Daniel Pearce Jackson Hodges (born 7 March 1969) is an English newspaper columnist. Since March 2016, he has written a weekly column for ''

The Mail on Sunday ''The Mail on Sunday'' is a British conservative newspaper, published in a tabloid format. Founded in 1982 by Lord Rothermere, it is the biggest-selling Sunday newspaper in the UK. Its sister paper, the ''Daily Mail'', was first published i ...

''. Prior to this, he was a columnist for ''

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 in 2013 was described by James Forsyth in ''

The Spectator ''The Spectator'' is a weekly British political and cultural news magazine. It was first published in July 1828, making it the oldest surviving magazine in the world. ''The Spectator'' is politically conservative, and its principal subject a ...

'' as

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 ...

's "new favourite columnist".

Early life

Born in

Lewisham Lewisham ( ) is an area of southeast London, England, south of Charing Cross. It is the principal area of the London Borough of Lewisham, and was within the Historic counties of England, historic county of Kent until 1889. It is identified in ...

, Hodges is the son of the actress and former Labour MP

Glenda Jackson Glenda May Jackson (9 May 1936 – 15 June 2023) was an English actress and politician. Over the course of her distinguished career she received List of awards and nominations received by Glenda Jackson, numerous accolades including two Academy ...

and her then-husband Roy Hodges, a repertory company stage-manager and actor. He was educated at Edge Hill College in

Ormskirk Ormskirk is a market town in the West Lancashire district of Lancashire, England. It is located north of Liverpool, northwest of St Helens, Merseyside, St Helens, southeast of Southport and southwest of Preston, Lancashire, Preston. Ormski ...

Lancashire Lancashire ( , ; abbreviated ''Lancs'') is a ceremonial county in North West England. It is bordered by Cumbria to the north, North Yorkshire and West Yorkshire to the east, Greater Manchester and Merseyside to the south, and the Irish Sea to ...

, where he studied English Literature and Communications between 1987 and 1990. He worked as a parliamentary researcher for his mother between 1992 and 1997, describing it as 'straight-forward

nepotism Nepotism is the act of granting an In-group favoritism, advantage, privilege, or position to Kinship, relatives in an occupation or field. These fields can include business, politics, academia, entertainment, sports, religion or health care. In ...

', before working in public relations for the

Road Haulage Association The Road Haulage Association Ltd (RHA) is a private company limited by guarantee dedicated to the interests of the road haulage industry. It is the only trade association in the United Kingdom dedicated solely to road haulage. As a trade associ ...

, GMB and the Freedom To Fly lobby group. He worked briefly as Head of Communications at the

London Development Agency The London Development Agency (LDA) was from July 2000 until 2012 the regional development agency for the Greater London, London region in England. A functional body of the Greater London Authority, its purpose was to drive sustainable economic ...

and as Director of News for

Transport for London Transport for London (TfL) is a local government body responsible for most of the transport network in London, United Kingdom. TfL is the successor organization of the London Passenger Transport Board, which was established in 1933, and His ...

in 2007, which he left after less than a year after mocking a contractor to the press. He subsequently led the campaign to introduce a congestion charge for Greater Manchester, which was overwhelmingly rejected in local referendums.

Journalism

Hodges has worked as a

journalist A journalist is a person who gathers information in the form of text, audio or pictures, processes it into a newsworthy form and disseminates it to the public. This is called journalism. Roles Journalists can work in broadcast, print, advertis ...

and blogger, writing in a freelance capacity for the ''

New Statesman ''The New Statesman'' (known from 1931 to 1964 as the ''New Statesman and Nation'') is a British political and cultural news magazine published in London. Founded as a weekly review of politics and literature on 12 April 1913, it was at first c ...

'', ''

'' and ''

''. He worked for the successful No to AV campaign in 2011, but attracted controversy for a provocative anti-AV poster that suggested

electoral reform Electoral reform is a change in electoral systems that alters how public desires, usually expressed by cast votes, produce election results. Description Reforms can include changes to: * Voting systems, such as adoption of proportional represen ...

might lead to the deaths of newborn babies. In 2016, Hodges won the Political Commentator of the Year Award at The Comment Awards.

Labour Party

He supported

Jon Cruddas Jonathan Cruddas (born 7 April 1962) is a British Labour Party politician who served as Member of Parliament (MP) for Dagenham and Rainham, formerly Dagenham, between 2001 and 2024. Having been critical of many aspects of the Blair governm ...

in the 2007 deputy leadership election as a member of

Compass A compass is a device that shows the cardinal directions used for navigation and geographic orientation. It commonly consists of a magnetized needle or other element, such as a compass card or compass rose, which can pivot to align itself with No ...

, but has since been critical of the organisation. He supported

David Miliband David Wright Miliband (born 15 July 1965) is the president and chief executive officer (CEO) of the International Rescue Committee and a former British Labour Party politician. He was the Foreign Secretary from 2007 to 2010 and the Member o ...

in his unsuccessful campaign for the 2010 Labour leadership contest. Hodges describes himself as a "tribal neo-

Blairite In British politics, Blairism is the political ideology of Tony Blair, the former leader of the Labour Party and Prime Minister between 1997 and 2007, and those that support him, known as Blairites. It entered the '' New Penguin English Dictio ...

