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Katy Balls

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Katy Balls
Balls in 2020
Born (1989-02-12) 12 February 1989 (age 35)[1]
Aberdeen, Scotland
Alma materUniversity of Durham
OccupationJournalist
Years active2013–present
EmployerThe Spectator

Katy Balls (born 12 February 1989) is a British journalist. She is political editor of The Spectator.[2][3]

Early life

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Born in Aberdeen,[4] Balls grew up in North Berwick and attended North Berwick High School.[5][6][7] She studied at the University of Durham, where she wrote for the university paper Palatinate on travel and music.[8][9][10] She graduated from Durham with a 2:1 degree in Philosophy in 2010.[11]

Career

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Balls' media career began at The Daily Telegraph with the Mandrake column.[12][13] She was diary editor at The Spectator, became a political correspondent for it in December 2016, was appointed deputy political editor in January 2019,[14][15][16] and promoted to political editor in January 2023.[17]

Balls writes a fortnightly column on Westminster politics for i.[18] Her column was nominated for Political Commentary of the Year at the 2017 Press Awards.[19] As of 2023, she hosts a podcast entitled Women With Balls.[20] Balls has made several television appearances, including The Bolt Report, Good Morning Britain, Sky News, Politics Live, The Andrew Marr Show, and Have I Got News for You.[21][22]

Personal life

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Balls is married to Max Bye, son of Ruby Wax.[23][24]

References

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  1. ^ Balls, Katy [@katyballs] (12 February 2023). "Birthday cake for breakfast thanks to the Andrew Neil show" (Tweet) – via Twitter.
  2. ^ Seldon, Anthony (7 November 2019). May at 10. Biteback Publishing. ISBN 9781785905285 – via Google Books.
  3. ^ Martin, Stephen; Marks, Joseph (19 September 2019). Messengers: Who We Listen To, Who We Don't, And Why. Random House. ISBN 9781473560727 – via Google Books.
  4. ^ Katy Balls: Could an Englishman ever be First Minister of Scotland? www.spectator.co.uk, accessed 28 September 2020
  5. ^ Balls, Katy [@katyballs] (28 November 2019). "Thanks John, I was born in Aberdeen and lived in Scotland until I was 18" (Tweet) – via Twitter.
  6. ^ Balls, Katy [@katyballs] (24 July 2019). "Rephrase: Looking forward to returning to my home town North Berwick next month to interview David Mundell for @fringebythesea2" (Tweet) – via Twitter.
  7. ^ "Dance music legends Groove Armada to play Fringe by the Sea 2019". East Lothian Courier. 6 June 2019.
  8. ^ "Palatinate Edition 706, Friday 13th March 2009". Issuu. 29 March 2009.
  9. ^ "Palatinate Issue 715". Issuu. 8 February 2010.
  10. ^ "Enter Exit: Discover Serbia". 25 November 2009.
  11. ^ "Official Results List". Durham University. 21 June 2010. p. 1. Archived from the original on 26 June 2010.
  12. ^ Ponsford, Dominic (23 October 2014). "Telegraph plan to axe Mandrake diary column and long-serving editor Tim Walker". Press Gazette.
  13. ^ Balls, Katy (25 June 2013). "Manchester University spends over £5,000 on University Challenge catering" – via www.telegraph.co.uk.
  14. ^ "The Spectator gains Political Correspondent". www.responsesource.com. 19 December 2016. Retrieved 28 September 2020.
  15. ^ Fraser Nelson: Katy Balls nominated for Political Commentator of the Year 13 February 2018 www.spectator.co.uk accessed 28 September 2020
  16. ^ Amos-Sansam, Nate. "Katy Balls appointed deputy political editor at The Spectator". ResponseSource. Retrieved 4 May 2021.
  17. ^ Nelson, Fraser [@FraserNelson] (4 January 2023). "Katy Balls is the new political editor of The Spectator" (Tweet) – via Twitter.
  18. ^ "Katy Balls - inews.co.uk". inews.co.uk.
  19. ^ Team, i (13 February 2018). "i nominated for six prestigious journalism awards". inews.co.uk. Retrieved 15 February 2019.
  20. ^ "Katy Balls". www.battleofideas.org.uk. Retrieved 28 September 2020.[permanent dead link]
  21. ^ "Katy Balls". IMDb. [unreliable source?]
  22. ^ Darvill, Josh (7 May 2020). "Who's on Have I Got News For You? 2020 continues tonight with these guests". TellyMix.
  23. ^ Brown, Mick (24 April 2020). "Ruby Wax: 'We're in survival mode, fight or flight, after this the shocks will come'". The Telegraph. ISSN 0307-1235. Retrieved 7 March 2021.
  24. ^ Nelson, Fraser (15 July 2021). "Is it up to the state to tackle obesity?". The Spectator. Retrieved 21 July 2021.
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Media offices
Preceded by Political Editor of The Spectator
2023–present
Incumbent