We are delighted to announce that Rafael Behr is joining the New Statesman in June as chief political commentator. He is at present chief leader writer of the Observer and before that was at the Financial Times.
He will join an award-winning politics team, led by Mehdi Hasan, senior editor, politics; George Eaton (The Staggers rolling blog); and Jonathan Derbyshire, culture editor and our in-house political philosopher.
Jason Cowley, editor of the New Statesman, said: “This is an exciting period of expansion and development for both the New Statesman magazine and newstatesman.com. Rafael, who is a first-rate writer and journalist, will further strengthen the team. He will write a weekly Westminster column as well as essays and reports for the magazine, and contribute to The Staggers blog.”
Rafael Behr said: “The Statesman is a great magazine, occupying a unique place in Britain’s political and intellectual landscape. It is produced by an immensely talented team of journalists and I feel privileged to be joining them.”