Katy Balls

British journalist (born 1989)

This article is about the British journalist. For the American swimmer, see Catie Ball. For the British rower, see Katie Ball.

Katy Balls

Balls in 2020

Born|  (1989-02-12) 12 February 1989 (age 36)[1]

Aberdeen, Scotland

Alma mater| University of Durham
Occupation| Journalist
Years active| 2013–present
Employer| The Spectator

Kathryn (Katy) Balls[2] (born 12 February 1989) is a British journalist. She is Washington Editor for The Times[3] having previously been political editor of The Spectator.[4][5]

## Early life

[edit]

Born in Aberdeen,[6] Balls grew up in North Berwick and attended North Berwick High School.[7][8][9] She studied at the University of Durham, where she wrote for the university paper Palatinate on travel and music.[10][11][12] She graduated from Durham with a 2:1 degree in Philosophy in 2010.[13]

## Career

[edit]

Balls' media career began at The Daily Telegraph with the Mandrake column.[14][15] She was diary editor at The Spectator, became a political correspondent for it in December 2016, was appointed deputy political editor in January 2019,[16][17][18] and promoted to political editor in January 2023.[19]

Balls writes a fortnightly column on Westminster politics for i.[20] Her column was nominated for Political Commentary of the Year at the 2017 Press Awards.[21] She hosts a podcast entitled Women With Balls.[22] Balls has made several television appearances, including The Bolt Report, Good Morning Britain, Sky News, Politics Live, The Andrew Marr Show, and Have I Got News for You.[23][24]

On the 21st February 2025, Balls joined the Times becoming its Washington Editor.[3]

## Personal life

[edit]

Balls is married to Max Bye, son of Ruby Wax and Ed Bye.[25][26]

## References

[edit]

1. ^ Balls, Katy [@katyballs] (12 February 2023). "Birthday cake for breakfast thanks to the Andrew Neil show" (Tweet) – via Twitter.
2. ^ https://www.parliament.uk/mps-lords-and-offices/standards-and-financial-interests/parliamentary-commissioner-for-standards/registers-of-interests/register-of-journalists-interests/registers-published-in-2024/
3. ^ a b redondo, alberto (21 February 2025). "Katy Balls joins The Times and The Sunday Times". News UK. Retrieved 7 June 2025.
4. ^ Seldon, Anthony (7 November 2019). May at 10. Biteback Publishing. ISBN 9781785905285 – via Google Books.
5. ^ Martin, Stephen; Marks, Joseph (19 September 2019). Messengers: Who We Listen To, Who We Don't, And Why. Random House. ISBN 9781473560727 – via Google Books.
6. ^ Katy Balls: Could an Englishman ever be First Minister of Scotland? www.spectator.co.uk, accessed 28 September 2020
7. ^ Balls, Katy [@katyballs] (28 November 2019). "Thanks John, I was born in Aberdeen and lived in Scotland until I was 18" (Tweet) – via Twitter.
8. ^ Balls, Katy [@katyballs] (24 July 2019). "Rephrase: Looking forward to returning to my home town North Berwick next month to interview David Mundell for @fringebythesea2" (Tweet) – via Twitter.
9. ^ "Dance music legends Groove Armada to play Fringe by the Sea 2019". East Lothian Courier. 6 June 2019.
10. ^ "Palatinate Edition 706, Friday 13th March 2009". Issuu. 29 March 2009.
11. ^ "Palatinate Issue 715". Issuu. 8 February 2010.
12. ^ "Enter Exit: Discover Serbia". 25 November 2009.
13. ^ "Official Results List". Durham University. 21 June 2010. p. 1\. Archived from the original on 26 June 2010.
14. ^ Ponsford, Dominic (23 October 2014). "Telegraph plan to axe Mandrake diary column and long-serving editor Tim Walker". Press Gazette.
15. ^ Balls, Katy (25 June 2013). "Manchester University spends over £5,000 on University Challenge catering" – via www.telegraph.co.uk.
16. ^ "The Spectator gains Political Correspondent". www.responsesource.com. 19 December 2016. Retrieved 28 September 2020.
17. ^ Fraser Nelson: Katy Balls nominated for Political Commentator of the Year 13 February 2018 www.spectator.co.uk accessed 28 September 2020
18. ^ Amos-Sansam, Nate. "Katy Balls appointed deputy political editor at The Spectator". ResponseSource. Retrieved 4 May 2021.
19. ^ Nelson, Fraser [@FraserNelson] (4 January 2023). "Katy Balls is the new political editor of The Spectator" (Tweet) – via Twitter.
20. ^ "Katy Balls - inews.co.uk". inews.co.uk.
21. ^ Team, i (13 February 2018). "i nominated for six prestigious journalism awards". inews.co.uk. Retrieved 15 February 2019.
22. ^ "Katy Balls". www.battleofideas.org.uk. Retrieved 28 September 2020.[permanent dead link]
23. ^ "Katy Balls". IMDb. [unreliable source?]
24. ^ Darvill, Josh (7 May 2020). "Who's on Have I Got News For You? 2020 continues tonight with these guests". TellyMix.
25. ^ Brown, Mick (24 April 2020). "Ruby Wax: 'We're in survival mode, fight or flight, after this the shocks will come'". The Telegraph. ISSN 0307-1235. Retrieved 7 March 2021.
26. ^ Nelson, Fraser (15 July 2021). "Is it up to the state to tackle obesity?". The Spectator. Retrieved 21 July 2021.

## External links

[edit]

* Katy Balls at IMDb
* Katy Balls on Twitter

Media offices

Preceded by

James Forsyth

|  Political Editor of The Spectator
2023–2025  | Vacant