Jonathan Isaby
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Jonathan Isaby (born 22 December 1977) is a journalist for the Daily Telegraph newspaper in the United Kingdom.
He is currently Deputy Editor of the Spy column which is widely considered to be the gossip-gospel of the Conservative Party. In addition to politics, the Spy column also runs stories on celebrity gossip.
He is also co-author, with colleague Brendan Carlin, of a politics blog on the Daily Telegraph website, which is called Little and Large.
Isaby was born on December 22, 1977 and grew up in Cheam. He attended Homefield School, Sutton and King's College School, Wimbledon.
He graduated from the University of York in 1999 having studied Modern Languages and Linguistics. During his time as a student, Isaby was Chairman of the University of York Conservative & Unionist Association and also served as deputy editor of Vision, one of the university's student newspapers.
Upon graduation, Isaby joined the BBC as a researcher in the Westminster office, specialising in the politics of the Conservative Party, parliamentary affairs, Northern Ireland and elections. During this time he also helped research Dean Godson's biography of David Trimble, Himself Alone.
Isaby regularly speaks to groups around the country on his background as a political journalist and has recently conducted interviews for Conservative Parliamentary selection meetings.
He founded and is chairman of the informal drinking group, the Heslington Group, named after Heslington, the village outside York where the University of York is based. The group meets monthly and follows a simple format of a cash bar with Conservative-orientated speaker. Attendees at Heslington Group events tend to be alumni of the University of York Conservative & Unionist Association and other people within Isaby's extensive circle.
As a result, the Heslington Group attracts many high profile speakers who consider the group to be highly influential in terms of the internal politics of the Conservative Party.[citation needed]
