Isabel Hardman
{{Short description|British journalist}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=June 2017}}
{{Infobox person
| honorific_prefix =
| name = Isabel Hardman
| image = Isabel Hardman (15155890870).jpg
| alt =
| caption = Hardman chairing a Policy Exchange debate, September 2014
| birth_name =
| birth_date = {{Birth date and age |1986|05|5|df=yes}}
| birth_place = Camden, London, England
| death_date =
| death_place =
| other_names =
| occupation = Journalist
| spouse = {{marriage|John Woodcock, Baron Walney|2021}}
| children = 1
| years_active =
| alma_mater = University of Exeter
| known_for = Assistant editor, The Spectator
| notable_works =
}}
Isabel Hardman, Lady Walney (born 5 May 1986),{{cite tweet|user=IsabelHardman|number=860406771525070848|title=People who don't make a massive deal of their birthdays -even random ones like a 31st, for instance - are in my view quite odd.|first=Isabel|last=Hardman|date=5 May 2017}} is a British political journalist and the assistant editor of The Spectator. In 2015, she was named Journalist of the Year at the Political Studies Association's annual awards.
Early life
Born in Camden, Hardman is the daughter of Michael Hardman, the first chairman and one of the four founders of the Campaign for Real Ale.{{cite news |last=Hardman |first=Isabel |date=31 December 2015 |title=The honours system is entrenching elitism in British society by rewarding political work |url=https://www.independent.co.uk/voices/the-honours-system-is-entrenching-elitism-in-british-society-by-rewarding-political-work-a6791276.html |newspaper=The Independent |access-date=26 April 2016}} She was privately educated at St Catherine's School, Bramley, and then state educated at Godalming College, before graduating from the University of Exeter with a first-class degree in English literature in 2007.{{cite web|url=http://www.nctj.com/isabel-hardman|title=Isabel Hardman|access-date= 6 April 2021|publisher=National Council for the Training of Journalists}} While at university, Hardman worked as a freelance journalist for The Observer.{{cite news |last=Hardman |first=Isabel |date=17 September 2006 |title=Are students getting value for their £9,000 ? |url=https://www.theguardian.com/money/2006/sep/17/tuitionfees.students |newspaper=The Observer |access-date=26 April 2016}} She completed a National Council for the Training of Journalists course at Highbury College in 2009.
Career
Hardman began her career in journalism as a senior reporter for Inside Housing magazine. She then became assistant news editor at PoliticsHome, moving to The Spectator in 2012. Alongside The Spectator, Hardman wrote a weekly column for the Evening Standard{{Cite web|title=Isabel Hardman {{!}} Evening Standard|url=https://www.standard.co.uk/author/isabel-hardman|access-date=2021-03-07|website=www.standard.co.uk|language=en}} on nature in London from 2020, until 2021.
Currently, she is an assistant editor of The Spectator.{{cite web|url=http://blogs.spectator.co.uk/author/isabel-hardman/|title=Isabel Hardman|work=Spectator Blogs}} Elsewhere, she writes a monthly column for the i paper{{Cite web|title=Isabel Hardman , Author at inews.co.uk|url=https://inews.co.uk/author/isabel-hardman|access-date=2021-03-07|website=inews.co.uk|language=en}} on health policy. In radio, she is a presenter of the BBC Radio 4 programme Week in Westminsterand in early July 2023, she became Political Commentator at Times Radio.
In television, she has appeared on programmes such as Question Time,{{cite news |date=13 December 2013 |title=Westminster political week round up with Isabel Hardman |url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-politics-25360698 |work=BBC News |access-date=26 April 2016}} The Andrew Marr Show and Have I Got News for You.7 October 2022 https://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/live/bbcone?rewindTo=current{{cite tweet| user=haveigotnews| number=918915241190100993| date=October 13, 2017| title=Tonight @RichardAyoade hosts #HIGNFY, with guest panellists @IsabelHardman and Andy Hamilton. @BBCOne, 9pm| author=HaveIGotNewsForYou}}
Hardman has also written books. In 2018, she wrote Why We Get The Wrong Politicians, this was followed by The Natural Health Service, in 2020, and Fighting for Life in 2023.{{Cite web|title= Fighting for Life by Isabel Hardman; Our NHS by Andrew Seaton review – the NHS at 75|first=Rafael|last=Behr|url=https://www.theguardian.com/books/2023/jun/17/fighting-for-life-by-isabel-hardman-our-nhs-by-andrew-seaton-review-the-nhs-at-75|website=The Guardian|language=en}}{{Cite web|first=Kate|last=Kellaway|title= The Well Gardened Mind by Sue Stuart-Smith; The Natural Health Service by Isabel Hardman – review|url=https://www.theguardian.com/books/2020/may/04/the-well-gardened-mind-by-sue-stuart-smith-the-natural-health-service-by-isabel-hardman-review
|website=The Guardian|language=en}}{{Cite web|first=Andrew|last=Rawnsley|title= Why We Get the Wrong Politicians by Isabel Hardman review – the travails of being an MP|url=https://www.theguardian.com/books/2018/sep/02/why-we-get-the-wrong-politicians-isabel-hardman-review
|website=The Guardian|language=en}}
