Simon Hoggart
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Simon David Hoggart (26 May 1946 – 5 January 2014) was an English journalist and broadcaster. He wrote on politics for ''
The Guardian ''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in Manchester in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'' and changed its name in 1959, followed by a move to London. Along with its sister paper, ''The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardi ...
'', and on wine for ''
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 ...
''. Until 2006, he presented '' The News Quiz'' on BBC Radio 4. His journalism sketches have been published in a series of books.


Personal life

Simon Hoggart was born on 26 May 1946 in
Ashton-under-Lyne Ashton-under-Lyne is a market town in Tameside, Greater Manchester, England. The population was 48,604 at the 2021 census. Historic counties of England, Historically in Lancashire, it is on the north bank of the River Tame, Greater Manchester, ...
,
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 ...
, and was educated at Hymers College in
Kingston upon Hull Kingston upon Hull, usually shortened to Hull, is a historic maritime city and unitary authorities of England, unitary authority area in the East Riding of Yorkshire, England. It lies upon the River Hull at its confluence with the Humber Est ...
, Wyggeston Boys' School in
Leicester Leicester ( ) is a city status in the United Kingdom, city, Unitary authorities of England, unitary authority area, and the county town of Leicestershire in the East Midlands of England. It is the largest city in the East Midlands with a popula ...
, and then
King's College, Cambridge King's College, formally The King's College of Our Lady and Saint Nicholas in Cambridge, is a List of colleges of the University of Cambridge, constituent college of the University of Cambridge. The college lies beside the River Cam and faces ...
, where he excelled at history and English. He was the son of the literary scholar and sociologist
Richard Hoggart Herbert Richard Hoggart (24 September 1918 – 10 April 2014) was an English academic whose career covered the fields of sociology, English literature and cultural studies, with emphasis on British popular culture. Early life Hoggart was bor ...
, and Mary Holt Hoggart. His brother is the '' Times'' television critic Paul Hoggart. He lived in South London with his wife, Alyson, a
clinical psychologist Clinical psychology is an integration of human science, behavioral science, theory, and clinical knowledge for the purpose of understanding, preventing, and relieving psychologically-based distress or dysfunction and to promote subjective well ...
, and their two children, Amy and Richard. Hoggart was diagnosed with terminal pancreatic cancer in mid-2010 and died of the disease at Royal Marsden Hospital on 5 January 2014.


Career

Hoggart joined ''The Guardian'' in 1968, later becoming the American correspondent 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 occasional guest commentator on
National Public Radio National Public Radio (NPR) is an American public broadcasting organization headquartered in Washington, D.C., with its NPR West headquarters in Culver City, California. It serves as a national Radio syndication, syndicator to a network of more ...
's '' Weekend Edition Saturday''. Having written on politics for some years in '' Punch'' magazine, Hoggart became the Parliamentary sketch writer for ''The Guardian'' in 1993. He also wrote a wine column for ''
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 ...
''. Hoggart's sketchwriting prowess was still admired into the 2010s – ''
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 ...
'' noteD that in 2011 Hoggart had "been a regular tormenter of the prime minister" (
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 ...
), "especially on the sensitive issue of the PM's bald patch, which Hoggart compared to "a goujon of plaice" from
Marks and Spencer Marks and Spencer plc (commonly abbreviated to M&S and colloquially known as Marks & Sparks or simply Marks) is a major British multinational retailer based in London, England, that specialises in selling clothing, beauty products, home produc ...
". In the early 1980s, he chaired the radio comedy show ''The News Quiz'', returning to the show in 1996 for another ten years. In March 2006, Hoggart presented his last edition of ''The News Quiz'', commenting: "I'm getting a bit clapped out and jaded, and I think that's beginning to show." In 1998, he was part of
BBC Radio 4 BBC Radio 4 is a British national radio station owned and operated by the BBC. The station replaced the BBC Home Service on 30 September 1967 and broadcasts a wide variety of spoken-word programmes from the BBC's headquarters at Broadcasti ...
's 5-part political satire programme ''Cartoons, Lampoons and Buffoons''. He was also a contributor to the '' Grumpy Old Men'' and wrote for '' Punch'' magazine and an occasional column for '' New Humanist'' magazine (last entry May 2005). Hoggart was also an occasional celebrity panellist on
BBC2 BBC Two is a British free-to-air public broadcast television channel owned and operated by the BBC. It is the corporation's second flagship channel, and it covers a wide range of subject matter, incorporating genres such as comedy, drama and ...
's antiques quiz show '' Going, Going, Gone''. His published books form an eclectic list, including debunking the supernatural, anecdotes about
Parliament In modern politics and history, a parliament is a legislative body of government. Generally, a modern parliament has three functions: Representation (politics), representing the Election#Suffrage, electorate, making laws, and overseeing ...
, a biography, his thoughts about the United States, a serious political review and collected Christmas round-robin letters. He coined the phrase "the law of the ridiculous reverse", "which states that if the opposite of a statement is plainly absurd, it was not worth making in the first place". When speculation appeared in the ''
News of the World The ''News of the World'' was a weekly national "Tabloid journalism#Red tops, red top" Tabloid (newspaper format), tabloid newspaper published every Sunday in the United Kingdom from 1843 to 2011. It was at one time the world's highest-selling ...
'' in December 2004 suggesting he was the "third man" in the Kimberly Quinn affair, Hoggart initially denied any involvement before issuing a statement admitting that he had HAD an extra-marital affair with Quinn before her own marriage. The political
sex scandal A sex scandal is a public scandal involving allegations or information about possibly immoral sexual activities, often associated with the sexual affairs of film stars, politicians, famous athletes, or others in the public eye. Sex scandals r ...
involving Quinn contributed to the resignation of David Blunkett from the Cabinet.


