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The New Statesman is the leading progressive political and cultural magazine in the United Kingdom. Founded as a weekly review of politics and literature on 12 April 1913, the New Statesman has notably recognised and published new writers and critics, as well as encouraged notable careers. Today, it is a vibrant print-digital hybrid, and one of the most respected and influential titles in the United Kingdom.
The New Statesman is celebrated for its progressive and liberal politics, as well as the intelligence, range and quality of its writing and analysis. Its contributors have included J M Keynes, Bertrand Russell, George Orwell, Virginia Woolf, Christopher Hitchens, Martin Amis, J B Priestley, Clive James, Rowan Williams, John Berger, Claire Tomalin, Andrew Marr and John Gray. Today, it is read across various platforms by opinion-formers and decision-makers from all sectors — government, academia, the foreign policy establishment and think tanks, business, the media and the arts. The mission of its award-winning writers and editors is to analyse and explain the defining political, economic, geopolitical and cultural events and ideas shaping and changing the world today.
1913: The New Statesman is founded by the Fabian intellectuals Sidney and Beatrice Webb (who also co-founded the London School of Economics), with support from the writers George Bernard Shaw and H G Wells. The first editor is Clifford Sharp, who holds the position until 1931.
1914-31: The magazine grows in influence and circulation and establishes itself as a significant political and journalistic voice in the culture.
1931: Kingsley Martin, a young former Guardian leader writer, is appointed as editor, and continues in the role until 1960. He makes the New Statesman essential reading across the political spectrum and today is justly celebrated as one of the great journalists of his time.
1931: The New Statesman merges with the Nation, the mouthpiece of Bloomsbury liberalism. The great economist J M Keynes becomes chairman. On 28 February 1931, the first edition of New Statesman and Nation (incorporating the Athenaeum) is published.
1934-37: The Weekend Review, a rival title whose sales are declining, is acquired and subsumed into the New Statesman and Nation. The social research organisation Mass Observation is founded as a consequence of an article in the New Statesman. H G Wells publishes his famous interview with Stalin.
1939-45: During the war years the circulation of the New Statesman increases from 24,000 to 70,000, despite paper rationing.
1950s: The New Statesman continues to grow in influence and prestige. The Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament is founded as a result of an article by J B Priestley published in the magazine.
1957-58: The Nation suffix is dropped. Nuclear diplomacy is played out in the pages of the New Statesman as the Soviet president Nikita Khrushchev and the US secretary of state John Foster Dulles publish open letters in the magazine at the height of the Cold War.
1961-65: The former Labour MP John Freeman serves as editor, succeeding Kingsley Martin. Freeman is later appointed Britain’s High Commissioner to India and then Ambassador to the United States.
1965-70: Paul Johnson becomes the editor and takes the New Statesman to its highest weekly circulation at a vibrant time for the magazine.
1972-78: Anthony Howard, a former New Statesman political editor, becomes the editor and champions an outstanding generation of political and literary writers who join the staff. These include Martin Amis, Christopher Hitchens, Julian Barnes and James Fenton.
1988: The 1980s, a period of expansion for the press, are a difficult decade for the New Statesman and weekly magazines in general. Although it loses circulation, the New Statesman survives to celebrate its 75th anniversary. It also merges with New Society, a weekly title covering public affairs and the social sciences, to form the New Statesman and Society. Charter 88, a pressure group that advocates constitutional and electoral reform, is launched through the New Statesman.
1991: Another influential magazine, Marxism Today, is acquired and subsumed.
1996: The Labour MP and businessman Geoffrey Robinson saves the New Statesman from near-bankruptcy and appoints Ian Hargreaves as editor. Hargreaves revives the title and documents the emergence of Tony Blair, Gordon Brown and the New Labour project. He steps down in 1998 and is succeeded by Peter Wilby, who is editor for the next seven years and takes the magazine to the left.
November 1998: Newstatesman.com goes live for the first time, establishing the paper’s online presence and heralding a new era for the magazine.
2008-2009: The businessman and philanthropist Mike Danson buys the New Statesman. Jason Cowley is appointed editor in October 2008. He begins a transformation of the magazine.
2009-2013: Evolving into a print-digital hybrid, the New Statesman becomes more politically sceptical and unpredictable and begins to publish long reads: essays, narrative reports and profiles. A new generation of political writers is discovered and nurtured, including deputy editor Helen Lewis. Cowley and his team win numerous awards; in January 2013 the awards committee of the European Press Prize says: “Jason Cowley has succeeded in revitalising the New Statesman and re-establishing its position as an influential political and cultural weekly. He has given the New Statesman an edge and a relevance to current affairs it hasn't had for years.”
2013: The New Statesman celebrates its centenary by publishing a 180-page special edition, the largest single issue in its history. It also publishes two special editions (250 and 150 pages) showcasing 100 years of the best and boldest journalism from its archives.
2014: The micro-websites CityMetric, a digital magazine exploring “urbanism for the social media age”, and May2015.com, a polling data hub, are launched as part of a digital expansion.
2016: The New Statesman’s circulation reaches a 35-year high and its website traffic reaches new record highs as the publication announces plans for further digital expansion. Once again, it has become required reading across the political spectrum while being celebrated for the quality, independence and authority of its journalism and ideas.
* Sharp was technically editor from 1913-31, but because of his alcoholism Mostyn Lloyd covered for him from 1928-31. J C Squire, the NS literary editor, was acting editor while Sharp was absent on wartime duties (1917-20).
**Acting (February to September)
NS Media Group journalists uphold the highest standards of ethical and professional journalism. In our editorial coverage we seek to be independent, fair and accurate. We make every effort to verify and check the information we publish and to be transparent about our sourcing.
If you spot a mistake, or would like to make a complaint about our coverage, please contact our head of production, Peter Williams, at peter.williams@newstatesman.co.uk. If you are not satisfied with the way a complaint has been handled please feel free to contact our managing editor, Will Dunn, at will.dunn@newstatesman.co.uk.
NS Media journalists are required to follow the standards laid out in the Editors’ Code of Practice and also strictly adhere to UK law in areas such as libel, privacy and copyright. If you think our content has breached the Editors’ Code you have the right to raise this with our external ombudsman David Banks by emailing ombudsman@ns-mediagroup.com – but please only do so after first trying to resolve the issue with our editors.
Mr Banks will investigate all legitimate complaints which can’t be resolved by our editors and will write adjudications which will be published on this site and given equal prominence to the complained-about article if your complaint is upheld.
The NS Media editorial ombudsman exists to ensure we are keeping to the high journalistic standards we set ourselves and to provide an independent service to readers who feel we have fallen short of those standards.
David Banks is a legally qualified media law expert who offers ombudsman and legal training services to a number of media companies. He is a former co-author of MacNae’s Essential Law for Journalists, the standard textbook on media law, and he has acted as an adviser to the Ministry of Justice. David will adjudicate on complaints by making reference to the Editors’ Code of Practice.
Please note though that in order to engage the services of our ombudsman you must have first tried to get a resolution of your complaint by contacting our editors.
