Andy McSmith is a freelance English journalist. He was a journalist at ''

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 publis ...

'' newspaper from April 2007 to April 2016, having previously been political correspondent on the same paper, and political editor of the '' Independent on Sunday'' (same newspaper) and chief political correspondent of ''

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

'' and ''

The Observer ''The Observer'' is a British newspaper published on Sundays. First published in 1791, it is the world's oldest Sunday newspaper. In 1993 it was acquired by Guardian Media Group Limited, and operated as a sister paper to ''The Guardian'' ...

'' (part of the '' Guardian'' stable). In 1993 he was sacked by the ''Daily Mirror'' and Labour Party MPs raised his dismissal in a motion in the

House of Commons The House of Commons is the name for the elected lower house of the Bicameralism, bicameral parliaments of the United Kingdom and Canada. In both of these countries, the Commons holds much more legislative power than the nominally upper house of ...

. He is the author of seven books: biographies of longtime

Conservative Conservatism is a cultural, social, and political philosophy and ideology that seeks to promote and preserve traditional institutions, customs, and values. The central tenets of conservatism may vary in relation to the culture and civiliza ...

politician Kenneth Clarke and former Labour leader John Smith, a collection of short biographies called ''Faces of Labour: The Inside Story'' (1996), ''No Such Thing as Society: A History of Britain in the 1980s'', ''Fear and the Muse Kept Watch (2015)'' about the great writers and artists who lived under Stalin's rule in the Soviet Union, and a novel, ''Innocent in the House''. He has also contributed to many other books. His play, ''One Bummer News Day'', set in a newspaper office, was broadcast as part of the '' Play for Today'' series. He lives in London.

Bibliography

*
Strange People I Have Known … And Other Stories
' (London: Biteback Publishing, 2023)

References

External links

* English male journalists The Independent people Living people Year of birth missing (living people) {{England-writer-stub