MoS man’s record as he takes top award for FOURTH time
THE Mail on Sunday’s Political Editor Simon Walters scooped another coveted prize at the Press Awards last week when he was crowned Political Journalist of the Year for an astonishing fourth time.
He has been shortlisted a total of 12 times during his MoS career – a record for any political reporter.
Citing his string of ‘classic’ Westminster exclusives, the judges praised his disclosure of a secret 3,000word letter from Boris Johnson and Michael Gove to Theresa May giving her detailed instructions on how to pursue a ‘hard Brexit’ as the biggest Downing Street leak of the year.
Highly commended at the Society of Editors awards, the Oscars of journalism, were Cole Moreton as Interviewer of the Year, Oliver Holt as Columnist of the Year and Ian Birrell as Feature Writer of the Year, all in the popular newspaper category.
Our sister paper the Daily Mail also picked up honours, winning the prestigious Cudlipp Award for Campaign of the Year for its ten-year battle against the scourge of plastic waste.
The paper also won the Front Page of the Year for its ‘powerful’ response to the Grenfell Tower tragedy, and it was highly commended for Sports Team of the Year.
In separate award ceremonies, Personal Finance Editor Jeff Prestridge was named as ‘stand out’ journalist in the LifeSearch Press Awards, while Travel Editor Frank Barrett won a CLIA Cruise Media Award as Writer of the Best European Cruise Feature.
In addition, Joanne Hart was named Best Newspaper Tipster of 2018 by the stocks and shares data company ADVN, the second year running she has won for her brilliant Midas column.