Harry Cole
The Sun
In June 2021, Harry broke the story that Matt Hancock, the then Health Secretary was having an affair with his aide breaking the very rules he had made as well as the ministerial code leading to his resignation the next day. The world woke up to a genuinely huge news story for the first time in a long time, and one that was so clearly in the public interest with serious implications still felt by the country today. His spreads documented the breaking of the rules, as well the other mistakes that had occurred curing the pandemic holding power to account with real evidence. After his huge scoop, Harry also stood up for a free press as an instrument of democracy in the wake of the ICO investigation which threatened journalistic rights. Harry then revealed the then PM Boris Johnson, and then Chancellor Rishi Sunak, were close to agreeing a National Insurance increase of at least one per cent to pay for social care, in a move similar to Labour and one that would have been against the Conservatives’ manifesto commitment not to raise National Insurance, VAT or Income Tax in this parliament. This would have a direct impact on Sun readers who work hard for their money and often feel rises like these the most. After the political upheaval of 2022, Cole secured another win as he revealed the shock 45p U-Turn by new PM Liz Truss and Chancellor Kwasi Kwarteng, also coming as a shock to some of the most senior members of the government as they were in attendance at Conservative Party Conference in Birmingham. It was also how they - along with the country - learned that the controversial Truss mini-Budget was beginning to unravel. Days later the PM resigned amongst the chaos and uproar. More recently Harry also broke the news that the disgraced ex-health secretary Matt Hancock was to enter the I'm A Celeb jungle securing the first exclusive interview with Hancock who defended the controversial decision - only 15 months after The Sun and Harry had broken the original story of his affair with his aide. Harry is a clear example of a political editor and journalist who breaks the big news, predicts trends, analyse topics or explain complex detail and issues to a general audience in a popular newspaper.