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November 13, 2007

Roberts aims to focus on politics more relevant to Mirror readers

By Press Gazette

The Daily Mirror’s new political editor Bob Roberts said he wants to put together a new team that will focus on politics that are more relevant to readers.

James Lyons has joined the Mirror team as political correspondent from the Daily Record and Roberts is currently searching for a deputy political editor. Daily Mirror political reporter Rosa Prince was poached by The Daily Telegraph in October.

Roberts told Press Gazette: ‘The priority for us will be getting together a team that will write about politics in a way that is relevant to readers. There is a lot of Westminster Village stuff which is written about from Parliament.

‘We have always tried to do that at the Mirror but I think across all papers there has been too much written on insider gossip and the ups and downs and not enough about how politics affects people’s lives.”

Roberts was promoted to political editor this week when Oonagh Blackman stepped down after 11 years at the paper. Blackman had strong contacts within the Blair administration, while Roberts has particularly strong Brown contacts. Roberts said Blackman’s departure was unrelated to a change of government.

l Sunday Times political editor David Cracknell is leaving the paper after being headhunted to join lobby firm FD-LLM as chairman.

The move follows the appointment of Marie Woolf, formerly political editor of the Independent on Sunday, as associate editor (politics).

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Cracknell is expected to move on in January and a successor has yet to be appointed. In 2004, Sunday Times chief political correspondent Eben Black left to become head of media at public affairs business DLA Upstream.

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