George Pascoe-Watson (born 21 August 1966) is a British journalist and public relations consultant. He was formerly the political editor of ''

The Sun The Sun is the star at the centre of the Solar System. It is a massive, nearly perfect sphere of hot Plasma (physics), plasma, heated to incandescence by nuclear fusion reactions in its core, radiating the energy from its surface mainly as ...

'' newspaper, succeeding

Trevor Kavanagh Trevor Kavanagh (born 19 January 1943) is a retired British/Australian journalist who most recently wrote for ''The Sun''. Early life and career Kavanagh was educated at Reigate Grammar School before leaving school at 17 to work for newspaper ...

in January 2006. He left ''The Sun'' in 2009 to pursue a career in consultancy, spending 14 years working for the

Portland Communications Portland Communications is a political consultancy and public relations agency set up in 2001 by Tim Allan, a former adviser to Tony Blair and director of communications at BSkyB. Portland provides communications and public affairs advice to ...

agency founded by

Tony Blair Sir Anthony Charles Lynton Blair (born 6 May 1953) is a British politician who served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 1997 to 2007 and Leader of the Labour Party (UK), Leader of the Labour Party from 1994 to 2007. He was Leader ...

's former advisor Tim Allan in 2001. He is currently a founding partner at Schillings Communications.

Early life

Pascoe-Watson was born in Edinburgh in 1966 to an RAF pilot and a nursing sister. He was educated at

George Heriot's School George Heriot's School is a private primary and secondary day school on Lauriston Place in the Lauriston area of Edinburgh, Scotland. In the early 21st century, it has more than 1600 pupils, 155 teaching staff, and 80 non-teaching staff. It was ...

and the Royal High School. He completed a two-year journalism diploma at Napier College in Edinburgh.

Career

Pascoe-Watson started his career working for local newspapers. Between 1986 and 1987, he was a reporter for the '' Warminster Journal'' in

Wiltshire Wiltshire (; abbreviated to Wilts) is a ceremonial county in South West England. It borders Gloucestershire to the north, Oxfordshire to the north-east, Berkshire to the east, Hampshire to the south-east, Dorset to the south, and Somerset to ...

, and then for the free-sheet the ''Bristol Journal'', before moving to

news agency A news agency is an organization that gathers news reports and sells them to subscribing news organizations, such as newspapers, magazines and All-news radio, radio and News broadcasting, television Broadcasting, broadcasters. A news agency ma ...

Bristol Press and Pictures. When the news agency went bankrupt, he moved to London and joined ''The Sun'' as a junior reporter in 1988, at the age of 21. He was transferred off ''The Sun'' for a spell after he exposed a continued lack of security at

Heathrow Airport Heathrow Airport , also colloquially known as London Heathrow Airport and named ''London Airport'' until 1966, is the primary and largest international airport serving London, the capital and most populous city of England and the United Kingdo ...

shortly after the

Lockerbie bombing Pan Am Flight 103 (PA103/PAA103) was a regularly scheduled Pan Am transatlantic flight from Frankfurt to Detroit via a stopover in London and another in New York City. Shortly after 19:00 on 21 December 1988, the Boeing 747 "Clipper Maid of th ...

. In his early days at the paper, he was bylined 'Pascoe Watson' as his superiors thought the forename George and his double-barrelled surname to be too effete for the red-top's primarily working-class readership. However, they relented after he went into

the Lobby The terms the Lobby and Lobby journalists collectively characterise the political journalists in the United Kingdom Houses of Parliament. The term derives from the special access they receive to the Members' Lobby. Lobby journalism refers to th ...

