John Kampfner

John began his reporting career as a Reuters trainee reporter in Moscow, before embarking on a stint in Bonn, and then as Berlin and Moscow correspondents for the Daily Telegraph. In 1995, John became Chief Political Correspondent for the Financial Times, leaving in 1998 for a spell at BBC Today and Newsnight as Political Commentator. He joined the New Statesman in 2002 as Political Editor, and became Editor in 2005 achieving a 30-year circulation high.John was awarded Editor of the Year by the British Society of Magazine Editors in 2006.

In 2002 he won the Foreign Press Association award for Film of the Year and Journalist of the Year for a two-part BBC film on the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, called 'The Ugly War'. His film 'War Spin', exposing the propaganda behind the rescue of Jessica Lynch, received considerable publicity in the US and UK.

John established the Creative Industries Federation to much acclaim in November 2014, providing a single voice to all the UK's creative sector. He led the organisation for four and a half years, putting the sector at the heart of political, economic and social decision-making for the first time in the country's history. The model is now being emulated around the world. He stood down in late 2018.

For nearly eight years he was the founder Chair of Turner Contemporary, one of the UK's most successful art galleries and perhaps its foremost culture-led regeneration projects.

Among his other positions, he was a member of the Council of King's College, London, and was Chair of the Clore Social Leadership Programme, a charity which nurtures the next generation of leaders in the charity sectors.

For four years running he has been named one of the 1000 most influential Londoners in the Evening Standard Progress 1000 survey.

John's latest book, Why The Germans Do It Better, was published in August 2020, and is in demand as a keynote speaker discussing not just the relationships between Germany, UK and Europe, but also wider questions of international relations, ordering societies and economies post-pandemic.

John has launched a new podcast series with the comedian Shazia Mirza, Pale, Male and Stale. John is also back writing his weekly online pieces for the Times, featuring on TV and radio, and speaking at political and cultural events around the world.

He's also been appointed a Senior Associate Fellow at the Royal United Services Institute.