In regard to accolades, in September 2014, GQ magazine named her as one of their 100 most connected women in Britain,{{cite web |url=http://www.gq-magazine.co.uk/comment/articles/2014-09/29/100-most-connected-women-2014 |title=GQ and Editorial Intelligence's 100 Most Connected Women 2014 |newspaper=GQ}} and in December 2015, she was named "Journalist of the Year" at the Political Studies Association's annual awards.{{cite news |last=Nelson |first=Fraser |author-link=Fraser Nelson |url=http://blogs.spectator.co.uk/2015/12/the-spectators-isabel-hardman-named-journalist-of-the-year/ |title=The Spectator's Isabel Hardman named Journalist of the Year |date=1 December 2015 |access-date=3 December 2015 |newspaper=The Spectator |archive-date=3 January 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160103163537/http://blogs.spectator.co.uk/2015/12/the-spectators-isabel-hardman-named-journalist-of-the-year/ |url-status=dead }} Why We Get The Wrong Politicians won the award for best political book by a non-parliamentarian at the Parliamentary Book Awards 2018. That year, it was also shortlisted for the Waterstones Book of the Year award and the Orwell Prize.{{Cite web|title=Why We Get the Wrong Politicians|url=https://atlantic-books.co.uk/book/why-we-get-the-wrong-politicians/ |website=atlantic-books.co.uk/|language=en}}
Personal life
In April 2016, Hardman tweeted that a male member of Parliament had referred to her as "the totty" and that she had reported him to the whips. She was not intending to name the man{{cite news|url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/women/politics/mp-apologises-for-calling-female-political-journalist-totty/|title=MP apologises for calling female political journalist 'totty'.|work=The Daily Telegraph|date=13 April 2016|access-date=15 April 2016}} who was subsequently revealed to be the Conservative MP Bob Stewart.{{cite news |last=Allegretti |first=Aubrey |date=14 April 2016 |title=Bob Stewart MP Dismisses Row Over 'Totty' Slur As 'Political Correctness' |url=http://www.huffingtonpost.co.uk/entry/bob-stewart-mp-dismisses-row-over-totty-slur-as-political-correctness_uk_570fe933e4b0ca84d5b58b3c |newspaper=The Huffington Post |access-date=15 April 2016}}
Hardman has written about suffering from depression, and in October 2016 wrote that she had stopped working temporarily due to anxiety and depression.{{cite web|last1=Hardman|first1=Isabel|title=How we do (and don't but should) treat depression|url=https://medium.com/@IsabelHardman/how-we-do-and-dont-but-should-treat-depression-2c401877ff02#.wp68sa1h4|website=Medium|access-date=31 October 2016}} She has said that, in 2017, she was diagnosed with post-traumatic stress disorder, due to a serious trauma in her personal life.{{cite news|url=https://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/2020/dec/28/giving-birth-seemed-to-spell-disaster-for-my-mental-health-were-my-anxieties-unfounded|title=Giving birth seemed to spell disaster for my mental health. Were my anxieties unfounded?|last=Hardman|first=Isabel|date=28 December 2020|access-date=28 December 2020|work=The Guardian}} She wrote that her recovery was partly down to time spent outdoors: she is a cold-water swimmer, and in 2019 ran the London Marathon for Refuge, raising £37,000 for the charity.
Hardman began a relationship with the politician John Woodcock in summer 2016.Isabel Hardman,[https://medium.com/@IsabelHardman/the-1950s-phoned-c43220795e64], 'Medium', 30 March 2018{{cite news |url=https://www.politico.eu/article/uk-westminster-power-couples/ |title=Westminster's power couples |last=Dickson |first=Annabelle |newspaper=POLITICO |date=13 September 2017 |access-date=30 March 2018}} In November 2019, Woodcock announced he and Hardman were expecting a child.{{cite tweet|title=I've decided not to re-stand in the general election because @IsabelHardman and I are having a baby|number=1191352598147878913|first=John|last=Woodcock|user=JZWoodcock|date=4 November 2019 |access-date=4 November 2019}} Hardman gave birth to a son on 12 May 2020.{{cite tweet |user=IsabelHardman |number=1260525770902028289 |title=Our son, Jacob Arran Henry Woodcock, arrived safely last night |last=Hardman |first=Isabel |date=13 May 2020 |access-date=3 April 2021}} On 30 July 2021, the couple married in a small ceremony at Barrow-in-Furness's register office.{{cite news |last1=Taylor |first1=Dan |title=Lord Walney 'over the moon' after marrying Isabel Hardman |url=https://www.nwemail.co.uk/news/19483540.lord-walney-over-moon-marrying-isabel-hardman/ |access-date=24 August 2021 |work=The Mail |date=1 August 2021}} As a wife of a peer, she is entitled to use the courtesy title of Lady Walney, although she does not appear to use it.
Bibliography
- Hardman, Isabel (2018), Why We Get the Wrong Politicians, Atlantic Books, London, UK {{ISBN|978-1782399735}}
- Hardman, Isabel (2020), The Natural Health Service, Atlantic Books, London, UK {{ISBN|978-1786495907}}
- Hardman, Isabel (2023), Fighting for Life, Viking, Edinburgh, UK {{ISBN|978-0241504345}}
References
{{Reflist|30em}}
External links
- [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rGycOOTTxsI Isabel Hardman talking about her career]
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Category:Alumni of the University of Exeter
Category:English political journalists
Category:People educated at St Catherine's School, Bramley
Category:People from the London Borough of Camden