Iain Dale
Iain Campbell Dale is a British broadcaster, political commentator and publisher. Dale writes the British political blog Iain Dale's Diary and frequently appears on UK news channels. In September 2003, he became the first openly gay Conservative candidate to contest a Parliamentary election.
Dale was the managing director of Biteback Publishing until May 2018, and was the publisher of Total Politics magazine, 2008–12. Since September 2010, he has hosted a regular, major discussion show on LBC radio station. In both July 2013 and 2016, he won Radio Presenter of the Year at the Arqiva Commercial Radio Awards.
Education and early career
Dale was born in Cambridge, but grew up in Essex, where he attended Ashdon County Primary School and Saffron Walden County High School. He obtained an upper second BA honours degree in German, Linguistics, and Teaching English as a Foreign Language from the University of East Anglia in 1985. Prior to going to university, Dale spent his gap year as a nursing assistant at the Werner Wicker Klinik in West Germany. During his degree course he spent a year teaching English at the gymnasium in Besigheim.Dale was research assistant to the Conservative Member of Parliament Patrick Thompson, Public Affairs Manager for the British Ports Federation, Financial Journalist with Lloyd's List, and then deputy managing director of the Waterfront Partnership and managing director of the Waterfront Conference Company.
Bookseller and publisher
In 1997, he opened Politico's Bookstore and Coffee House in Westminster, selling a mix of political books, memorabilia and novelty items. The shop spawned sister publishing and web design businesses using the Politico's brand. He founded Politico's Publishing in 1998, and sold it in 2003 to Methuen Publishing. In 2004, Dale announced the closure of the walk-in bookshop and relocated the business to Kent as a mail-order operation. Later that year the Westminster premises re-opened as the Westminster Bookshop under the ownership of Methuen.In 2006, Dale sold the Politico's Bookstore business to Harriman House. In 2012, Dale relaunched Politico's online as part of the Biteback Publishing business. Dale was also the publisher of Total Politics magazine from June 2008 until its sale to Dods PLC in December 2012.
Writer and author
Dale's fortnightly comment column for The Daily Telegraph, which he began writing in February 2007, was discontinued in January 2009. He has also written for The Guardian, The Independent, GQ, The Spectator and the New Statesman.Between 2006 and 2013, Dale wrote a weekly diary column for the Eastern Daily Press. In December 2018, it was announced Dale would commence a new weekly column for both the Eastern Daily Press and its Archant stablemate, the East Anglian Daily Times.
On 16 December 2018, The Sunday Times Magazine published a long-read profile of UK Defence Secretary Gavin Williamson by Dale. On 30 December 2018 The Mail on Sunday published an op-ed by Dale calling for greater civility in political debate and on social media.
Dale has written and edited 46 political books. This includes co-authoring, in May 2006, a book with fellow blogger Paul Staines about alleged instances of sleaze from the Labour government since it took office in 1997. A second edition was published in June 2007.
He has written histories of West Ham United and Norwich City for Haynes Publishing, and in 2015, wrote a book called The NHS: Things That Need to be Said for Elliott & Thompson. His most recent book is co-edited by former Labour Home Secretary Jacqui Smith and is a collection of biographical essays of every female MP elected to the House of Commons since 1918. Titled Honourable Ladies, a second volume is due to appear later in 2019.
Radio broadcaster
Dale got his break in radio on BBC Radio 5 Live, where he was the regular cover for Andrew Pierce on Sunday Service with Fi Glover and Charlie Whelan. He presented a documentary on how the BBC covers general election results, Counting Chickens on the night of the 2001 general election, 7 June 2001. He also presented BBC Radio Four's The Westminster Hour, People & Politics on the BBC World Service and a number of episodes of What the Papers Say between 2010 and 2016.Dale was a stand-in presenter for London radio station LBC 97.3 during the first nine months of 2010 after doing a couple of test programmes with other journalists. He co-presented LBC's six-hour election night programme on 7 May 2010, with Gaby Hinsliff. In May and June 2010, he presented the Petrie Hosken, Clive Bull, James Max and Jeni Barnett phone-in shows, and on 22 June 2010 fronted LBC's budget coverage.
