# Katy Balls

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British journalist (born 1989)

This article is about the British journalist. For the American swimmer, see [Catie Ball](/source/Catie_Ball). For the British rower, see [Katie Ball](/source/Katie_Ball).

Katy Balls Balls in 2020 Born (1989-02-12) 12 February 1989 (age 37)[1] Aberdeen, Scotland Alma mater University of Durham Occupation Journalist Years active 2013–present Employer The Times

**Kathryn Balls**[2] (born 12 February 1989) is a British journalist. She is Washington editor for *[The Times](/source/The_Times)*[3] having previously been political editor of *[The Spectator](/source/The_Spectator)*.[4][5]

## Early life

Born in [Aberdeen](/source/Aberdeen),[6] Balls grew up in [North Berwick](/source/North_Berwick) and attended [North Berwick High School](/source/North_Berwick_High_School).[7][8][9] She studied at the [University of Durham](/source/University_of_Durham), where she wrote for the university paper *[Palatinate](/source/Palatinate_(newspaper))* on travel and music.[10][11][12] She graduated from Durham with a [2:1](/source/2%3A1) degree in Philosophy in 2010.[13]

## Career

Balls' media career began at *[The Daily Telegraph](/source/The_Daily_Telegraph)* with the Mandrake column.[14][15] She was the diary editor at *[The Spectator](/source/The_Spectator)*, becoming their political correspondent in December 2016 and was promoted to deputy political editor in January 2019,[16][17][18] rising to political editor in January 2023.[19] She was also a regular contributor of columns to [The Guardian](/source/The_Guardian) and [Tatler.](/source/Tatler)[3]

Balls wrote a fortnightly column on Westminster politics for the [*i (newspaper)*](/source/I_(newspaper)).[20] Her column was nominated for Political Commentary of the Year at the 2017 [Press Awards](/source/The_Press_Awards).[21] She hosts a [podcast](/source/Podcast) entitled *Women With Balls*.[22] Balls has made several television appearances, including *[The Bolt Report](/source/The_Bolt_Report)*, *[Good Morning Britain](/source/Good_Morning_Britain_(2014_TV_programme))*, [Sky News](/source/Sky_News), *[Politics Live](/source/Politics_Live)*, *[The Andrew Marr Show](/source/The_Andrew_Marr_Show)*, [Question Time](/source/Question_Time_(TV_programme)) and *[Have I Got News for You](/source/Have_I_Got_News_for_You)*.[23][24]

On 21 February 2025, Balls joined *[The Times](/source/The_Times)* and *[The Sunday Times](/source/The_Sunday_Times)* becoming their Washington editor and columnist.[3] She has been a studio guest on [GB News](/source/GB_News)'s *The Late Show Live*, broadcast to the UK, from Washington.[*[citation needed](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:Citation_needed)*]

## Personal life

Balls is married to Max Bye, son of [Ruby Wax](/source/Ruby_Wax) and [Ed Bye](/source/Ed_Bye).[25][26]

## References

1. **[^](#cite_ref-1)** Balls, Katy [@katyballs] (12 February 2023). ["Birthday cake for breakfast thanks to the Andrew Neil show"](https://twitter.com/katyballs/status/1624742776037408776) ([Tweet](/source/Tweet_(social_media))) – via [Twitter](/source/Twitter).

1. **[^](#cite_ref-2)** ["Registers published in 2024"](https://www.parliament.uk/mps-lords-and-offices/standards-and-financial-interests/parliamentary-commissioner-for-standards/registers-of-interests/register-of-journalists-interests/registers-published-in-2024/). *www.parliament.uk*.

1. ^ [***a***](#cite_ref-:0_3-0) [***b***](#cite_ref-:0_3-1) [***c***](#cite_ref-:0_3-2) redondo, alberto (21 February 2025). ["Katy Balls joins The Times and The Sunday Times"](https://www.news.co.uk/latest-news/katy-balls-joins-the-times-and-the-sunday-times-as-washington-editor/). *News UK*. Retrieved 7 June 2025.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-4)** Seldon, Anthony (7 November 2019). [*May at 10*](https://books.google.com/books?id=tf67DwAAQBAJ&q=%22Katy+Balls%22&pg=PT329). Biteback Publishing. [ISBN](/source/ISBN_(identifier)) [9781785905285](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Special:BookSources/9781785905285) – via Google Books.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-5)** Martin, Stephen; Marks, Joseph (19 September 2019). [*Messengers: Who We Listen To, Who We Don't, And Why*](https://books.google.com/books?id=RVJfDwAAQBAJ&q=%22Katy+Balls%22&pg=PT147). Random House. [ISBN](/source/ISBN_(identifier)) [9781473560727](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Special:BookSources/9781473560727) – via Google Books.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-6)** Balls, Katy (8 September 2017). ["Could an Englishman ever be First Minister of Scotland?"](https://spectator.com/article/could-an-englishman-ever-be-first-minister-of-scotland-/). *The Spectator*. Retrieved 14 January 2026.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-7)** Balls, Katy [@katyballs] (28 November 2019). ["Thanks John, I was born in Aberdeen and lived in Scotland until I was 18"](https://twitter.com/katyballs/status/1200094019143028736) (Tweet) – via Twitter.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-8)** Balls, Katy [@katyballs] (24 July 2019). ["Rephrase: Looking forward to returning to my home town North Berwick next month to interview David Mundell for @fringebythesea2"](https://twitter.com/katyballs/status/1154091711439749122) ([Tweet](/source/Tweet_(social_media))) – via [Twitter](/source/Twitter).

