Benedict Brogan is a British former journalist, formerly deputy editor and chief political commentator 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 ...

''.Jack Sommer
"Telegraph Cuts High-Profile Journalists Benedict Brogan and Damian Thompson in Latest Cull"
''The Huffington Post'', 18 June 2014 In December 2014, six months after resigning his posts at ''The Telegraph'', Brogan was appointed group director of public affairs at

Lloyds Banking Group Lloyds Banking Group plc is a British financial institution formed through the acquisition of HBOS by Lloyds TSB in 2009. It is one of the UK's largest financial services organisations, with 30 million customers and 65,000 employees. Lloyds B ...

."Lloyds appoints 'Telegraph' deputy editor Benedict Brogan as public affairs director"
prweek.com, 1 December 2014; accessed 2 May 2015.

Early life and education

Brogan was born to an English father and a French mother, and was brought up in

Washington, D.C. Washington, D.C., formally the District of Columbia and commonly known as Washington or D.C., is the capital city and federal district of the United States. The city is on the Potomac River, across from Virginia, and shares land borders with ...

He attended the

Lycée Rochambeau Rochambeau The French International School of Washington DC is a private Education in France, French international school in Montgomery County, Maryland, near Washington, D.C. It maintains its administrative headquarters and its secondary campus ...

, a

French French may refer to: * Something of, from, or related to France ** French language, which originated in France ** French people, a nation and ethnic group ** French cuisine, cooking traditions and practices Arts and media * The French (band), ...

international school International schools are private schools that promote education in an international environment or framework. Although there is no uniform definition or criteria, international schools are usually characterised by a multinational student body an ...

in the Washington suburb of

Bethesda, Maryland Bethesda () is an unincorporated, census-designated place in southern Montgomery County, Maryland, United States. Located just northwest of Washington, D.C., it is a major business and government center of the Washington metropolitan region ...

. He went on to study history at the

University of Massachusetts Amherst The University of Massachusetts Amherst (UMass Amherst) is a public land-grant research university in Amherst, Massachusetts, United States. It is the flagship campus of the University of Massachusetts system and was founded in 1863 as the ...

and then gained a master's degree in

International Relations International relations (IR, and also referred to as international studies, international politics, or international affairs) is an academic discipline. In a broader sense, the study of IR, in addition to multilateral relations, concerns al ...

at the

University of Cambridge The University of Cambridge is a Public university, public collegiate university, collegiate research university in Cambridge, England. Founded in 1209, the University of Cambridge is the List of oldest universities in continuous operation, wo ...

Career

After graduating from Cambridge, Brogan worked at '' The Herald'' as a reporter in their

Glasgow Glasgow is the Cities of Scotland, most populous city in Scotland, located on the banks of the River Clyde in Strathclyde, west central Scotland. It is the List of cities in the United Kingdom, third-most-populous city in the United Kingdom ...

office. He worked in a wide range of roles at the ''Herald'', becoming their Political Correspondent based 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 ...

London London is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of both England and the United Kingdom, with a population of in . London metropolitan area, Its wider metropolitan area is the largest in Wester ...

in 1992. Brogan then worked for the ''

Daily Mail The ''Daily Mail'' is a British daily Middle-market newspaper, middle-market Tabloid journalism, tabloid conservative newspaper founded in 1896 and published in London. , it has the List of newspapers in the United Kingdom by circulation, h ...

'', moved to ''

'' in 2000, moved again to the ''Daily Mail'' as Political Editor in May 2005, and finally, in February 2009, re-joined the ''Telegraph'' as Assistant Editor and chief political commentator. Media commentator

Iain Dale Iain Dale (born 15 July 1962) is a British broadcaster, author, political commentator, and a former publisher and book retailer. He has been a blogger since 2002. He was the publisher of the ''Total Politics'' magazine between 2008 and 2012, a ...

called the move ''"a real coup for the ''Telegraph'' and a big blow to the ''Mail''. Brogan has proved himself to be one of the best political reporters in the business but in the last year or two he has also developed into a fine commentator"'', and noted that ''The Daily Telegraph'', which at that point had an anti-

David Cameron David William Donald Cameron, Baron Cameron of Chipping Norton (born 9 October 1966) is a British politician who served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 2010 to 2016. Until 2015, he led the first coalition government in the UK s ...

set of columnists, may have been trying to redress the balance. Brogan wrote the "Morning Briefing" for the ''Telegraph'', a preview of the day ahead's political events, akin to Mike Allen's ''Playbook''. ''

Total Politics ''Total Politics'' was a British political magazine described as "a lifestyle magazine for the political community". It was first published in June 2008, and was distributed freely to all MPs, MEPs, peers, political journalists, members of the ...

'' referred to it as "an important resource for fellow journalists and political junkies alike". Brogan maintained a blog on the ''Telegraph'' website; it billed itself as "news, gossip, analysis, occasional insight into politics, and more". ''

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 ...

'' noted in 2008 that Brogan "only turned his hand to blogging in 2006, but was an almost instant success and can now expect between 3,000 and 5,000 hits on a busy day. He describes his blog as the place where 'I empty my notebook', sharing snippets of news, observations and asides that might not otherwise find a place in his newspaper. He has won admirers across the political spectrum." In mid-June 2014, Brogan left his posts at ''The Telegraph''. In December 2014, Brogan was appointed group director of public affairs at

Personal life

Brogan is married to Dame

Melanie Dawes Dame Melanie Henrietta Dawes (born 9 March 1966) is a British economist and administrator. In February 2020 she was appointed Chief Executive of Ofcom. She was previously the Permanent Secretary of the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Loca ...

and together they have a daughter.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Brogan, Benedict Year of birth missing (living people) Living people British people of French descent University of Massachusetts Amherst alumni Alumni of the University of Cambridge British male journalists British political journalists British columnists Daily Mail journalists The Daily Telegraph people Lloyds Banking Group people