.George Pascoe-Watson: I was groomed by Trevor Kavanagh , Media , The Guardian
/ref> Pascoe-Watson joined ''The Sun'''s political team in 1994. A decade later, in January 2006, he took over from

as political editor, a post that he held until his move into consultancy. In 2009, Pascoe-Watson joined Portland Communications, the public affairs consultancy founded by Tony Blair's former advisor Tim Allan. He spent 14 years at Portland, and was chair of the firm by the time he left in 2023. In 2020, during the COVID pandemic Pascoe-Watson was appointed to an unpaid advisory role by the

Department of Health and Social Care The Department of Health and Social Care (DHSC) is a ministerial department of the Government of the United Kingdom. It is responsible for government policy on health and adult social care matters in England, along with a few elements of the s ...

(DHSC); he participated in daily strategic discussions chaired by Lord Bethell. He also sent information about government policy to his paying clients before this was made public. Pascoe-Watson co-founded Schillings Communications in January 2024, with Victoria O'Byrne. The firm is a

reputation management Reputation management, refers to the Social influence, influencing, controlling, enhancing, or concealing of an individual's or group's reputation. It is a marketing technique used to modify a person's or a company's reputation in a positive way. ...

agency affiliated with Schillings, the British

libel Defamation is a communication that injures a third party's reputation and causes a legally redressable injury. The precise legal definition of defamation varies from country to country. It is not necessarily restricted to making assertions ...

law firm A law firm is a business entity formed by one or more lawyers to engage in the practice of law. The primary service rendered by a law firm is to advise consumer, clients (individuals or corporations) about their legal rights and Obligation, respon ...

. O’Byrne was previously responsible for communications for the

Prince A prince is a male ruler (ranked below a king, grand prince, and grand duke) or a male member of a monarch's or former monarch's family. ''Prince'' is also a title of nobility (often highest), often hereditary, in some European states. The ...

and

Princess of Wales Princess of Wales (; ) is a title used since the 14th century by the wife of the Prince of Wales. The Princess is the apparent future queen consort, as "Prince of Wales" is a title reserved by custom for the heir apparent to the Monarchy of the ...

Richard Branson Sir Richard Charles Nicholas Branson (born 18 July 1950) is an English business magnate who co-founded the Virgin Group in 1970, and controlled 5 companies remaining of once more than 400. Branson expressed his desire to become an entrepreneu ...

Virgin Group Virgin Group Ltd is a British multinational venture capital conglomerate founded by Richard Branson and Nik Powell in February 1970. Virgin Group's date of incorporation is listed as 1989 by Companies House, who class it as a holding compa ...

, and the 2012 Olympic and

Paralympic Games The Paralympic Games or Paralympics is a periodic series of international multisport events involving athletes with a range of disability, disabilities. There are Winter Paralympic Games, Winter and Summer Paralympic Games, which since the 1988 ...

, and started her career as a communications advisor for the Labour Party. Pascoe-Watson and O'Byrne are both equity partners in the venture. Pascoe-Watson has been a regular panellist on multiple broadcast shows in the UK, including BBC Question Time,

Sky News Sky News is a British free-to-air television news channel, live stream news network and news organisation. Sky News is distributed via an English-language radio news service, and through online channels. It is owned by Sky Group, a division of ...

BBC News BBC News is an operational business division of the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) responsible for the gathering and broadcasting of news and current affairs in the UK and around the world. The department is the world's largest broad ...

, The Week in Westminster and

BBC Radio 5 Live BBC Radio 5 Live is a British national radio station owned and operated by the BBC. It broadcasts mainly news, sport, Talk show, discussion, interviews and phone-ins, and is on air 24 hours a day. It is the principal BBC radio station Broadca ...

, among others.

Personal life

Pascoe-Watson married Natalie Kirby in January 2011. The two met in the Lobby, when he was political editor at ''The Sun'' and she was working for

William Hague William Jefferson Hague, Baron Hague of Richmond (born 26 March 1961) is a British politician and life peer who was Leader of the Conservative Party and Leader of the Opposition from 1997 to 2001 and Deputy Leader from 2005 to 2010. He was th ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Pascoe-Watson, George 1966 births Living people British male journalists People educated at George Heriot's School People educated at the Royal High School, Edinburgh The Sun (United Kingdom) people