John Junor

Sir John Donald Brown Junor (15 January 1919 – 3 May 1997) was a Scottish journalist and editor-in-chief of the Sunday Express, having previously worked as a columnist there.[1] He then moved to The Mail on Sunday.

Early life

Born in Glasgow, he studied at Glasgow University and had a wartime commission in the Fleet Air Arm.[2] At Glasgow University he became president of the University Liberal Club, and later stood unsuccessfully three times for Parliament in Scotland for the Liberal Party.[3] In the 1945 General Election he contested Kincardine and Western Aberdeenshire. He then fought a by-election in 1947 for Edinburgh East, and finally was beaten at Dundee West in 1951. He was knighted in 1980.[4]

Journalism

His Sunday Express column (which he continued to write in his years as editor-in-chief) was noted for recurrent catchphrases, two of them being "pass the sick-bag, Alice" and "I don't know, but I think we should be told". Junor frequently mentioned the small town of Auchtermuchty in Fife.[3]

Junor could be brutally forthright in his column. He once wrote: "[W]ith compatriots like these [the IRA Brighton bombers] wouldn't you rather admit to being a pig than be Irish?". Following complaints that the comment was racist, Junor was censured by the Press Council in May 1985.[5]

Contempt of Parliament

On 24 January 1957, Junor was called to the Bar of the House of Commons to be reprimanded for contempt of Parliament[6] - the last non-politician to be so called.[7] The matter concerned an article about petrol allocation that appeared in the Sunday Express on 16 December 1956. Junor apologised:

“ Mr Speaker, I wish to express my sincere and unreserved apologies for any imputations or reflection which I may have cast upon the honour and integrity of the Members of this House in the article which I published in the Sunday Express of 16th December. At no time did I intend to be discourteous to Parliament. My only aim was to focus attention on what I considered to be an injustice in the allocation of petrol, namely, the petrol allowances given to political parties in the constituencies. In my judgment these allowances were a proper and, indeed, an inescapable subject of comment in a free Press. That was a view which I held then and hold now, Sir, but I do regret, deeply and sincerely, that the manner in which I expressed myself should have been such as to be a contempt of this House. I have nothing more to say. I now leave myself in the hands of this House. ”

Family

Junor married in 1942, and had two children.[3] The journalist, Penny Junor is his daughter,[2] and the journalist, Sam Leith, his grandson.

Works

References

Notes

  1. ↑ Editor 1954-1986.,
  2. ↑ 2.0 2.1 Peregrine Worsthorne "Sympathy for the devil", New Statesman, 12 August 2002
  3. ↑ 3.0 3.1 3.2 Julian Critchley Obituary: Sir John Junor, The Independent, 5 May 1997
  4. ↑ John Donald Brown Junor (1919 - 1997), Find A Grave Memorial
  5. ↑ http://www.pressgazette.co.uk/story.asp?storyCode=30527&sectioncode=1 Press Gazette
  6. ↑ http://hansard.millbanksystems.com/commons/1957/jan/23/committee-of-privileges-second-report
  7. ↑
Media offices
Preceded by
?		 Deputy Editor of the Evening Standard
1953–1954 		Succeeded by
Charles Wintour
Preceded by
Harold Keeble		 Editor of the Sunday Express
1954–1986 		Succeeded by
Robin Esser