{{Short description|British journalist}} {{Use dmy dates|date=June 2017}} {{Infobox person | honorific_prefix = | name = Isabel Hardman | image = Isabel Hardman (15155890870).jpg | alt = | caption = Hardman chairing a Policy Exchange debate, September 2014 | birth_name = <!-- only use if different from name --> | birth_date = {{Birth date and age |1986|05|5|df=yes}} | birth_place = Camden, London, England | death_date = <!-- {{Death date and age|YYYY|MM|DD|YYYY|MM|DD}} or {{Death-date and age|death date†|birth date†}} --> | death_place = | other_names = | occupation = Journalist | spouse = {{marriage|John Woodcock|2021}} | children = 1 | years_active = | alma_mater = University of Exeter | known_for = Assistant editor, ''The Spectator'' | notable_works = }} '''Isabel Hardman''' (born 5 May 1986),<ref>{{cite tweet|user=IsabelHardman|number=860406771525070848|title=People who don't make a massive deal of their birthdays -even random ones like a 31st, for instance - are in my view quite odd.|first=Isabel|last=Hardman|date=5 May 2017}}</ref> is a British political journalist and the assistant editor of ''The Spectator''. In 2015, she was named Journalist of the Year at the Political Studies Association's annual awards.
==Early life== Born in Camden, Hardman is the daughter of Michael Hardman, the first chairman and one of the four founders of the Campaign for Real Ale.<ref name=Independent>{{cite news |last=Hardman |first=Isabel |date=31 December 2015 |title=The honours system is entrenching elitism in British society by rewarding political work |url=https://www.independent.co.uk/voices/the-honours-system-is-entrenching-elitism-in-british-society-by-rewarding-political-work-a6791276.html |newspaper=The Independent |access-date=26 April 2016}}</ref> She was privately educated at St Catherine's School, Bramley, and then state educated at Godalming College, before graduating from the University of Exeter with a first-class degree in English literature in 2007.<ref name=GQ/><ref name=NCTJ>{{cite web|url=http://www.nctj.com/isabel-hardman|title=Isabel Hardman|access-date= 6 April 2021|publisher=National Council for the Training of Journalists}}</ref> While at university, Hardman worked as a freelance journalist for ''The Observer''.<ref name=Fees>{{cite news |last=Hardman |first=Isabel |date=17 September 2006 |title=Are students getting value for their £9,000 ? |url=https://www.theguardian.com/money/2006/sep/17/tuitionfees.students |newspaper=The Observer |access-date=26 April 2016}}</ref> She completed a National Council for the Training of Journalists course at Highbury College in 2009.<ref name=NCTJ/>
==Career== Hardman began her career in journalism as a senior reporter for ''Inside Housing'' magazine. She then became assistant news editor at PoliticsHome, moving to ''The Spectator'' in 2012. Hardman also wrote a column for the ''Evening Standard''<ref>{{Cite web|title=Isabel Hardman {{!}} Evening Standard|url=https://www.standard.co.uk/author/isabel-hardman|access-date=2021-03-07|website=www.standard.co.uk|language=en}}</ref> on nature in London from 2020, until 2021.
She is an assistant editor of ''The Spectator''.<ref name=CHBlog>{{cite web|url=https://blogs.spectator.co.uk/author/isabel-hardman/|title=Isabel Hardman|work=Spectator Blogs}}</ref> She has also written columns for the ''i paper''<ref>{{Cite web|title=Isabel Hardman, Author at inews.co.uk|url=https://inews.co.uk/author/isabel-hardman|access-date=2021-03-07|website=inews.co.uk|language=en}}</ref> on health policy. In radio, she is a presenter of the BBC Radio 4 programme ''Week in Westminster''<ref name="GQ" /> and in early July 2023, she became political commentator at Times Radio.
In television, she has appeared on programmes such as ''Question Time'',<ref>{{cite news |date=13 December 2013 |title=Westminster political week round up with Isabel Hardman |url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/av/uk-politics-25360698 |work=BBC News |access-date=26 April 2016}}</ref> ''The Andrew Marr Show'' and ''Have I Got News for You''.<ref>7 October 2022 https://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/live/bbcone?rewindTo=current</ref><ref>{{cite tweet| user=haveigotnews| number=918915241190100993| date=October 13, 2017| title=Tonight @RichardAyoade hosts #HIGNFY, with guest panellists @IsabelHardman and Andy Hamilton. @BBCOne, 9pm| author=HaveIGotNewsForYou}}</ref>
Hardman has also written books. In 2018, she released ''Why We Get The Wrong Politicians'', this was followed by ''The Natural Health Service'', in 2020, and ''Fighting for Life'' in 2023.<ref>{{Cite web|title= Fighting for Life by Isabel Hardman; Our NHS by Andrew Seaton review – the NHS at 75|first=Rafael|last=Behr|url=https://www.theguardian.com/books/2023/jun/17/fighting-for-life-by-isabel-hardman-our-nhs-by-andrew-seaton-review-the-nhs-at-75|website=The Guardian|language=en}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|first=Kate|last=Kellaway|title= The Well Gardened Mind by Sue Stuart-Smith; The Natural Health Service by Isabel Hardman – review|url=https://www.theguardian.com/books/2020/may/04/the-well-gardened-mind-by-sue-stuart-smith-the-natural-health-service-by-isabel-hardman-review |website=The Guardian|language=en}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|first=Andrew|last=Rawnsley|title= Why We Get the Wrong Politicians by Isabel Hardman review – the travails of being an MP|url=https://www.theguardian.com/books/2018/sep/02/why-we-get-the-wrong-politicians-isabel-hardman-review |website=The Guardian|language=en}}</ref> ''Why We Get The Wrong Politicians'' won the award for best political book by a non-parliamentarian at the Parliamentary Book Awards 2018. That year, it was also shortlisted for the Waterstones Book of the Year award and the Orwell Prize.<ref>{{Cite web|title=Why We Get the Wrong Politicians|url=https://atlantic-books.co.uk/book/why-we-get-the-wrong-politicians/ |website=atlantic-books.co.uk/|language=en}}</ref>
