Rachel Sylvester

British political journalist (born 1969)

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Rachel Sylvester

Sylvester in 2012

Born|  (1969-11-13) 13 November 1969 (age 55)
Nationality| British
Education| South Hampstead High School
Alma mater| Somerville College, Oxford
Occupation| Journalist
Employer| The Observer
Spouse|

Patrick Wintour

(m. 2002)​

Children| 2

Rachel Mynfreda Sylvester (born 13 November 1969) is a British political journalist. Formerly a writer for The Times, she is now the political editor of The Observer.[1]

## Education and career

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Sylvester was educated at South Hampstead High School, an independent school for girls in Hampstead in North West London, followed by Somerville College of the University of Oxford.[2]

Sylvester joined The Daily Telegraph newspaper in 1992. In 1998, she left for a one-year period as the political editor of the Independent on Sunday newspaper.[citation needed] She returned to the Telegraph in 1999 as assistant editor (politics), a position she held until 2008.[2]

Sylvester joined The Times newspaper in June 2008, where she wrote a weekly political column and a weekly interview piece, often collaborating with Alice Thomson.[3] She was named 2015's Political Journalist of the Year at the British Press Awards.[4] Iain Martin described Sylvester and Thomson as "highly skilled interviewers [with] a gift for getting people to burble on until they say something highly revealing."[5]

Sylvester conducted an interview with Conservative Party leadership candidate Andrea Leadsom during the 2016 leadership election in which Leadsom made comments with reference to her competitor Theresa May. Leadsom stood aside in the aftermath of the interview's release to allow May to become leader, which the Evening Standard said "confirmed Sylvester's status as one of the country's most influential political commentators".[6] She was named 2016 Journalist of the Year by the Political Studies Association.[7]

Sylvester presented the interview series Past Imperfect with Alice Thomson on Times Radio, which began in July 2020. Their first guests included Tony Blair and Sir Paul Nurse.[8]

In April 2025, following the takeover of The Observer by Tortoise Media, Sylvester became the newspaper's political editor.[1]

## References

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1. ^ a b Ponsford, Dominic; Maher, Bron (2 April 2025). "Rachel Sylvester named Observer political editor as around half staff leave title". Press Gazette. Retrieved 22 April 2025.
2. ^ a b "Ms Rachel Sylvester Authorised Biography". Debrett's People of Today. Retrieved 15 May 2016.
3. ^ Brook, Stephen (25 April 2008). "Telegraph columnist Rachel Sylvester joins Times". The Guardian. Retrieved 15 May 2016.
4. ^ "2015 British Press Award Winners". British Press Awards website. Society of Editors. Archived from the original on 23 December 2016. Retrieved 1 May 2016.
5. ^ Martin, Iain (9 July 2016). "One word in defence of Andrea Leadsom". Reaction. Retrieved 9 July 2016.
6. ^ "The Progress 1000: London's most influential people 2016 - Editors and Journalists". Evening Standard. 7 September 2016. Retrieved 16 September 2020.
7. ^ "PSA Awards: the public, academics, media, culture and politicians have all shaped an extraordinary year in politics". News. Political Studies Association. 30 November 2016. Retrieved 3 December 2016.
8. ^ Lerone, Toby (2 June 2020). "Launch date and schedule revealed for Times Radio". RadioToday. Retrieved 3 June 2020.

## External links

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* The Times
* Daily Telegraph

### Audio clips

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* Woman's Hour 15 April 2010
* Woman's Hour 19 November 2009
* Woman's Hour 23 April 2009
* Woman's Hour 29 June 2007

Authority control databases

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* VIAF

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* Poland

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