". He was a vocal critic of the former Labour Party leader

Ed Miliband Edward Samuel Miliband (born 24 December 1969) is a British politician who has served as Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero since July 2024. He has been Member of Parliament (United Kingdom), Member of Parliament (MP) for D ...

. In May 2012, although he was then a long-standing member of the Labour Party, Hodges voted for the Conservative

Boris Johnson Alexander Boris de Pfeffel Johnson (born 19 June 1964) is a British politician and writer who served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom and Leader of the Conservative Party (UK), Leader of the Conservative Party from 2019 to 2022. He wa ...

in the London Mayoral elections, lauding him as a "unifying figure" over his former boss

Ken Livingstone Kenneth Robert Livingstone (born 17 June 1945) is an English former politician who served as the Leader of the Greater London Council (GLC) from 1981 until the council was Local Government Act 1985, abolished in 1986, and as Mayor of Londo ...

whom he saw as "divisive" and "a disgrace", adding that "London needs someone who can speak for all of London, not just the balkanized segments whose votes he craves". However, he still voted for Labour

London Assembly The London Assembly is a 25-member elected body, part of the Greater London Authority, that scrutinises the activities of the Mayor of London and has the power, with a two-thirds supermajority, to amend the Mayor's annual budget and to reject t ...

candidates. Following 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 ...

vote on 29 August 2013 against possible military involvement in the Syrian civil war, and objecting to

's conduct, Hodges left the Labour Party. Hodges rejoined the Labour Party in July 2015 and supported

Yvette Cooper Yvette Cooper (born 20 March 1969) is a British politician who has served as Home Secretary since July 2024. A member of the Labour Party (UK), Labour Party, Cooper has been Member of Parliament (United Kingdom), member of parliament (MP) for Po ...

for the Labour leadership, strongly opposing

Jeremy Corbyn Jeremy Bernard Corbyn (; born 26 May 1949) is a British politician who has been Member of Parliament (United Kingdom), Member of Parliament (MP) for Islington North (UK Parliament constituency), Islington North since 1983. Now an Independent ...

's candidacy. Hodges announced his resignation from the Labour Party a second time in a December 2015 op-ed for ''

'' accusing party members of abuse and intimidation against Labour MPs.

Other views

Hodges has expressed support for the government censoring

whistleblower Whistleblowing (also whistle-blowing or whistle blowing) is the activity of a person, often an employee, revealing information about activity within a private or public organization that is deemed illegal, immoral, illicit, unsafe, unethical or ...

s who are spreading "information highly detrimental to the UK national interest".

Controversy

In early 2025, Hodges faced backlash for comments on social media concerning the war in Gaza. He asserted that no British taxpayer money should be used for reconstruction “until every Hamas terrorist is either dead or in jail.” When pressed about the consequences for civilians, including children, he replied: “Yes, basically.” Critics accused him of endorsing collective punishment and war crimes. A British lawyer warned the comments might breach UK law, including the Public Order Act and the International Criminal Court Act 2001.

Other work

Hodges is also a

wargame A normal wargame is a strategy game in which two or more players command opposing armed forces in a simulation of an armed conflict. Wargaming may be played for Recreational wargaming, recreation, to train military officers in the art of milit ...

designer. His first game design was ''Where There Is Discord: War in the South Atlantic'' which is about the

Falklands War The Falklands War () was a ten-week undeclared war between Argentina and the United Kingdom in 1982 over two British Overseas Territories, British dependent territories in the South Atlantic: the Falkland Islands and Falkland Islands Dependenci ...

. In November 2015, Hodges' first book, ''One Minute To Ten'', was published by

Penguin Books Penguin Books Limited is a Germany, German-owned English publishing, publishing house. It was co-founded in 1935 by Allen Lane with his brothers Richard and John, as a line of the publishers the Bodley Head, only becoming a separate company the ...

. It focuses on the three party leaders Cameron, Miliband, and Clegg, and the effect the 2015 general election had on their lives.

Personal life

In February 1992, Hodges lost the sight of his left eye trying to stop a fight in a bar. Hodges married Michelle di Leo in 2003, after meeting her at a

Labour Party Conference The Labour Party Conference is the annual conference of the British Labour Party (UK), Labour Party. It is formally the supreme decision-making body of the party and is traditionally held in the final week of September, during the party conferen ...

in 1999. He lives in Blackheath with his wife and children.

References

External links

*
Daily TelegraphDan Hodges Telegraph blog
{{DEFAULTSORT:Hodges, Dan 1969 births Living people People from Blackheath, London English bloggers English male journalists English columnists English political journalists Trade unionists from London Journalists from London The Guardian journalists The Daily Telegraph people The Times journalists Spokespersons Labour Party (UK) officials English male bloggers Daily Mail journalists Alumni of Edge Hill University