Mary Carmella Riddell (born 19 April 1952) is a British journalist. She has been a newspaper columnist for ''

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'' ...

''. and ''

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 served as the latter newspaper's assistant editor.

Early life

Her parents married in 1948; Carmella Brett and Leslie Riddell. Her grandfather was John George Riddell, who looked after Grimsby fish market, and died in May 1949. Riddell was born in

Grimsby Grimsby or Great Grimsby is a port town in Lincolnshire, England with a population of 86,138 (as of 2021). It is located near the mouth on the south bank of the Humber that flows to the North Sea. Grimsby adjoins the town of Cleethorpes dir ...

, at Nunsthorpe Maternity Home, and first lived at 147 Scartho Road. She attended

Boston High School Boston High School, also known as ''Boston High School for Girls'', is a selective grammar school and sixth form college for girls aged 11 to 18 in Boston, Lincolnshire, England. The school's sixth form has been coeducational since 1992. A 201 ...

, a girls'

grammar school A grammar school is one of several different types of school in the history of education in the United Kingdom and other English-speaking countries, originally a Latin school, school teaching Latin, but more recently an academically oriented Se ...

. In March 1965, she took part in a production of 'Blue Murder' by Kenneth Lillington, and as Arabella in Three Blind Mice by Cuthbert Taylor. She represented Holland in county cross country competitions in 1970. In 1970 she took part in the Lincolnshire Youth Theatre. She gained English, French and German A-levels in 1970. She studied Modern Languages at the

University of Nottingham The University of Nottingham is a public research university in Nottingham, England. It was founded as University College Nottingham in 1881, and was granted a royal charter in 1948. Nottingham's main campus (University Park Campus, Nottingh ...

. She grew up in a Catholic family with sisters Sheila and Maddi and brother John. Her sister is Professor

Sheila Riddell Sheila Riddell (born 2 December 1953), is an academic at the University of Edinburgh and Director of the Centre for Research in Education Inclusion and Diversity (CREID). She has also been Director of the Strathclyde Centre for Disability Researc ...

(born 2 December 1953), an academic at the

University of Edinburgh The University of Edinburgh (, ; abbreviated as ''Edin.'' in Post-nominal letters, post-nominals) is a Public university, public research university based in Edinburgh, Scotland. Founded by the City of Edinburgh Council, town council under th ...

and Director of the Centre for Research in Education Inclusion and Diversity (CREID), who is married to Professor Ken Sorbie, Professor of Petroleum Engineering at

Heriot-Watt University Heriot-Watt University () is a public research university based in Edinburgh, Scotland. It was established in 1821 as the School of Arts of Edinburgh, the world's first mechanics' institute, and was subsequently granted university status by roya ...

since 1992.

Career

From 2001 to 2008, she was a columnist for ''

''. She has also contributed to 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 ...

'' and 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 ...

''. Earlier in her career she was deputy editor of the ''

Today Today (archaically to-day) may refer to: * The current day and calendar date ** Today is between and , subject to the local time zone * Now, the time that is perceived directly, present * The current, present era Arts, entertainment and m ...

'' newspaper, and women's and assistant editor of the ''

Daily Mirror The ''Daily Mirror'' is a British national daily Tabloid journalism, tabloid newspaper. Founded in 1903, it is part of Mirror Group Newspapers (MGN), which is owned by parent company Reach plc. From 1985 to 1987, and from 1997 to 2002, the tit ...

''. Riddell is a member of the advisory board of Out of Trouble, which is affiliated with the

Prison Reform Trust The Prison Reform Trust (PRT) was founded in 1981 in London, England, by a small group of prison reform campaigners who were unhappy with the direction in which the Howard League for Penal Reform was heading, concentrating more on community puni ...

Personal life

Her mother (Emmeline Mary) Carmella, who died in

Boston, Lincolnshire Boston is a market town and inland port in the borough of the same name in the county of Lincolnshire, England. It lies to the south-east of Lincoln, east of Nottingham and north-east of Peterborough. The town had a population of 45,339 at ...

in 2006 aged 86, was appointed MBE in the

1988 New Year Honours The New Year Honours 1988 were appointments by most of the Commonwealth realms of Queen Elizabeth II to various orders and honours to reward and highlight good works by citizens of those countries, and honorary ones to citizens of other countries ...

for charity work in Boston for

Bangladesh Bangladesh, officially the People's Republic of Bangladesh, is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by population, eighth-most populous country in the world and among the List of countries and dependencies by ...

. In 1954 her father became chief executive of Holland County Council; her father died in January 1991, in the

Pilgrim Hospital Pilgrim Hospital is a hospital in the east of Lincolnshire on the A16, north of the town of Boston near the mini-roundabout with the A52. It is situated virtually on the Greenwich Meridian and adjacent to Boston High School. The fenland area o ...

.''Grimsby Evening Telegraph'' Saturday 26 January 1991, page 17 She married John Shute, with two sons, born in the mid-1980s.

References

External links

Twitter

''Guardian'' and ''Observer''
contributor page
''New Statesman''
contributor page
''Daily Telegraph''
contributor page 1952 births Living people Alumni of the University of Nottingham The Daily Telegraph people English women journalists People from Boston, Lincolnshire People from Grimsby The Observer people {{UK-journalist-stub