1. **[^](#cite_ref-9)** ["Dance music legends Groove Armada to play Fringe by the Sea 2019"](https://www.eastlothiancourier.com/news/17686632.dance-music-legends-groove-armada-to-play-fringe-by-the-sea-2019/). *East Lothian Courier*. 6 June 2019.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-10)** ["Palatinate Edition 706, Friday 13th March 2009"](https://issuu.com/palatinate/docs/706). *Issuu*. 29 March 2009.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-11)** ["Palatinate Issue 715"](https://issuu.com/palatinate/docs/715). *Issuu*. 8 February 2010.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-12)** ["Enter Exit: Discover Serbia"](https://www.palatinate.org.uk/enter-exit-discover-serbia/). 25 November 2009.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-13)** ["Official Results List"](https://web.archive.org/web/20100626115303/http://www.dur.ac.uk:80/spa/assessment/passlists/?pdf=1708). [Durham University](/source/Durham_University). 21 June 2010. p. 1. Archived from [the original](http://www.dur.ac.uk:80/spa/assessment/passlists/?pdf=1708) on 26 June 2010.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-14)** Ponsford, Dominic (23 October 2014). ["Telegraph plan to axe Mandrake diary column and long-serving editor Tim Walker"](https://www.pressgazette.co.uk/telegraph-plan-axe-mandrake-diary-column-and-long-serving-editor-tim-walker/). *Press Gazette*.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-15)** Balls, Katy (25 June 2013). ["Manchester University spends over £5,000 on University Challenge catering"](https://www.telegraph.co.uk/education/educationnews/10139677/Manchester-University-spends-over-5000-on-University-Challenge-catering.html) – via www.telegraph.co.uk.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-16)** ["The Spectator gains Political Correspondent"](https://www.responsesource.com/bulletin/news/spectator-gains-new-political-correspondent/). *www.responsesource.com*. 19 December 2016. Retrieved 28 September 2020.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-17)** Nelson, Fraser (13 February 2018). ["Katy Balls nominated for Political Commentator of the Year"](https://spectator.com/article/katy-balls-nominated-for-political-commentator-of-the-year/). *The Spectator*. Retrieved 14 January 2026.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-18)** Amos-Sansam, Nate. ["Katy Balls appointed deputy political editor at The Spectator"](https://www.responsesource.com/bulletin/news/katy-balls-appointed-deputy-political-editor-at-the-spectator/). ResponseSource. Retrieved 4 May 2021.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-19)** [Nelson, Fraser \[@FraserNelson\]](/source/Fraser_Nelson) (4 January 2023). ["Katy Balls is the new political editor of The Spectator"](https://twitter.com/FraserNelson/status/1610664829546635265) (Tweet) – via Twitter.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-20)** ["Katy Balls - inews.co.uk"](https://inews.co.uk/author/katy-balls). *inews.co.uk*.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-21)** Team, i (13 February 2018). ["i nominated for six prestigious journalism awards"](https://inews.co.uk/news/media/i-nominated-six-prestigious-journalism-awards/). *inews.co.uk*. Retrieved 15 February 2019.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-22)** ["Katy Balls"](https://www.battleofideas.org.uk/speaker/katy-balls/). *www.battleofideas.org.uk*. Retrieved 28 September 2020.[*[permanent dead link](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:Link_rot)*]

1. **[^](#cite_ref-23)** ["Katy Balls"](https://www.imdb.com/name/nm9058871/). *IMDb*. [*[unreliable source?](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:Reliable_sources)*]

1. **[^](#cite_ref-24)** Darvill, Josh (7 May 2020). ["Who's on Have I Got News For You? 2020 continues tonight with these guests"](https://tellymix.co.uk/tv/437671-whos-on-have-i-got-news-for-you-2020-continues-tonight-with-these-guests-may7.html). *TellyMix*.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-25)** Brown, Mick (24 April 2020). ["Ruby Wax: 'We're in survival mode, fight or flight, after this the shocks will come'"](https://www.telegraph.co.uk/women/life/ruby-wax-survival-mode-fight-flight-shocks-will-come/). *The Telegraph*. [ISSN](/source/ISSN_(identifier)) [0307-1235](https://search.worldcat.org/issn/0307-1235). Retrieved 7 March 2021.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-26)** Nelson, Fraser (15 July 2021). ["Is it up to the state to tackle obesity?"](https://www.spectator.co.uk/podcast/is-it-up-to-the-state-to-tackle-obesity-). *The Spectator*. Retrieved 21 July 2021.

## External links

- [Katy Balls](https://www.imdb.com/name/nm9058871/) at [IMDb](/source/IMDb_(identifier))

- [Katy Balls](https://x.com/katyballs) on [X](/source/X_(social_network))

Media offices Preceded by James Forsyth Political Editor of The Spectator 2023–2025 Vacant

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