Today, one of the greatest political journalists of my lifetime retires: Phil Webster, former political editor of The Times, is leaving the newspaper after 43 years. He has been overseeing its online political coverage for the last few years and (until a few days ago) getting up at the crack of dawn to write its morning political email. Now, he has finally called it a day. It’s the end of an era.
When I joined the staff of The Times in the mid-90s, as a business reporter, I used to dream of being in Phil’s team (as did most young reporters that I knew). The closest I ever came was being made Scottish political correspondent – which, admittedly, is not very close. Only when I joined The Scotsman and went to work on its Westminster desk did I get to see Phil at work at close – well, closer – quarters.
The parliamentary press gallery was, then, a strange hierarchical place where twentysomethings from the regional press were usually ignored by Fleet St political editors.
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