Fergus Shanahan (born 26 January 1955) is a British journalist. From 2007 he was Executive Editor of The Sun newspaper. [1] In 2015 it was reported that Shanahan had left the newspaper after being cleared of authorising illegal payments to a public official. [2]
Shanahan was born in London. He attended Maidenhead Grammar School.
Shanahan began his career on the Reading Chronicle and Reading Evening Post. He worked as a sub-editor for the Mirror Group, The Times and Express Newspapers. He joined The Sun in 1989, working as a Night Editor before being appointed Deputy Editor in 2000. He was deputy to David Yelland 2000 - 2003 and Rebekah [3] Brooks (nee Wade) 2003 - 2007. [4] [5] He was also a political columnist on The Sun 2004 – 2008. [6] [7]
On 28 January 2012 The Daily Telegraph and BBC reported that Shanahan was arrested as part of the Operation Elveden police inquiry into allegations of improper payments by journalists to public officials. [8] [9] The inquiry is connected to the News International phone hacking scandal. In July 2013 he pleaded not guilty; [10] on 20 March 2015 Shanahan was cleared of charges that he had signed off illegal payments. [11]
Shanahan is married with two daughters. He lives in Essex.