Simon Hoggart

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Simon David Hoggart (born 26 May 1946) is an English journalist and broadcaster. He is the son of the sociologist Richard Hoggart and Mary Holt Hoggart. His brother is The Times television critic Paul Hoggart.

1 Life and career
2 Personal
3 Quotes
4 Bibliography
- 4.1 Books
- 4.2 Audiobooks
5 References
6 External links

[edit] Life and career

Simon Hoggart was born in Ashton-under-Lyne, Lancashire and educated at Hymers College in Hull, Wyggeston Boys' School in Leicester, and then King's College, Cambridge.

He joined The Guardian in 1968, later becoming the American correspondent for The Observer (and occasional guest commentator on National Public Radio's Weekend Edition Saturday). Simon then became the parliamentary sketch writer for The Guardian in 1993. He also writes a wine column for The Spectator.

Before his spell in North America in the early 1980s he chaired the radio comedy show The News Quiz, returning in 1996 to the show. He was also a contributor to the Grumpy Old Men and in the past has written for Punch magazine and an occasional column for New Humanist magazine (last entry May 2005). Hoggart was also an occasional celebrity panelist on BBC2's antiques quiz show Going, Going, Gone.

In March 2006 Hoggart presented his last edition of The News Quiz commenting: "I'm getting a bit clapped out and jaded, and I think that's beginning to show."^[1]

His published books to date form an eclectic list, including debunking the supernatural, anecdotes about Parliament, a biography, his thoughts about the United States, a serious political review, and collected Christmas round-robin letters.

[edit] Personal

Simon Hoggart lives in South London with his wife, Alyson, a Clinical Psychologist and their two children, Amy and King Richard.

In December 2004 it was revealed that he had had an affair with Kimberly Quinn, whose relationship with David Blunkett had, shortly before, led to the latter's resignation as Home Secretary.

[edit] Quotes

"Peter Mandelson is the only man I know who can skulk in broad daylight."
"Reagan is the only man to take the presidency as a part-time job, a means of filling up the otherwise empty hours."
"Seeing John Major govern the country is like watching Edward Scissorhands try to make balloon animals."
"I'm often amazed at the way politicians – who spend hours poring over opinion poll results in a desperate attempt to discover what the public thinks – are certain they know precisely what God's views are on everything."
"Mr Arbuthnot did not respond, but sat with a thin, weak smile, like winter sunshine upon a coffin lid."
"Curiously, it is hard not to be a little optimistic about the future for Zimbabwe (as nobody at all calls it yet, except in political speeches). The fear is not that there will be mass slaughter of the whites, followed by their flight to South Africa and the collapse of the economy, but that the need to retain white confidence may mean that the blacks are badly disappointed."

[edit] Bibliography

[edit] Books

The Hands of History: Parliamentary Sketches 1997-2007 (2007) ISBN 1-84354-679-5
Don't Tell Mum: Hair-raising Messages Home from Gap-year Travellers (2006) by Simon Hoggart and Emily Monk ISBN 1-84354-539-2
The Hamster That Loved Puccini: The Seven Modern Sins of Christmas Round-Robin Letters (2005) ISBN 1-84354-474-1
The Cat That Could Open the Fridge: A Curmudgeon's Guide to Christmas Round-Robin Letters (2004) ISBN 1-84354-357-5
Punchlines: A Crash Course in English with John Prescott (2003) ISBN 0-7434-8397-9 – on Prescottese language
Playing to the Gallery: Parliamentary Sketches from Blair Year Zero (2002) ISBN 1-903809-66-5 – parliamentary sketches
Live Briefs: A Political Sketch Book by Simon Hoggart, Steve Bell (1996) ISBN 0-413-70970-1 – parliamentary sketches, with the Guardian political cartoonist
House of Correction (1995) ISBN 0-86051-998-8 – parliamentary sketches
Bizarre Beliefs by Simon Hoggart, Mike Hutchinson (1995) ISBN 1-86066-021-5 – on "the human desire to believe the unbelievable"
America: A User's Guide (1991) ISBN 0-00-637602-9 – on his experiences living in the United States
House of Cards: A Selection of Modern Political Humour edited by Simon Hoggart (1988) ISBN 0-241-12451-4
House of Ill Fame (1985) ISBN 0-86051-350-5 – parliamentary sketches
Back On the House (1982) ISBN 0-330-28148-8 – parliamentary sketches
On the House: The Personalities and the Politics From the Irreverent "Punch" Column (1981) ISBN 0-330-26883-X – parliamentary sketches
Michael Foot: A Portrait by Simon Hoggart, David Leigh (1981) ISBN 0-340-27600-2 – biography of politician Michael Foot
The Pact: The Inside Story of the Lib-Lab Government, 1977-8 by Simon Hoggart, Alistair Michie (1978) ISBN 0-7043-3236-1
Little Boxes: A Selection of Bryan McAllister Cartoons From "The Guardian" by Bryan McAllister, Simon Hoggart (1977) ISBN 0-85265-024-8

[edit] Audiobooks

The News Quiz: The First 25 Years (BBC Radio Collection) (2003) ISBN 0-563-49402-6
Simon Hoggart's Pick of "The News Quiz": Vol 2 (2002) ISBN 0-563-52923-7
Simon Hoggart's Pick of "The News Quiz": Vol 1 (2000) ISBN 0-563-47762-8