Peter Wilby

Peter John Wilby (born 7 November 1944) is a British journalist and convicted sex offender.

In 1968, he began his career as a reporter on The Observer, becoming Education Correspondent four years later.^[3] In the same role, he worked for the New Statesman (1975–77), and for The Sunday Times (1977–86).^[3]

Wilby joined The Independent on Sunday in 1990 and eventually became its editor (1995–96).^{[citation needed]}

New Statesman editor

Wilby was the editor of the New Statesman from 1998 to 2005.

In February 2002, Wilby apologised and took personal responsibility for running the cover of the 14 January 2002 issue.

Wilby's deputy, Cristina Odone, resigned in early November 2004 for unconnected reasons, although she did object to the cover.^[12] Odone and Wilby praised each other in the media and denied having had a row,^[11] although claims of such professional disagreements, quoting Odone herself, were made in the press.^[13] Wilby, she said, was "the old-fashioned socialist who" remained "true to his ideals".^[14]

Wilby himself was dismissed from the post of editor in 2005 by then-owner Geoffrey Robinson.^[10] As a result of the magazine being unsympathetic to New Labour, Cristina Odone wrote in The Observer that she believed Wilby was pushed out of his post in preparation for Gordon Brown becoming prime minister.^[15] Wilby was the longest serving editor of the New Statesman since Kingsley Martin, who had retired from the post in 1960.^[16][17]

While circulation was much the same when he assumed the role as when he relinquished it in 2005, Wilby wrote in an article for the British Journalism Review that he managed to turn "a substantial financial loss into a healthy operating profit".^[16][17]

Later career

Wilby continued to write a weekly "First Thoughts" column for the New Statesman. He also wrote for The Observer and