Judith Allison Pearson (née Lobbett; born 22 July 1960) is a British columnist and author. Pearson has worked for British newspapers such as the '' Daily Mail'', ''

The Independent ''The Independent'' is a British online newspaper. It was established in 1986 as a national morning printed paper. Nicknamed the ''Indy'', it began as a broadsheet and changed to tabloid format in 2003. The last printed edition was publish ...

'', the ''

Evening Standard The ''Evening Standard'', formerly ''The Standard'' (1827–1904), also known as the ''London Evening Standard'', is a local free daily newspaper in London, England, published Monday to Friday in tabloid format. In October 2009, after be ...

'', ''

The Daily Telegraph ''The Daily Telegraph'', known online and elsewhere as ''The Telegraph'', is a national British daily broadsheet newspaper published in London by Telegraph Media Group and distributed across the United Kingdom and internationally. It was f ...

'', and the ''

Financial Times The ''Financial Times'' (''FT'') is a British daily newspaper printed in broadsheet and published digitally that focuses on business and economic current affairs. Based in London, England, the paper is owned by a Japanese holding company, Ni ...

''. She has also worked as a presenter for

Channel 4 Channel 4 is a British free-to-air public broadcast television network operated by the state-owned Channel Four Television Corporation. It began its transmission on 2 November 1982 and was established to provide a fourth television service ...

and

BBC Radio 4 BBC Radio 4 is a British national radio station owned and operated by the BBC that replaced the BBC Home Service in 1967. It broadcasts a wide variety of spoken-word programmes, including news, drama, comedy, science and history from the BBC' ...

. Pearson's

chick lit Chick lit is a term used to describe a type of popular fiction targeted at younger women. Widely used in the 1990s and 2000s, the term has fallen out of fashion with publishers while writers and critics have rejected its inherent sexism. Novels id ...

novel was published in 2002; a film adaptation with the same title, ''

I Don't Know How She Does It ''I Don't Know How She Does It'' is a 2011 American comedy film based on Allison Pearson's 2002 novel of the same name. Directed by Douglas McGrath, the film stars Sarah Jessica Parker, Pierce Brosnan and Greg Kinnear. The film was released on Se ...

'', was released in 2011. Pearson campaigned in favour of

Brexit Brexit (; a portmanteau of "British exit") was the withdrawal of the United Kingdom (UK) from the European Union (EU) at 23:00 GMT on 31 January 2020 (00:00 1 February 2020 CET).The UK also left the European Atomic Energy Community (EAEC ...

and in 2016 described

Brussels Brussels (french: Bruxelles or ; nl, Brussel ), officially the Brussels-Capital Region (All text and all but one graphic show the English name as Brussels-Capital Region.) (french: link=no, Région de Bruxelles-Capitale; nl, link=no, Bruss ...

as the

jihadist Jihadism is a neologism which is used in reference to "militant Islamic movements that are perceived as existentially threatening to the West" and "rooted in political Islam."Compare: Appearing earlier in the Pakistani and Indian media, Wes ...

capital of Europe. She has criticised the

Gender Recognition Act 2004 The Gender Recognition Act 2004 is an act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom that allows people who have gender dysphoria to change their legal gender. It came into effect on 4 April 2005. Operation of the law The Gender Recognition Ac ...

, and opposed

transgender rights A transgender person is someone whose gender identity is inconsistent or not culturally associated with the sex they were assigned at birth and also with the gender role that is associated with that sex. They may have, or may intend to establi ...

Early life

Born in

Carmarthen Carmarthen (, RP: ; cy, Caerfyrddin , "Merlin's fort" or "Sea-town fort") is the county town of Carmarthenshire and a community in Wales, lying on the River Towy. north of its estuary in Carmarthen Bay. The population was 14,185 in 2011, ...

, Pearson moved to Burry Port, Carmarthenshire as a young child. She attended

Market Harborough Market Harborough is a market town in the Harborough district of Leicestershire, England, in the far southeast of the county, forming part of the border with Northamptonshire. Market Harborough's population was 25,143 in 2020. It is the adm ...

Upper School (now

Robert Smyth School The Robert Smyth Academy is a secondary school in Market Harborough, Leicestershire, England, for 11- to 19-year-olds. It is situated in the north of the town, on Burnmill Road, close to St Luke's Hospital. History Around 1570, Robert Smyth, f ...

), then

Lincoln Christ's Hospital School Lincoln Christ's Hospital School is an English state secondary school with academy status located in Wragby Road in Lincoln. It was established in 1974, taking over the pupils and many of the staff of the older Lincoln Grammar School and Chri ...

, both comprehensive schools. She studied English at

Clare College, Cambridge Clare College is a constituent college of the University of Cambridge in Cambridge, England. The college was founded in 1326 as University Hall, making it the second-oldest surviving college of the University after Peterhouse. It was refound ...

, graduating with a lower second class degree (2:2).

