Sam Coates | |
|---|---|
| Born | Samuel Coates 22 April 1978 |
| Education | King's College School |
| Alma mater | Magdelene College, Cambridge |
| Occupation | Journalist |
| Years active | 2000–present |
| Employer(s) | The Times (2000–2019) Sky News (2019–present) |
| Title | Deputy Political Editor, Sky News |
Sam Coates (born 22 April 1978) is a British journalist. He has worked for Sky News since 2019 as their Deputy Political Editor. [1] Coates previously worked as a newspaper journalist for The Times from 2000 until 2019. [2]
Coates attended King's College School, a private day school in Wimbledon, London until 1996 [3] . Coates read English and Social and Political Sciences at Magdelene College, Cambridge, graduating in 2000. [4]
Coates joined The Times in 2000 as a graduate trainee, working on the diary, foreign desk, and general reporter. [2] He won the Laurence Stern fellowship in 2005, [5] and worked at The Washington Post during summer 2005. [6] Coates joined The Times' lobby team in 2005 as Chief Political Correspondent, before being promoted to Deputy Political Editor in November 2010. In 2012, Coates spent a year as banking editor of The Times. [7]
During his time working at The Times, he contributed to the 2010 The Times Guide to the House of Commons, [8] and his picture of the 2017 Westminster attack was used on the front cover of the newspaper. [9] His reaction to Boris Johnson ruling himself out in the 2016 Conservative Party leadership election led to Coates featuring in the Daily Mirror and other outlets. [10] [11] Coates was said to be "pivotal to The Times' parliamentary coverage" in a 2019 report. [12]
While at The Times, Coates regularly presented BBC Radio 4's Week in Westminster . [13] [14] Coates also appeared as a paper reviewer on BBC One's The Andrew Marr Show , [15] Politics Live , [16] and appeared on ABC's Lateline programme in March 2012. [17] He also appeared on ABC's Insiders programme on 2 May 2010 alongside future Sky News colleague Adam Boulton. [18]
In February 2019, it was announced that Coates would be joining Sky News later that year as deputy political editor, replacing Beth Rigby who was promoted to political editor. [19] [20] Coates obtained a leaked document regarding the impact of a no-deal Brexit [21] which featured widely in news outlets in the UK and Ireland. [22] [23]
In the build-up to Britain's proposed exit from the European Union on the 31 October 2019, Coates participated in Sky News' #Brexplainer feature, [24] and featured in Sky News' 2019 general election overnight coverage. [25] [26]
Reviewing the papers are... Sam Coates, deputy political editor of The Times.