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The 2023 Winner Is…
David Conn, The Guardian, for Revealed: Conservative Peer Michelle Mone And Her Family Secretly Received Millions From “Vip Lane” PPE Firm
The Private Eye Paul Foot Award for Investigative and Campaigning Journalism 2023 has been awarded to DAVID CONN, THE GUARDIAN for his entry Revealed: Conservative peer Michelle Mone and her family secretly received millions from “VIP lane” PPE firm.
The Guardian’s David Conn’s winning investigation uncovered how Baroness Mone and her three adult children had been secretly paid £29m from the profits from PPE contracts. The PPE company she was linked to is now under investigation.
Set up in memory of renowned journalist Paul Foot, who died in 2004, the award honours the UK’s most brilliant, talented and determined journalists working in the fields of investigative and campaigning journalism today.
The 2023 awards ceremony was hosted in-person at BAFTA by Private Eye Editor Ian Hislop, who said: “The headline writes itself: “It’s a Conn!”
Pádraig Reidy, Chair of Judges, The Private Eye Paul Foot Award, said: “With so many brilliant stories this year, it was a pleasure to be reminded of the great work done by reporters across the UK. David Conn’s winning investigation stood out for its detail, care and impact – and serves as a reminder that perseverance is one of the most important qualities a reporter can have.”
A piece on the winner will run in print issue 1600 of Private Eye, out Wednesday 14th June.
Interviews with the winner and all the shortlist will also be available to listen to on the Private Eye Page 94 podcast.
THE SHORTLIST NOMINATIONS, IN ALPHABETICAL ORDER BY JOURNALIST
- Phil Coleman, Newsquest Cumbria:
Human rights group condemns “dangerous” police taser use - David Conn, The Guardian:
Revealed: Conservative peer Michelle Mone and her family secretly received millions from “VIP lane” PPE firm - Paul Morgan-Bentley, The Times:
British Gas breaking into the homes of the vulnerable - Gabriel Pogrund & Harry Yorke, The Sunday Times:
The BBC chairman, the prime minister and the £800,000 loan guarantee - Matt Shea, Jamie Tahsin & Tim Hume, Vice News:
The dangerous rise of Andrew Tate - Hannah Summers, The Observer/the Guardian:
The use of unregulated psychologists in the family courts
This year’s judging panel, chaired by Pádraig Reidy, Little Atoms, is comprised of Julia Langdon, Political Journalist and Broadcaster; Sir Simon Jenkins, The Guardian; Helen Lewis, The Atlantic; Francis Wheen, Private Eye (retired); Matt Foot, criminal defence solicitor; Kim Sengupta, The Independent; Janine Gibson, Financial Times; and Hannah Al-Othman and David Collins, The Sunday Times, winners of the 2022 Paul Foot Award.
www.private-eye.co.uk @PrivateEyeNews #paulfootaward
For further information, please contact Amelia Knight, Midas PR
Tel: +44 (0)7771 791 210 / Email: amelia.knight@midaspr.co.uk
