James Chapman (journalist)

James Chapman (born 1977) is a British public relations executive, a former UK Government adviser, and former political editor of the Daily Mail.

James Chapman
Born	1977 (age 42–43)
Nationality	British
Alma mater	St Peter's College, Oxford
Occupation	Public relations executive

Early life

Chapman did work experience at the Southern Daily Echo in Southampton at the age of 14.[1] He went to St Peter's College, Oxford from 1996–99 and studied English, being tutored by playwright Francis Warner.[2]

Career

Chapman began his career at the Daily Mail, working for the title for 17 years.[1] In 2002, he became Science and Environment correspondent. He became Deputy Political Editor of the Daily Mail in 2005; in March 2009 he became Political Editor.

He was appointed Director of Communications at HM Treasury by the then Chancellor George Osborne in 2015.[3] He was named one of the UK's 100 best connected men in 2016 by GQ magazine.[4]

He was appointed Chief of Staff at the new Department for Exiting the European Union in 2016 working for the minister David Davis.[5] He ceased working for Davis in the summer of 2017.[6]

Chapman became a partner at London-based PR firm Bell Pottinger in 2017, shortly before the company declared bankruptcy.[7]

It was reported in July 2017 that Chapman is to become a political columnist for The Guardian newspaper, in addition to his job at Bell Pottinger, writing about the Conservative Party and Brexit.[8]

In summer 2017 Chapman began tweeting his proposals for a new centrist political party, 'The Democrats', opposed to Brexit.[9][10]

Personal life

His wife is Greek-born jeweller Erato Porphyrios.[11] They married on the island of Spetses in 2004. They had a son in September 2006,[12] and a second son in October 2009.[13]

References

1. Myers, Rupert (16 August 2017). "James Chapman is the Rogue One of Remainers". GQ. Retrieved 16 August 2017.
2. "Alumni & friends". spc.ox.ac.uk. Media and Journalism, St Peter's College, Oxford.
3. Ponsford, Dominic (18 May 2015). "Daily Mail political editor James Chapman takes Government PR role working for George Osborne". Press Gazette.
4. Burton, Charlie (6 April 2016). "Who are the 100 Most Connected Men in 2016?". GQ.
5. Watts, Joe (18 August 2016). "The man who helped run Project Fear is now a key figure in Brexit negotiations". The Independent.
6. Stone, Jon (15 August 2017). "David Davis's former chief of staff launches extraordinary tirade against 'drunk, bullying and inappropriate' Brexit chief". The Independent. Retrieved 15 August 2017.
7. Turvill, William (9 June 2017). "City PR firm appoints former George Osborne spin doctor". CityAM.
8. Amol Rajan [@amolrajanBBC] (19 July 2017). "1/ SCOOP: understand @jameschappers is about to sign up as @guardian columnist. SunTimes and ex-boss Osborne at Standard were sniffing too" (Tweet) – via Twitter.
9. Weaver, Matthew (11 August 2017). "Two cabinet ministers 'interested in new anti-Brexit party idea". The Guardian.
10. Gilchrist, Karen (14 August 2017). "'Democrat' party may be launched in the UK to fight Brexit". CNBC.
11. "Erato Jewellery". Erato Jewellery.
12. "CHAPMAN - Births Announcements - Telegraph Announcements". announcements.telegraph.co.uk.
13. "CHAPMAN - Births Announcements - Telegraph Announcements". announcements.telegraph.co.uk.

Further reading

• Myers, Rupert (16 August 2017). "James Chapman is the Rogue One of remainers". GQ.

Media offices
Preceded by Benedict Brogan	Political Editor of the Daily Mail March 2009 – May 2015	Succeeded by James Slack