Career

Journalism

Pearson began her career with the ''

'', where she was a sub-editor, before moving to ''

'' and then ''The Independent on Sunday'' in 1992. There she was assistant to Blake Morrison before becoming a

television critic Television criticism is the act of writing or speaking about television programming to evaluate its worth, meaning, and other aspects. Such criticism can be found in daily newspapers, on culture discussion shows (on TV and radio), and in specialis ...

, winning the award for Critic of the Year at the

British Press Awards The Press Awards, formerly the British Press Awards, is an annual ceremony that celebrates the best of United Kingdom, British journalism. History Established in 1962 by ''The Sunday People, The People'' and ''Campaign (magazine), World's Press ...

in 1993. Pearson was a columnist with London's ''

'' and ''

'', then took over from

Lynda Lee-Potter Lynda Lee-Potter (; 2 May 1935 – 20 October 2004) was a British journalist. She was best known as a columnist for the '' Daily Mail''. Early years Lynda Higginson was born into a working-class family in the mining town of Leigh, Lancash ...

at the '' Daily Mail''. Pearson ended her column for the ''Daily Mail'' in April 2010, when it was said that she was to join ''

''. In September 2010, Pearson resumed her role as a columnist with ''The Daily Telegraph''. As of 2015, Pearson was a columnist and chief interviewer of ''The Daily Telegraph''. Pearson has presented

's and

's ''The Copysnatchers''. She participated as a panellist on '' Late Review'', the predecessor of ''

Newsnight Review ''The Review Show'' was a British discussion programme dedicated to the arts which ran, under several titles, from 1994 to 2014. The programme featured a panel of guests who reviewed developments in the world of the arts and culture. History ' ...

''. Pearson is on the Media/PR Advisory Council of

Toby Young Toby Daniel Moorsom Young (born 17 October 1963) is a British social commentator. He is the founder and director of the Free Speech Union, an associate editor of ''The Spectator'', and a former associate editor at ''Quillette.'' A graduate of ...

Free Speech Union The Free Speech Union (FSU) is a British organisation which advocates freedom of speech. The group was established on 24 February 2020 by British columnist Toby Young. The organisation views itself as countering cancel culture by opposing hosti ...

Books

Pearson's first novel, ''I Don't Know How She Does It'' (2002), is a "

" examination of the pressures of modern motherhood. The book was a bestseller in the UK and the US, selling four million copies, and was made into a film. Pearson was sued by Miramax for non-delivery of a second novel, ''I Think I Love You'', for which she received a US$700,000 advance in 2003. Delivery was due in 2005: it was published in 2010. The novel was about a teenager's passion for

David Cassidy David Bruce Cassidy (April 12, 1950 – November 21, 2017) was an American actor, singer, songwriter, and guitarist. He was best known for his role as Keith Partridge, the son of Shirley Partridge (played by his stepmother, Shirley Jones), in t ...

in the 1970s and the man writing the so-called replies from David Cassidy to the teenage fans, who meet up 20 years later after marriage, divorce, and children. Her newspaper, ''The Telegraph'', praised the novel for its warmth and sincerity; ''

The Guardian ''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'', and changed its name in 1959. Along with its sister papers ''The Observer'' and ''The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardian'' is part of the Gu ...

'' described it as an "unrealistic and sappy romance". A sequel to ''I Don't Know How She Does It'' was published in September 2017. The novel, ''How Hard Can It Be'', continues the story of the protagonist Kate Reddy, now approaching 50 and struggling with bias against older women in the workplace. The book attracted considerable publicity but was not a bestseller.

Views

Islamic terrorism

Shortly after the first of the 22 March 2016 Belgian bombings, Pearson suggested that the attacks were a justification for the

cause in the then-upcoming

referendum A referendum (plural: referendums or less commonly referenda) is a direct vote by the electorate on a proposal, law, or political issue. This is in contrast to an issue being voted on by a representative. This may result in the adoption of a ...

on Britain's membership of the

European Union The European Union (EU) is a supranational political and economic union of member states that are located primarily in Europe. The union has a total area of and an estimated total population of about 447million. The EU has often been de ...

, writing on

Twitter Twitter is an online social media and social networking service owned and operated by American company Twitter, Inc., on which users post and interact with 280-character-long messages known as "tweets". Registered users can post, like, and ...

that "

, de facto capital of the EU, is also the

capital of Europe. And the Remainers dare to say we're safer in the EU!" Her tweet was criticised by

Kay Burley Kay Burley (born Kay McGurrin; 17 December 1960) is a British broadcaster and writer. She is a presenter on Sky News and hosts '' Kay Burley'', the breakfast slot on the channel. She also worked for BBC Local Radio, Tyne Tees Television, and ...

and ''

'' columnist

Owen Jones Owen Jones (born 8 August 1984) is a British newspaper columnist, political commentator, journalist, author, and left-wing activist. He writes a column for ''The Guardian'' and contributes to the ''New Statesman'' and '' Tribune.'' He has two ...

. Following the May 2017

Manchester Arena bombing On 22 May 2017, an Islamist extremist suicide bomber detonated a shrapnel-laden homemade bomb as people were leaving the Manchester Arena following a concert by American pop singer Ariana Grande. Twenty-three people were killed, including ...

