Described by Chris Patten as ‘our wittiest sketchwriter’, Simon Hoggart’s column in The Guardian chronicles the foibles, idiosyncrasies and sometimes simply inexplicable behaviour of our legislators as they sit below his seat in the House of Commons press gallery.

He has been named ‘Political Writer of the Year’ by What The Papers Say, and his weekly back page ‘Diary’ is one of The Guardian’s most popular features.

He is also one of Radio Four’s best-loved broadcasters, both as chair of ‘The News Quiz’, and as host of the humorous political diary, ‘It’s A Funny Old World’, which goes behind the scenes to tell listeners what’s really going on at Westminster. He has also appeared on countless television programmes, including ‘Panorama’, ‘Newsnight’, ‘Call My Bluff’,
‘Travelog’ and ‘Dispatch Box’, plus several full-length documentaries.

For five years he was US Correspondent for The Observer, mixing with presidents and
ambassadors, slum-dwellers and junkies, plus thousands of people in between, all of whom
helped provide the material for his book America - A User’s Guide. He has also written
several books about British politics, including the best seller, Live Briefs, with The Guardian’s
cartoonist Steve Bell.