editor, broadcaster
Employer(s) Daily Mail , GB News
Known forConsultant editor, Daily Mail (2009–)
Fmr. assistant editor, The Daily Telegraph (2006 [2] –2009)
Fmr. assistant editor, The Times
Fmr. political editor, The Times
journalist, features writer, author and broadcaster

Andrew Pierce (born Patrick Connolly [1] ) is a British journalist, editor, author, broadcaster and political commentator. [1] [3]

Contents

Early life

Pierce was born in Bristol to an Irish Catholic mother and an unknown father. [1] He spent the first two years of his life in Nazareth House, a Catholic orphanage in Cheltenham, [1] and was adopted by a family from Swindon and brought up on a council estate there. [4] His adoptive father worked on the assembly line at British Leyland, a former state-owned car factory. [5]

Pierce was educated at St Joseph's Roman Catholic School, [6] now known as St Joseph's Catholic College, a state comprehensive school in Swindon. He did not go to university. [4]

Career in journalism

Pierce is a former assistant editor of both The Daily Telegraph and The Times newspapers, [7] and the former political editor of the latter. He is a columnist and consultant editor for the Daily Mail , which he joined in 2009. [8] [9]

Pierce presented a Sunday morning political radio show on the commercial radio station LBC 97.3 from 2008 until he left in 2012. [10] That radio programme was in the latter years presented as a double-headed show with Kevin Maguire from the Daily Mirror . Pierce and Maguire continue their double act reviewing, previewing and dissecting the media and politics on the BBC, ITV and Sky News. He started presenting a Saturday Breakfast show on LBC Radio from 22 March 2014.

In 2014, the Daily Mail had to pay damages to Kirsten Farage after Pierce falsely claimed in a column that she had been a mistress of Nigel Farage, then the leader of UKIP, while he was still married to his first wife. [11] In May 2018, the Daily Mail paid £11,000 towards the legal costs of the writer Kate Maltby after the publication of an article by Pierce about the claims of sexual harassment Maltby made against the politician Damian Green. The article was removed from the Mail's website without the publication having made an admission of fault. [12]

He is currently a presenter on GB News.

Personal life

Pierce was raised, and remains, a Catholic. [1] He is gay and was chosen by The Observer in 2005 as one of the "gays who shape our new Britain". [13] He strongly supports civil partnerships, and lives in a long-term civil partnership, per the Civil Partnership Act 2004.[ citation needed ] He opposed the introduction of same-sex marriage. [14]

In a BBC documentary in 2018 about Greg Owen and the court case National AIDS Trust v NHS Service Commissioning Board , Pierce strongly criticised the idea of taxpayer-funded PrEP, a preventative medication to protect against contracting HIV: "That's what this is about: indulging gay men who don't want to use a condom. Well that's outrageous. Why should the taxpayer subsidise a reckless sex life of people in the gay community?" [15]

Iris Prize

The Iris Prize Festival is a five-day public event in Cardiff, Wales, which includes screenings of the 30 short films competing for the Iris Prize. The Iris Prize is supported by the Michael Bishop Foundation and is the world's largest LGBT short film prize giving the winning filmmaker £30,000 to make their next short film in the UK. Iris-produced shorts include Burger (2013), directed by Magnus Mork List of films at the 2014 Sundance Film Festival, and Followers (2015), directed by Tim Marshall, both of which were selected for the prestigious Sundance Film Festival. Andrew Pierce became Patron of the Iris Prize in 2007, and in 2013 became its first Chair.[ citation needed ]

During his tenure as chair of the Iris Prize, Pierce has overseen a number of key developments in the festival. In 2014 at a launch reception Pierce announced a new strand at the Iris Prize Festival, Best British Short, [16] and helped secure a sponsorship deal with Pinewood Studios Group totalling £14,000 in post-production sound for the winning filmmaker. [17] In January 2015 it was also announced that the Iris Prize would be increasing from £25,000 to £30,000. [18]

Selected publications

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Andrew Marr</span> British journalist (born 1959)

Andrew William Stevenson Marr is a British journalist, author, broadcaster and presenter. Beginning his career as a political commentator at the Scotsman, he subsequently edited the Independent newspaper from 1996 to 1998 and was political editor of BBC News from 2000 to 2005.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Al Murray</span> English comedian (born 1968)

Alastair James Hay Murray is a British comedian, actor, musician and writer.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Nigel Farage</span> British politician and broadcaster (born 1964)

Nigel Paul Farage is a British politician and broadcaster who has been Member of Parliament (MP) for Clacton and Leader of Reform UK since 2024, having previously been its leader from 2019 to 2021. He was the leader of the UK Independence Party (UKIP) from 2006 to 2009 and 2010 to 2016. Farage served as a member of the European Parliament (MEP) for South East England from 1999 until the UK's withdrawal from the European Union (EU) in 2020.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Damian Green</span> British politician (born 1956)

Damian Howard Green is a British politician who served as First Secretary of State and Minister for the Cabinet Office from June to December 2017 in the second May government. A member of the Conservative Party, he served as Member of Parliament (MP) for Ashford from 1997 to 2024.

