Mary Ann Sieghart

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Mary Ann Sieghart (born 1961) is an assistant editor of The Times, where she writes columns about politics, social affairs and life generally. She also writes leaders, features and analytical pieces both for the main paper and for Times2.

Sieghart was born in 1961, the daughter of Paul Sieghart, a human rights lawyer, campaigner, broadcaster and author, and Felicity Ann Sieghart, chairman of the National Association for Gifted Children, magistrate and later managing director of the Aldeburgh Cinema. She went to both state and private schools and graduated with a first-class degree in PPE from Wadham College, Oxford. While she was there, she worked for The Daily Telegraph in her vacations.

After Oxford, Sieghart joined The Financial Times, where she became Eurobond Correspondent and then a Lex columnist. She spent a summer in 1984 working for The Washington Post, as the Laurence Stern Fellow. From the FT, she was recruited to be City Editor of Today newspaper at its launch in 1986. When it was taken over by Tiny Rowland, she moved to The Economist to be Political Correspondent. She also presented The World This Week on Channel 4.

In 1988, she joined The Times, as editor of the comment pages. During her time there, she has also been Arts Editor, Chief Political leader-writer and acting editor of the paper on Sundays. In 1995, she chaired the revival of The Brains Trust on BBC2.

Sieghart is a regular broadcaster, appearing on programmes such as Question Time, Any Questions, Newsnight, Today, The World Tonight and Woman's Hour. She was a regular co-presenter of Start the Week during the time Melvyn Bragg was the programme's main presenter and has been a guest presenter of The Week in Westminster and Dispatch Box.

The satirical magazine Private Eye regularly lampoons her as 'Mary Ann Bighead'.