In September 2014, ''GQ'' magazine named her as one of their 100 most connected women in Britain,<ref name=GQ>{{cite web |url=http://www.gq-magazine.co.uk/comment/articles/2014-09/29/100-most-connected-women-2014 |title=GQ and Editorial Intelligence's 100 Most Connected Women 2014 |newspaper=GQ}}</ref> and in December 2015, she was named "Journalist of the Year" at the Political Studies Association's annual awards.<ref>{{cite news |last=Nelson |first=Fraser |author-link=Fraser Nelson |url=http://blogs.spectator.co.uk/2015/12/the-spectators-isabel-hardman-named-journalist-of-the-year/ |title=The Spectator's Isabel Hardman named Journalist of the Year |date=1 December 2015 |access-date=3 December 2015 |newspaper=The Spectator |archive-date=3 January 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160103163537/http://blogs.spectator.co.uk/2015/12/the-spectators-isabel-hardman-named-journalist-of-the-year/ |url-status=dead }}</ref>
==Personal life== In April 2016, Hardman tweeted that a male member of Parliament had referred to her as "the totty" and that she had reported him to the whips. She was not intending to name the man<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/women/politics/mp-apologises-for-calling-female-political-journalist-totty/|title=MP apologises for calling female political journalist 'totty'.|work=The Daily Telegraph|date=13 April 2016|access-date=15 April 2016}}</ref> who was subsequently reported to be the Conservative MP Bob Stewart.<ref>{{cite news |last=Allegretti |first=Aubrey |date=14 April 2016 |title=Bob Stewart MP Dismisses Row Over 'Totty' Slur As 'Political Correctness' |url=https://www.huffingtonpost.co.uk/entry/bob-stewart-mp-dismisses-row-over-totty-slur-as-political-correctness_uk_570fe933e4b0ca84d5b58b3c |newspaper=The Huffington Post |access-date=15 April 2016}}</ref>
Hardman has written about suffering from depression, and in October 2016 wrote that she had stopped working temporarily due to anxiety and depression.<ref name="How we do (and don't but should) treat depression">{{cite web|last1=Hardman|first1=Isabel|title=How we do (and don't but should) treat depression|url=https://medium.com/@IsabelHardman/how-we-do-and-dont-but-should-treat-depression-2c401877ff02#.wp68sa1h4|website=Medium|access-date=31 October 2016}}</ref> She has said that, in 2017, she was diagnosed with post-traumatic stress disorder, due to a serious trauma in her personal life.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/2020/dec/28/giving-birth-seemed-to-spell-disaster-for-my-mental-health-were-my-anxieties-unfounded|title=Giving birth seemed to spell disaster for my mental health. Were my anxieties unfounded?|last=Hardman|first=Isabel|date=28 December 2020|access-date=28 December 2020|work=The Guardian}}</ref> She wrote that her recovery was partly down to time spent outdoors: she is a cold-water swimmer, and in 2019 ran the London Marathon for Refuge, raising £37,000 for the charity.
Hardman began a relationship with the politician John Woodcock in summer 2016.<ref>Isabel Hardman,[https://medium.com/@IsabelHardman/the-1950s-phoned-c43220795e64], 'Medium', 30 March 2018</ref><ref name=politico-20170913>{{cite news |url=https://www.politico.eu/article/uk-westminster-power-couples/ |title=Westminster's power couples |last=Dickson |first=Annabelle |newspaper=POLITICO |date=13 September 2017 |access-date=30 March 2018}}</ref> In November 2019, Woodcock announced he and Hardman were expecting a child.<ref>{{cite tweet|title=I've decided not to re-stand in the general election because @IsabelHardman and I are having a baby|number=1191352598147878913|first=John|last=Woodcock|user=JZWoodcock|date=4 November 2019 |access-date=4 November 2019}}</ref> Hardman gave birth to a son on 12 May 2020.<ref name="Twitter 13 May 2020">{{cite tweet |user=IsabelHardman |number=1260525770902028289 |title=Our son, Jacob Arran Henry Woodcock, arrived safely last night |last=Hardman |first=Isabel |date=13 May 2020 |access-date=3 April 2021}}</ref> On 30 July 2021, the couple married.<ref>{{cite news |last1=Taylor |first1=Dan |title=Lord Walney 'over the moon' after marrying Isabel Hardman |url=https://www.nwemail.co.uk/news/19483540.lord-walney-over-moon-marrying-isabel-hardman/ |access-date=24 August 2021 |work=The Mail |date=1 August 2021}}</ref>
== Bibliography ==
* Hardman, Isabel (2018), ''Why We Get the Wrong Politicians'', Atlantic Books, London, UK {{ISBN|978-1782399735}} * Hardman, Isabel (2020), ''The Natural Health Service'', Atlantic Books, London, UK {{ISBN|978-1786495907}} * Hardman, Isabel (2023), ''Fighting for Life'', Viking, Edinburgh, UK {{ISBN|978-0241504345}}
==References== {{Reflist|30em}}
==External links== *[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rGycOOTTxsI Isabel Hardman talking about her career]
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Hardman, Isabel}} Category:Living people Category:Alumni of the University of Exeter Category:English political journalists Category:People educated at St Catherine's School, Bramley Category:People from the London Borough of Camden Category:The Spectator people Category:Spouses of life peers Category:1986 births