Richard Littlejohn is an English author, broadcaster and opinion column writer, having started his career as a journalist. As of May 2023, he writes a twice-weekly column for the Daily Mail about British affairs.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Tom Parker Bowles</span> British food writer and critic (born 1974)

Thomas Henry Charles Parker Bowles is a British food writer and food critic. Parker Bowles is the author of seven cookbooks and, in 2010, won the Guild of Food Writers 2010 award for his writings on British food. He is known for his appearances as a judge in numerous television food series and for his reviews of restaurant meals around the UK and overseas for GQ,Esquire, and The Mail on Sunday.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">James O'Brien (broadcaster)</span> British radio presenter, podcaster, author

James Edward O'Brien is a British radio presenter, podcaster, author, and former tabloid journalist and television presenter. Since 2004, he has hosted a weekday morning phone-in discussion for talk station LBC.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Colin Brazier</span> British journalist and news presenter

Colin Brazier is an English retired journalist, having previously worked for GB News between 2021 and 2022, and Sky News between 1997 and 2021. He presented Sky News Today on the channel alongside Jayne Secker from September 2014, alongside other programmes on the channel. Between 2005 and 2011, Brazier presented Saturday Live on the channel. In September 2022, in a shakeup of the GB News schedule, it was announced that his show, Brazier, was to be replaced and Brazier himself was to leave the channel.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Fraser Nelson</span> British political journalist (born 1973)

Fraser Andrew Nelson is a British political journalist and editor of The Spectator magazine.

The Iris Prize, established in 2007 by Berwyn Rowlands of The Festivals Company, is an international LGBTQ film prize and festival which is open to any film which is by, for, about or of interest to gay, lesbian, bisexual, transgender or intersex audiences and which must have been completed within two years of the prize deadline.

Kevin John Maguire is a British political journalist and is currently associate editor at the Daily Mirror newspaper. Earlier in his career, Maguire was chief reporter for The Guardian.

Bidisha Mamata, often known mononymously as Bidisha, is a British TV broadcaster and presenter specialising in international affairs and human rights, political analysis, the arts, and culture. She is also a multimedia artist, making films and stills.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Andrew Haigh</span> English filmmaker

Andrew Haigh is an English filmmaker. He is best known for writing and directing the films Weekend (2011), 45 Years (2015), Lean on Pete (2017), and All of Us Strangers (2023). He also wrote and directed the HBO series Looking (2014–2015) and its film sequel Looking: The Movie (2016), as well as the BBC Two limited series The North Water (2021).

This is a list of events in British radio during 2014.

<i>The European Union: In or Out</i> British television debate

The European Union: In or Out is a British television debate that was first broadcast on BBC Two on 2 April 2014. The hour long live debate between Nick Clegg and Nigel Farage was hosted by David Dimbleby. Questions came from the audience, with an equal number of people for and against British membership of the European Union.

<i>The Wilding</i> 2012 Australian film

The Wilding is a 2012 Australian gay drama film written and directed by Grant Scicluna and funded through Springboard, an initiative of Screen Australia. The film stars Reef Ireland, Shannon Glowacki, Luke Mullins and Frank Sweet and had its world premiere in competition at the Berlin International Film Festival on 9 February 2012 and was nominated for the Teddy Award.

Grant Scicluna is an Australian film director and writer. best known for his work on The Wilding which won the Iris Prize in 2012, and the feature film Downriver. He is a graduate of RMIT University School of Media and Communications in Melbourne.