In late July 2010, Dale started a six-week stint on LBC covering for Petrie Hosken and Andrew Pierce, which later turned into a regular show. Dale was the weekly evening presenter on LBC from 7 to 10pm until March 2013, when Clive Bull took over. Dale instead replaced broadcaster James Whale as the presenter of the Drivetime show between 4pm and 7pm Monday to Friday. Dale continued to present the station's Sunday Politics show between 10am and 1pm each weekend for a further few weeks in March 2013 until Andrew Gilligan took over. On 3 September 2018, LBC changed their autumn schedule. Dale moved to the evening show, whilst Eddie Mair joined the station to take over Drivetime.
Dale formerly presented Planet Politics on Oneword Radio. He was also chief presenter on the failed internet TV station 18 Doughty Street.
Dale was shortlisted for Speech Radio Programme of the Year at the 2013 Sony Radio Academy Awards, and then went on to win Radio Presenter of the Year at the 2013 and 2016 Arqiva Commercial Radio Awards. He won a Silver Sony for Interview of the Year at the 2014 Sony Awards for his interview with James from Woolwich who was an eyewitness to the murder of Lee Rigby.
Dale currently co-hosts a weekly political and current affairs podcast, entitled 'For The Many', alongside former Home Secretary and Labour MP Jacqui Smith.
Television broadcaster
Dale's main television platform is as a thrice-weekly panellist on CNN International’s daily midday show CNNtalk, presented by Max Foster. He is also a regular pundit on Newsnight, The Andrew Marr Show, Jeremy Vine and Good Morning Britain.Conservative candidate and blogger
In May 2005, Dale stood in the general election as Conservative candidate for North Norfolk, losing to the Liberal Democrat incumbent, Norman Lamb; Lamb was elected with a 10,000 plus majority compared with 483 at the previous election, which he fought against David Prior. Subsequently, Dale acted as chief of staff to the losing leadership candidate David Davis in the run-up to the 2005 Conservative Party leadership campaign.In August 2006, it was confirmed that he had been added to the Conservative A-List of candidates to fight the next general election. However his ambitions were further frustrated in 2007 when he applied for the Conservative candidacy for the safe seat Maidstone and The Weald, but failed to get past the first interview stage.
In October 2009, Dale ran for selection for the Conservative safe seat of Bracknell in order to succeed Andrew MacKay, who stepped down at the 2010 general election. Dale came third in the run-off ballot behind Rory Stewart and the eventual winner Philip Lee.
Dale's blog, entitled Iain Dale's Diary, had been one of the most widely read political blogs in the UK. It was nominated by The Guardian for the Political Blog of the Year Award in 2005. On 17 June 2010, Dale announced on his blog that he was resigning from the Conservative Party candidates list and would not be standing at any forthcoming parliamentary election. On 14 December 2010, Dale announced that he was quitting both blogging at Iain Dale's Diary and party politics.
In July 2011, Dale started a collaborative blog site, Dale & Co, with many contributors from the political spectrum, including himself. He continues to author a blog entitled West Ham Till I Die where he writes on West Ham United.
Dale writes a weekly diary column for the website ConservativeHome, where he also publishes his annual list of the '100 most influential people on the Right'.
In the 2016 EU referendum, Dale voted for "Leave".
Electoral history
Police caution for assault
On 24 September 2013, Dale became involved in a scuffle with Manchester pensioner Stuart Holmes, an anti-nuclear protester, on the Brighton seafront. Holmes' placard had appeared on-screen behind Damian McBride, during an interview with McBride on breakfast television, coinciding with the Labour Party annual conference there. McBride, a former special advisor to Gordon Brown, is one of Dale's authors at Biteback Publishing. Dale, who was not involved in the television interview, attempted to physically remove Holmes from the shot, resulting in the two men grappling on the ground.On 26 September, Dale accepted a police caution for the assault. Sussex Police had interviewed both men about the incident. Dale subsequently posted an apology "to Mr Holmes, Mr Miliband , the Police, my family, friends and colleagues".