# David Hencke

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British investigative journalist and writer

**David Hencke** ([/ˈhɛŋkiː/](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Help:IPA/English) [*HENK-ee*](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Help:Pronunciation_respelling_key)[1]) is a British investigative journalist and writer, named "Political Journalist of the Year" at the 2012 [British Press Awards](/source/British_Press_Awards).

## Career

Hencke began as a student journalist in 1965 at [Warwick University](/source/Warwick_University) as editor of its first university newspaper, *Giblet*, while studying history and politics. In 1968 he worked for the *[Northamptonshire Evening Telegraph](/source/Northamptonshire_Evening_Telegraph)*, then in 1971 joined the *[Western Mail](/source/Western_Mail_(Wales))* in Cardiff and in 1973 the *[Times Higher Education Supplement](/source/Times_Higher_Education_Supplement)*.[2]

Hencke joined *[The Guardian](/source/The_Guardian)* in 1976,[3] becoming the newspaper's Westminster Correspondent in 1986. He has won numerous awards for his political coverage.[4]

In 1994 he was named *[What the Papers Say](/source/What_the_Papers_Say)* Journalist of the Year for his investigation that uncovered the "[Cash-for-questions affair](/source/Cash-for-questions_affair)". His exposé led to the bankruptcy of Ian Greer Associates, one of the country’s biggest lobbying companies, and the resignations of two junior ministers, [Neil Hamilton](/source/Neil_Hamilton_(politician)) and [Tim Smith](/source/Tim_Smith_(British_politician)).[5][6]

In 1998, Hencke won "Scoop of the Year" for a story that caused the first resignation of [Peter Mandelson](/source/Peter_Mandelson), over a secret undeclared £373,000 home loan given to him by fellow Treasury minister, [Geoffrey Robinson](/source/Geoffrey_Robinson_(politician)).

In 2009, Hencke took voluntary redundancy from *The Guardian* after 33 years. He works as the Westminster correspondent for *[Tribune](/source/Tribune_(magazine))* and an investigative journalist for the (now closed) *[Exaro](/source/Exaro)* website.[6]

In 2012, Hencke was named "Political Journalist of the Year" at the [British Press Awards](/source/British_Press_Awards).[7][8]

In 2014, Hencke was longlisted for the [Orwell Prize](/source/Orwell_Prize) for political journalism.[9]

Hencke manages his blog Westminster Confidential on which he publishes "news, views, investigations and much more",[10] and regularly contributes to *[Byline Times](/source/Byline_Times)*.[11]

## Libel

Former MP [John Hemming](/source/John_Hemming_(politician)) ([Liberal Democrats](/source/Liberal_Democrats_(UK))), who had been falsely accused of abuse in an article in the [Exaro](/source/Exaro) website by Hencke, succeeded in a [libel](/source/Libel) action against him in January 2019, resulting in Hencke and Graham Wilmer of the [Lantern Project](/source/Lantern_Project) paying over £10,000 in compensation for the false allegations.[12] In August 2019, [Staffordshire Police](/source/Staffordshire_Police) confirmed that they were investigating whether Hemming's accuser, Esther Baker, had misled detectives.[13]

## Books

- David Hencke (1976) *Colleges in Crisis*

- David Hencke and [Francis Beckett](/source/Francis_Beckett) (2004) *The Blairs and their court*

- David Hencke (2004) *Marching to the Fault Line*, which examined the 1984 miners' strike

- David Hencke and Francis Beckett (2005) *The Survivor: Tony Blair in peace and war*

## References

1. **[^](#cite_ref-1)** ["David Hencke LIVESTREAM 5pm 12th Jan"](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5XgweL6BXlI). *YouTube*. 12 January 2022. Retrieved 2 December 2022.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-davidhencke-bio_2-0)** ["My Career so far..."](https://davidhencke.com/about/) David Hencke. 7 November 2009. Retrieved 13 August 2018.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-3)** ["David Hencke | the Guardian"](https://www.theguardian.com/profile/davidhencke). *[TheGuardian.com](/source/TheGuardian.com)*.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-guardian-20090619_4-0)** Stephen Brook (19 June 2009). ["Duncan Campbell and David Hencke among those leaving Guardian"](https://www.theguardian.com/media/2009/jun/19/duncan-campell-david-hencke-guardian). *The Guardian*. Retrieved 27 December 2013.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-5)** ["Chronology - How the scandal unfolded"](https://www.theguardian.com/uk/1999/dec/22/hamiltonvalfayed), *The Guardian*, 22 December 1999]

1. ^ [***a***](#cite_ref-pg-20130219_6-0) [***b***](#cite_ref-pg-20130219_6-1) William Turvill (19 February 2013). ["David Hencke: Leveson would have 'seriously damaged' cash-for-questions investigation"](http://www.pressgazette.co.uk/david-hencke-leveson-would-have-seriously-damaged-cash-questions-story). *Press Gazette*. Retrieved 22 April 2013.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-7)** ["David Walsh scoops Journalist of the Year win at British Journalism Awards"](http://www.pressgazette.co.uk/david-walsh-scoops-journalist-year-win-british-journalism-awards), *Press Gazette*, 4 December 2012.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-pg-20130322_8-0)** William Turvill (22 March 2013). ["How David Hencke exposed Whitehall tax avoidance scandal"](http://www.pressgazette.co.uk/how-david-hencke-exposed-whitehall-tax-avoidance-scandal). *Press Gazette*. Retrieved 27 December 2013.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-9)** ["Investigative site Exaro News among nominations for Orwell Prize political journalism award"](http://www.pressgazette.co.uk/investigative-site-exaro-news-among-nominations-orwell-prize-political-journalism-award), *Press Gazette*, 26 March 2014.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-10)** ["Westminster Confidential"](https://davidhencke.com/). *Westminster Confidential*. Retrieved 28 June 2021.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-11)** ["Byline Times: David Hencke"](https://bylinetimes.com/author/davidhencke/). [Archived](https://web.archive.org/web/20190626160715/https://bylinetimes.com/author/davidhencke/) from the original on 26 June 2019.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-12)** Evans, Martin (27 January 2019). ["Former MP falsely accused of abuse wins libel action"](https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2019/01/27/former-mp-falsely-accused-abuse-wins-libel-action/). *The Daily Telegraph*. London. Retrieved 28 July 2019.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-13)** ["Esther Baker: Police investigate woman who said MPs abused her"](https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-england-49349089). *BBC News*. 14 August 2019. Retrieved 16 August 2019.

## External links

- [David Hencke’s blog](http://www.davidhencke.wordpress.com/)

- [Story archive on the Guardian](https://www.theguardian.com/profile/davidhencke/)

- [Story archive on *Exaro*](http://www.exaronews.com/author/david-hencke/)

- [Articles listed on Journalisted](http://journalisted.com/david-hencke/)

- [Exaro, the investigative news website](https://web.archive.org/web/20111202063732/http://www.exaronews.com/)

Authority control databases International VIAF National United States Czech Republic Israel Other Yale LUX

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Adapted from the Wikipedia article [David Hencke](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/David_Hencke) by Wikipedia contributors ([contributor history](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/David_Hencke?action=history)). Available under [Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/). Changes may have been made.