, Pearson called for terror suspects in the United Kingdom to be interned.

Transgender issues

Pearson views

transgender A transgender (often abbreviated as trans) person is someone whose gender identity or gender expression does not correspond with their sex assigned at birth. Many transgender people experience dysphoria, which they seek to alleviate through ...

identity as "a warped ideology". In 2017 she described a review of the

Gender Recognition Act The Gender Recognition Act 2004 is an act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom that allows people who have gender dysphoria to change their legal gender. It came into effect on 4 April 2005. Operation of the law The Gender Recognition Ac ...

as "spineless politicians, pathetically eager to be on-trend" and that the review was due to "biological science lies".

Covid-19 pandemic

Pearson said during the

COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic, also known as the coronavirus pandemic, is an ongoing global pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The novel virus was first identi ...

that she would not wear a protective face mask because she considered it demeaning. In September 2020, Pearson suggested purposely infecting young people with

COVID-19 Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is a contagious disease caused by a virus, the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The first known case was identified in Wuhan, China, in December 2019. The disease quickly ...

to create herd immunity within the population. In January 2021, Pearson drew censure from

users after outing a critic's employer on Twitter, following her claim that

National Health Service The National Health Service (NHS) is the umbrella term for the publicly funded healthcare systems of the United Kingdom (UK). Since 1948, they have been funded out of general taxation. There are three systems which are referred to using the " ...

(NHS) bed occupancy during the pandemic was lower than suggested. According to ''

'', Pearson has made misleading claims about

. In December 2020, she wrote in her ''Telegraph'' column that "Last week, Sir

Patrick Vallance Sir Patrick John Thompson Vallance (born 17 March 1960) is a British physician, scientist, and clinical pharmacologist who has worked in both academia and industry. He has served as the Chief Scientific Adviser to the Government of the United ...

and Prof

Chris Whitty Sir Christopher John MacRae Whitty (born 21 April 1966) is a British epidemiologist serving as Chief Medical Officer for England (CMO) and Chief Medical Adviser to the UK Government since 2019. He has also been Gresham Professor of Physic si ...

presented another of their Graphs of Doom; this one cherry-picked several hospitals on course to run out of beds." However, this was false, and no such data was presented in the period stated. In July 2021, she misleadingly tweeted that hospitalisations were 0.5% of Covid-19 cases; Full Fact found that the calculation was incorrect, but also did not make sense due to the lag between testing positive and hospitalisation.

Personal life

Pearson was married to fellow journalist Simon Pearson, in May 1988 in

Lincoln Lincoln most commonly refers to: * Abraham Lincoln (1809–1865), the sixteenth president of the United States * Lincoln, England, cathedral city and county town of Lincolnshire, England * Lincoln, Nebraska, the capital of Nebraska, U.S. * Lincol ...

. She subsequently lived with

Anthony Lane Anthony Lane is a British journalist who is a film critic for ''The New Yorker'' magazine. Career Education and early career Lane attended Sherborne School and graduated with a degree in English from Trinity College, Cambridge, where he also ...

, film critic for ''

The New Yorker ''The New Yorker'' is an American weekly magazine featuring journalism, commentary, criticism, essays, fiction, satire, cartoons, and poetry. Founded as a weekly in 1925, the magazine is published 47 times annually, with five of these issues ...

''. Allison Pearson was declared

bankrupt Bankruptcy is a legal process through which people or other entities who cannot repay debts to creditors may seek relief from some or all of their debts. In most jurisdictions, bankruptcy is imposed by a court order, often initiated by the debtor ...

following a personal insolvency order made by the

High Court of Justice The High Court of Justice in London, known properly as His Majesty's High Court of Justice in England, together with the Court of Appeal and the Crown Court, are the Senior Courts of England and Wales. Its name is abbreviated as EWHC (Englan ...

in London on 9 November 2015. The bankruptcy petitioner was the Commissioners for

HM Revenue and Customs , patch = , patchcaption = , logo = HM Revenue & Customs.svg , logocaption = , badge = , badgecaption = , flag = , flagcaption = , image_size = , co ...

Bibliography

* ''I Don't Know How She Does It'' (2002) * ''I Think I Love You'' (2010) and * ''How Hard Can It Be?'' (2018)

References

Video clips

S4C ''Without Walls'' clip from 1994

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Pearson, Allison 1960 births Living people 20th-century British journalists 21st-century British journalists 21st-century Welsh novelists 20th-century Welsh women writers 21st-century Welsh women writers 21st-century Welsh writers Alumni of Clare College, Cambridge British Book Award winners British women journalists Daily Mail journalists The Daily Telegraph people People from Cambridge People from Carmarthen Welsh columnists Welsh women columnists Welsh women novelists 20th-century Welsh writers Welsh people of English descent Financial Times people The Independent people British television critics Women television critics London Evening Standard people British chick lit writers MMR vaccine and autism