Rachel Johnson

Often known as the sister of former Prime Minister Boris Johnson, Rachel Johnson has a successful career away from politics.

As a journalist, Rachel became the Financial Times’ first female graduate trainee in 23. Since then, she has gone on to write for numerous publications, host her own radio shows, edit The Lady magazine, appear on television programmes, and release several successful books.

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More About Rachel Johnson

Rachel Johnson joined the Financial Times in 1989 as a graduate trainee, where she wrote mainly about the economy and finances. During this time, she spent a year seconded to the Foreign Office’s Policy Planning team before moving to work for the BBC until 1997.

Her time as a journalist has seen her work both in the UK and America, where she was based in Washington DC as a freelance columnist. She has since written regular columns for The Daily Telegraph, The Evening Standard, The Mail on Sunday and The Sunday Times, as well as pieces for The Big Issue, Easy Living, The Oldie and She magazines. She was the Editor of the popular weekly magazine The Lady from 2009 to 2012. Her efforts to boost the magazine’s popularity were the subject of the documentary, The Lady and the Revamp, shown on Channel 4 in 2010. Following her departure, she made her own documentary entitled How to Be a Lady: An Elegant History (2012).

Rachel Johnson Media Career

Her expertise is in high demand and has seen her be a judge for the BBC Woman’s Hour 2014 power list, sit on the boards of Bright Blue, and Intelligence Squared, and appear as a panellist for Sky News’ debate show, The Pledge (2016).

Her success in journalism and outspoken nature has seen her appear on television programmes, including Question Time (2008-2015), Have I Got News For You (2012-2019), Pointless Celebrities (2014-2020), Celebrity Mastermind (2021), Loose Women (2020-2021), Celebrity Best Home Cook (2021), Celebrity Big Brother (2018), and Celebrity University Challenge (2012-2013).

As well as a frequent face on our TV screens, Rachel can also be heard on the radio, presenting her own Sunday night show on LBC Radio. In 2020, she launched the podcast Rachel Johnson’s Difficult Women, where she talks to women who “had to be a pain in the backside to get where they are today”. Guests have included presenters, authors, chefs, and politicians such as Joan Bakewell, Prue Leith, Yvette Cooper, Edwina Currie, Lionel Shriver, Anne Robinson, and Delia Smith.

Rachel Johnson Author

Rachel is also a very successful author of fiction and non-fiction books, having published 11 books since 1988, including:

– The Oxford Myth (1988)

– The Mummy Diaries (2004)

– Notting Hell (2006)

– In a Good Place (2009)

– A Diary of The Lady, My First Year as Editor (2010)

– A Diary of The Lady, My First Year and a Half (2011)

– Shire Hell (2011)

– Winter Games (2012)

– Fresh Hell (2015)

– Rake’s Progress: My Political Midlife Crisis (2020)

– Rake’s Progress: The Madcap True Tale of My Political Midlife Crisis (2021)

Rachel Johnson Books

Two further books are due for release in 2024 and 2025, respectively.

Whilst not predominately known for her political involvement, she was a member of the Conservative Party from 2008-2011 and then the Liberal Democrats in the run-up to the 2017 General Election. She then joined the party Change UK for the 2019 European Parliament Election thanks to their anti-Brexit manifesto.