<i>Meet the Ukippers</i> British TV series or programme

Meet the Ukippers is a British documentary that first aired on BBC Two on 22 February 2015. The film follows the activities of the UK Independence Party (UKIP) in South Thanet, a constituency in South East England which had selected party leader Nigel Farage to contest the 2015 general election. Tracking the party's fortunes over a period of six months, the programme focused primarily on the activists who hoped to get Farage elected as an MP. While some attempted to explain UKIP's message, others were seen to express controversial opinions about race and immigration. Prior to its broadcast, some of the film's content led to one UKIP councillor being expelled from the party after she referred to black people as "negros". The film received generally positive reviews, with favourable comparisons drawn with a docudrama aired the previous week that had offered a fictitious account of Britain's first UKIP government. Meet the Ukippers attracted an audience of 1.42 million, giving BBC Two their best ratings for a factual programme broadcast in the 10.00pm Sunday evening slot since 2012.

Lewis Goodall is a British journalist, broadcaster and author. He worked as a journalist for Granada Studios before becoming a political correspondent for Sky News. He later became policy editor of the BBC's flagship current affairs programme Newsnight.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Political positions of Nigel Farage</span> Views and voting record of the British politician

Nigel Farage is a British politician and broadcaster who has been Member of Parliament (MP) for Clacton and the Leader of Reform UK since 2024, having previously been its leader from 2019 to 2021 when it was called the Brexit Party. He also was the leader of the UK Independence Party (UKIP) from 2006 to 2009, and 2010 to 2016. Farage served as a Member of the European Parliament (MEP) for South East England from 1999 until the UK's withdrawal from the European Union (EU) in 2020.

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 Pierce, Andrew (27 January 2007). "Speaking as an adopted gay Catholic . . " . The Daily Telegraph . Retrieved 12 December 2014.
  2. ↑ "The top 50 newsmakers of 2006 – 48. ANDREW PIERCE" . The Independent newspaper. 18 December 2006. Archived from the original on 7 May 2022. Retrieved 12 December 2014.
  3. ↑ "More about Andrew Pierce". LBC. Archived from the original on 18 September 2010. Retrieved 5 December 2010.
  4. 1 2 "Patrons – Andrew Pierce – Chair, Iris Prize". IrisPrize.org. Archived from the original on 13 December 2014. Retrieved 12 December 2014.
  5. ↑ Pierce, Andrew (15 April 2008). "How Margaret Thatcher won me over". The Daily Telegraph . Retrieved 12 December 2014.
  6. ↑ Miller, Compton (27 June 2005). "Have you heard the latest?". The Independent newspaper. Archived from the original on 22 March 2013. Retrieved 12 December 2014.
  7. ↑ Brook, Stephen (17 July 2006). "5pm: Andrew Pierce to join Daily Telegraph". The Observer.
  8. ↑ Plunkett, John (9 December 2009). "Andrew Pierce to join Daily Mail: Daily Telegraph columnist and assistant editor to leave after three years to take new wide-ranging role". The Observer.
  9. ↑ Lloyd, Peter (9 December 2009). "Openly-gay journalist Andrew Pierce to join Daily Mail". Pink Paper . Archived from the original on 16 July 2011. Retrieved 5 December 2010.
  10. ↑ "Gay journalist gets his own radio show". Pink News. 7 February 2008. Retrieved 7 February 2008.
  11. ↑ Ponsford, Dominic (12 May 2014). "Daily Mail pays damages and legal costs to Farage wife after saying she was previously his 'mistress'". Press Gazette. Retrieved 11 July 2014.
  12. ↑ Elgot, Jessica (23 May 2018). "Daily Mail to pay Kate Maltby £11,000 costs over negative article". The Guardian. Retrieved 23 May 2018.
  13. ↑ Campbell, Denis (18 December 2005). "Gays who shape our new Britain". The Observer. Retrieved 1 April 2021.
  14. ↑ "The people who oppose the gay marriage law". BBC News Online . 26 March 2014. Retrieved 30 March 2014.
  15. ↑ The People vs The NHS: Who Gets the Drugs?. BBC Two. 27 June 2018.
  16. ↑ "Iris Prize will celebrate 'Best of British'". pictureville.net. 7 April 2014. Archived from the original on 6 February 2015. Retrieved 6 February 2015.
  17. ↑ "PINEWOOD STUDIOS REPRESENTED ON MAIN INTERNATIONAL JURY FOR IRIS PRIZE FESTIVAL 2014". pinewoodgroup.com. 31 March 2014. Archived from the original on 6 February 2015. Retrieved 6 February 2015.
  18. ↑ "Iris Prize, the award for LGBTI short films, increased to £30,000". gaystarnews.com. 12 January 2015. Archived from the original on 6 February 2015. Retrieved 6 February 2015.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.