Wikipedia

Andrew Pierce

For other people named Andrew Pierce, seeAndrew Pierce (disambiguation).

Andrew Pierce(bornPatrick Connolly[1]) is a British journalist, editor, author, broadcaster and political commentator.[1][3]

Andrew Pierce
Pierce in 2013
Born
Patrick Connolly[1]

Bristol,England[1]
EducationSt Joseph's Catholic School,Swindon
Occupation(s)Journalist, editor, broadcaster
Employer(s)Daily Mail,GB News
Known forConsultant editor,Daily Mail(2009–)
Fmr. assistant editor,The Daily Telegraph(2006[2]–2009)
Fmr. assistant editor,The Times
Fmr. political editor,The Times
journalist, features writer, author and broadcaster

Early life

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Pierce was born inBristolto anIrish Catholicmother and an unknown father.[1]He spent the first two years of his life in Nazareth House, a Catholic orphanage inCheltenham,[1]and was adopted by a family fromSwindonand brought up on a council estate there.[4]His adoptive father worked on the assembly line atBritish Leyland,a former state-owned car factory.[5]

Pierce was educated at St Joseph's Roman Catholic School,[6]now known asSt Joseph's Catholic College,a state comprehensive school in Swindon. He did not go to university.[4]

Career in journalism

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Pierce is a former assistant editor of bothThe Daily TelegraphandThe Timesnewspapers,[7]and the former political editor of the latter. He is a columnist and consultant editor for theDaily Mail,which he joined in 2009.[8][9]

Pierce presented a Sunday morning political radio show on the commercial radio stationLBC 97.3from 2008 until he left in 2012.[10]That radio programme was in the latter years presented as a double-headed show withKevin Maguirefrom theDaily Mirror.Pierce and Maguire continue their double act reviewing, previewing and dissecting the media and politics on the BBC, ITV and Sky News. He started presenting a Saturday Breakfast show onLBC Radiofrom 22 March 2014.

In 2014, theDaily Mailhad to pay damages to Kirsten Farage after Pierce falsely claimed in a column that she had been a mistress ofNigel Farage,then the leader ofUKIP,while he was still married to his first wife.[11]In May 2018, theDaily Mailpaid £11,000 towards the legal costs of the writer Kate Maltby after the publication of an article by Pierce about the claims of sexual harassment Maltby made against the politicianDamian Green.The article was removed from theMail's website without the publication having made an admission of fault.[12]

He is currently a presenter onGB News.

Personal life

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Pierce was raised, and remains, aCatholic.[1]He is gay and was chosen byThe Observerin 2005 as one of the "gays who shape our new Britain".[13]He strongly supportscivil partnerships,and lives in a long-term civil partnership, per theCivil Partnership Act 2004.[citation needed]He opposed the introduction ofsame-sex marriage.[14]

In a BBC documentary in 2018 aboutGreg Owenand the court caseNational AIDS Trust v NHS Service Commissioning Board,Pierce strongly criticised the idea of taxpayer-fundedPrEP,a preventative medication to protect against contractingHIV:"That's what this is about: indulging gay men who don't want to use a condom. Well that's outrageous. Why should the taxpayer subsidise a reckless sex life of people in the gay community?"[15]

Iris Prize

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TheIris PrizeFestival is a five-day public event inCardiff,Wales, which includes screenings of the 30 short films competing for the Iris Prize. The Iris Prize is supported by the Michael Bishop Foundation and is the world's largest LGBT short film prize giving the winning filmmaker £30,000 to make their next short film in the UK. Iris-produced shorts includeBurger(2013), directed by Magnus MorkList of films at the 2014 Sundance Film Festival,andFollowers(2015), directed by Tim Marshall, both of which were selected for the prestigious Sundance Film Festival. Andrew Pierce became Patron of the Iris Prize in 2007, and in 2013 became its first Chair.[citation needed]

During his tenure as chair of the Iris Prize, Pierce has overseen a number of key developments in the festival. In 2014 at a launch reception Pierce announced a new strand at the Iris Prize Festival, Best British Short,[16]and helped secure a sponsorship deal with Pinewood Studios Group totalling £14,000 in post-production sound for the winning filmmaker.[17]In January 2015 it was also announced that the Iris Prize would be increasing from £25,000 to £30,000.[18]

Selected publications

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  • Parris, Matthew; Prosser, David; Pierce, Andrew (1995),Great parliamentary scandals: four centuries of calumny, smear and innuendo,Robson Books,ISBN978-0-86051-957-7

References

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  1. ^abcdefgPierce, Andrew (27 January 2007)."Speaking as an adopted gay Catholic..".The Daily Telegraph.Retrieved12 December2014.
  2. ^"The top 50 newsmakers of 2006 – 48. ANDREW PIERCE".The Independentnewspaper.18 December 2006.Archivedfrom the original on 7 May 2022.Retrieved12 December2014.
  3. ^"More about Andrew Pierce".LBC. Archived fromthe originalon 18 September 2010.Retrieved5 December2010.
  4. ^ab"Patrons – Andrew Pierce – Chair, Iris Prize".IrisPrize.org.Archived fromthe originalon 13 December 2014.Retrieved12 December2014.
  5. ^Pierce, Andrew (15 April 2008)."How Margaret Thatcher won me over".The Daily Telegraph.Retrieved12 December2014.
  6. ^Miller, Compton (27 June 2005)."Have you heard the latest?".The Independentnewspaper.Archived fromthe originalon 22 March 2013.Retrieved12 December2014.
  7. ^Brook, Stephen (17 July 2006)."5pm: Andrew Pierce to join Daily Telegraph".The Observer.
  8. ^Plunkett, John (9 December 2009)."Andrew Pierce to join Daily Mail: Daily Telegraph columnist and assistant editor to leave after three years to take new wide-ranging role".The Observer.
  9. ^Lloyd, Peter (9 December 2009)."Openly-gay journalist Andrew Pierce to join Daily Mail".Pink Paper.Archived fromthe originalon 16 July 2011.Retrieved5 December2010.
  10. ^"Gay journalist gets his own radio show".Pink News.7 February 2008.Retrieved7 February2008.
  11. ^Ponsford, Dominic (12 May 2014)."Daily Mail pays damages and legal costs to Farage wife after saying she was previously his 'mistress'".Press Gazette.Retrieved11 July2014.
  12. ^Elgot, Jessica (23 May 2018)."Daily Mail to pay Kate Maltby £11,000 costs over negative article".The Guardian.Retrieved23 May2018.
  13. ^Campbell, Denis (18 December 2005)."Gays who shape our new Britain".The Observer.Retrieved1 April2021.
  14. ^"The people who oppose the gay marriage law".BBC News Online.26 March 2014.Retrieved30 March2014.
  15. ^The People vs The NHS: Who Gets the Drugs?.BBC Two.27 June 2018.
  16. ^"Iris Prize will celebrate 'Best of British'".pictureville.net.7 April 2014. Archived fromthe originalon 6 February 2015.Retrieved6 February2015.
  17. ^"PINEWOOD STUDIOS REPRESENTED ON MAIN INTERNATIONAL JURY FOR IRIS PRIZE FESTIVAL 2014".pinewoodgroup.31 March 2014. Archived fromthe originalon 6 February 2015.Retrieved6 February2015.
  18. ^"Iris Prize, the award for LGBTI short films, increased to £30,000".gaystarnews.12 January 2015. Archived fromthe originalon 6 February 2015.Retrieved6 February2015.
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