James Delingpole

James Delingpole (born 1965) is an English columnist and novelist. A self-described libertarian conservative[1], he writes for The Times, The Daily Telegraph, and The Spectator. He has published several novels and four political books.

He is the recipient of the 2010 Bastiat Prize for online journalism.

Contents

Early life

Delingpole was born and raised in Alvechurch, Worcestershire, the son of a successful factory owner.[2] He was educated at Malvern College, a boarding independent school for boys in the spa town of Malvern in Worcestershire, followed by Christ Church at the University of Oxford, where he studied English Literature.[3][4][5] Delingpole describes himself as having been "reasonably good friends" with David Cameron and Boris Johnson while at Oxford.[6][7]

Life and career

In addition to writing articles and commentary for The Times, The Daily Telegraph, and The Spectator, Delingpole has authored three political books: How to be Right: The Essential Guide to Making Lefty Liberals History,[8] Welcome to Obamaland: I Have Seen Your Future and It Doesn't Work, and 365 Ways to Drive a Liberal Crazy.

Delingpole is also the author of various novels including Fin and Thinly Disguised Autobiography. In August 2007, Bloomsbury published his first novel of the "Coward" series, Coward on the Beach. It tells the story of a man's reluctant quest for military glory and is set on the beaches of Normandy during the D-Day landings. In June 2009, the second novel of the series was published. Coward at the Bridge is set during Operation Market Garden in September 1944.

Delingpole hosted the BBC Four documentary The British Upper Class in 2005.[9][10]

Views on climate change

Delingpole maintains that man-made climate change is not as extensive as is widely asserted,[11] and links mainstream scientific projections with "the atavistic impulse which leads generation after generation to believe it is the chosen one: the generation so special that it and it alone will be the one privileged to experience the end of the world; and the generation so egotistical that it imagines itself largely responsible for that imminent destruction".[12] In a BBC Horizon documentary, Delingpole responds to the argument offered by Paul Nurse that there is a scientific consensus about global warming by asserting that the very idea of a consensus is unscientific. In response to the criticism that he has no background in the sciences he maintained that as a journalist "it is not my job" to read peer reviewed papers, his role is to be "an interpreter of interpretations".[13]

Awards and prizes

In 2005 Delingpole was awarded the Charles Douglas-Home Memorial Trust Award for his essay, "What are museums for?"[14] The International Policy Network, a free-market pressure group, awarded the 2010 Bastiat Prize for Online Journalism to Delingpole for his Telegraph blog.[15][16]

Works

Books

See also

References

  1. ^ Subject's personal website
  2. ^ Leith, William (21 July 2003). "A writer's life: James Delingpole". The Telegraph. http://www.telegraph.co.uk/culture/books/3598934/A-writers-life-James-Delingpole.html. 
  3. ^ Malvern Writers’ Circle Annual Dinner. Worcestershire Life. Retrieved 24 July 2010.
  4. ^ Delingpole, James (29 May 2010). "My moment of rock-star glory at a climate change sceptics’ conference in America". The Spectator. http://www.spectator.co.uk/columnists/all/6025788/my-moment-of-rockstar-glory-at-a-climate-change-sceptics-conference-in-america.thtml. Retrieved 5 May 2011. 
  5. ^ Delingpole, James (29 May 2010). "My moment of rock-star glory at a climate change sceptics’ conference in America". The Spectator. http://www.spectator.co.uk/columnists/all/6025788/my-moment-of-rockstar-glory-at-a-climate-change-sceptics-conference-in-america.thtml. Retrieved 5 May 2011. 
  6. ^ Delingpole, James (6 October 2009). "David Cameron at Oxford University: the truth". The Telegraph. http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/politics/david-cameron/6263155/David-Cameron-at-Oxford-University-the-truth.html. "...unlike 99.9 per cent of the 20,000 or so students who were there at the time, I was reasonably good friends with both Boris and Dave." 
  7. ^ Delingpole, James (29 May 2010). "My moment of rock-star glory at a climate change sceptics’ conference in America". The Spectator. http://www.spectator.co.uk/columnists/all/6025788/my-moment-of-rockstar-glory-at-a-climate-change-sceptics-conference-in-america.thtml. Retrieved 5 May 2011. 
  8. ^ Hanley, Lynsey (19 March 2007). "A reasonable man". New Statesman. http://www.newstatesman.com/books/2007/03/james-delingpole-liberals. 
  9. ^ Glover, Gillian (22 July 2005). "The aristocracy and us". The Scotsman. http://news.scotsman.com/features/The-aristocracy-and-us.2645107.jp. 
  10. ^ Wollaston, Sam (25 July 2005). "Grand designs". The Guardian. http://www.guardian.co.uk/media/2005/jul/25/broadcasting.tvandradio1. 
  11. ^ Hickman, Leo (19 November 2009). "Climate sceptic James Delingpole's cheap shot at Newsweek backfires". The Guardian. http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/blog/2009/nov/19/climate-sceptic-james-delingpole. "Delingpole does a nice turn over on the Telegraph blogs as a rent-a-quote climate change sceptic and good all-round right-wing contrarian" 
  12. ^ Delingpole, James (17 March 2010). "Does even Ian McEwan know what Ian McEwan really thinks about 'Climate Change'?". The Telegraph. http://blogs.telegraph.co.uk/news/jamesdelingpole/100030044/does-even-ian-mcewan-know-what-ian-mcewan-really-thinks-about-climate-change/. 
  13. ^ BBC Horizon: Science Under Attack, broadcast 24 January 2011 on BBC 2
    Tim Dowling (25 January 2011). "Horizon: Science Under Attack and Tool Academy". The Guardian. UK. http://www.guardian.co.uk/tv-and-radio/2011/jan/25/horizon-science-under-attack-review. Retrieved 31 January 2011. 
  14. ^ "The Charles Douglas-Home Memorial Trust Award 2005". Times Online. 17 March 2006. http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/comment/article742307.ece. 
  15. ^ Thompson, Damian (12 November 2010). "Telegraph blogger James Delingpole wins Bastiat Prize for Online Journalism". The Daily Telegraph. UK. Archived from the original on 12 November 2010. http://www.webcitation.org/5uC1GRzSR. Retrieved 12 November 2010. 
  16. ^ Oliver, Laura (12 November 2010). "Telegraph blogger James Delingpole wins Bastiat Prize". journalism.co.uk. Archived from the original on 12 November 2010. http://www.webcitation.org/5uC45LZkz. Retrieved 12 November 2010. "Freelance writer, journalist and Telegraph blogger James Delingpole has won the online journalism category of the Bastiat Prize for Journalism. … It is the second year running in which a Telegraph blogger has taken the online award. In 2009 controversial MEP Daniel Hannan won the prize for his blog for the title." 

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