Works


Books

*Simon Hoggart, ''House of Fun'', Guardian Books (2012), ; parliamentary sketches *Simon Hoggart, ''Send Up the Clowns'', Guardian Books (17 October 2011), *Simon Hoggart, ''A Long Lunch: My Stories and I'm Sticking to Them'', John Murray (14 October 2010), *Simon Hoggart, ''Life's Too Short to Drink Bad Wine'', Quadrille Publishing Ltd (18 September 2009), *Simon Hoggart, ''The Hands of History: Parliamentary Sketches 1997–2007'' (2007), *Simon Hoggart and Emily Monk, ''Don't Tell Mum: Hair-raising Messages Home from Gap-year Travellers'', Atlantic Books (27 December 2006), *Simon Hoggart, ''The Hamster That Loved Puccini: The Seven Modern Sins of Christmas Round-Robin Letters'' (2005), *Simon Hoggart, ''The Cat That Could Open the Fridge: A Curmudgeon's Guide to Christmas Round-Robin Letters'' (2004), *Simon Hoggart, ''Punchlines: A Crash Course in English with John Prescott'' (2003), ; on Prescottese language *Simon Hoggart, ''Playing to the Gallery: Parliamentary Sketches from Blair Year Zero'' (2002), ; parliamentary sketches *Simon Hoggart and Steve Bell, ''Live Briefs: A Political Sketch Book'' (1996), ; parliamentary sketches, with the ''Guardian'' political cartoonist *Simon Hoggart, ''House of Correction'' (1995), ; parliamentary sketches *Simon Hoggart and Mike Hutchinson, ''Bizarre Beliefs'' (1995), ; on "the human desire to believe the unbelievable" *Simon Hoggart, ''America: A User's Guide'' (1991), ; on his experiences living in the United States *Simon Hoggart (editor), ''House of Cards: A Selection of Modern Political Humour'' (1988), *Simon Hoggart, ''House of Ill Fame'' (1985), ; parliamentary sketches *Simon Hoggart, ''Back On the House'' (1982), ; parliamentary sketches *Simon Hoggart, ''On the House: The Personalities and the Politics From the Irreverent "Punch" Column'' (1981), ; parliamentary sketches *Simon Hoggart and David Leigh, ''Michael Foot: A Portrait'' (1981), ; biography of politician
Michael Foot Michael Mackintosh Foot (23 July 19133 March 2010) was a British politician who was Leader of the Labour Party (UK), Leader of the Labour Party and Leader of the Opposition (United Kingdom), Leader of the Opposition from 1980 to 1983. Foot beg ...
*Simon Hoggart and Alistair Michie, ''The Pact: The Inside Story of the Lib-Lab Government, 1977-8'' (1978), * Bryan McAllister and Simon Hoggart, ''Little Boxes: A Selection of Bryan McAllister Cartoons From "The Guardian"'' (1977),


Audiobooks

*''The News Quiz: The First 25 Years (
BBC Radio Collection AudioGO (formerly BBC Audiobooks) was a British publisher of audiobooks and a range of spoken word and large-print titles. It was majority owned by AudioGO Ltd, and minority owned by BBC Worldwide. It was formed in 2010, when AudioGO purchased ...
)'' (2003), *''Simon Hoggart's Pick of "The News Quiz": Vol 2'' (2002), *''Simon Hoggart's Pick of "The News Quiz": Vol 1'' (2000),


References


External links


Column archive
at ''
The Guardian ''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in Manchester in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'' and changed its name in 1959, followed by a move to London. Along with its sister paper, ''The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardi ...
''
Simon Hoggart's week
parliamentary sketch series at ''
The Guardian ''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in Manchester in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'' and changed its name in 1959, followed by a move to London. Along with its sister paper, ''The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardi ...
''
Column archive
at the '' New Humanist''
The News Quiz
at ''
BBC Radio 4 BBC Radio 4 is a British national radio station owned and operated by the BBC. The station replaced the BBC Home Service on 30 September 1967 and broadcasts a wide variety of spoken-word programmes from the BBC's headquarters at Broadcasti ...
'' * *
5 minutes with Simon Hoggart
on ''Hot Dinners'' {{DEFAULTSORT:Hoggart, Simon 1946 births 2014 deaths 20th-century English journalists 20th-century English male writers 21st-century English journalists 21st-century English male writers Alumni of King's College, Cambridge BBC Radio 4 presenters Deaths from pancreatic cancer in England English male journalists English radio personalities People educated at Hymers College People educated at Wyggeston Grammar School for Boys People from Ashton-under-Lyne People from St Margarets, London The Guardian journalists Writers from Lancashire Simon