Glen Owen
Mail on Sunday
There’s hardly a week when one of his exclusive splashes doesn’t reverberate unsettlingly for politicians for several days. When others were merely wondering if disgruntled ex-Cabinet minister Nadine Dorries was sulking in silence, Owen deftly secured a bombshell interview with her. The result? Prime Minister Rishi Sunak’s post-summer relaunch was derailed as Owen told MoS readers how she accused the PM of betraying Tory principles. The resignation interview – with an accompanying video that garnered millions of views on social media – triggered a by-election in her Mid-Beds constituency which saw Labour sweep to a crushing victory. This was followed by Owen’s devastating, exclusive account of Dorries’s book on the fall of Boris Johnson in which she chillingly set out how a 'corrupt’ clique at the centre of government, had, for years, deliberately undermined democracy in Britain. Among Owen’s other volleys of scoops was his amazeballs revelation that Liz Truss had been sent a bill of more than £12,000 following the disappearance of items including bathrobes and slippers from the grace and favour Chevening estate she’d used while preparing to become Prime Minister. Owen discovered that Truss was also billed for food and wine that she and aides consumed, because the costs were deemed to have been incurred by the Tories for party political reasons rather than on state business. Truss contested the bill – and still refuses to say whether she has paid up. Owen also showed the breadth and depth of his contacts by securing a series of exclusives ahead of the Coronation, most notably the fact that Charles had asked the Archbishop of Canterbury to broker a deal to allow Prince Harry to attend the ceremony – only to meet resistance from Prince William. Owen explained that Charles was prepared to make concessions to allow Harry to attend, because his absence would be more of a distraction than his presence. A partner story, by Owen, headlined ‘Operation Harry in a Hurry’, revealed that plans were being made for Harry to be whisked in and out of Britain for 48 hours without wife Meghan, who would remain in California to celebrate their son’s birthday – which is exactly what happened at the Coronation three months later. Just some examples of the countless ways Glen Owen, leading a small team, sheds light into every corner with scoops, sharply written analyses and hard-hitting interviews that leave both broadsheet and red-top tabloid rivals green with envy.