View all newsletters
Sign up for our free email newsletters

Fighting for quality news media in the digital age.

  1. News
March 20, 2019updated 30 Sep 2022 7:32am

Digital media strategist Jimmy Leach joins Huffpost UK as new editor-in-chief

By Freddy Mayhew

Former Number Ten digital communications boss Jimmy Leach has been named as the next Huffpost UK editor-in-chief, while head of news Jess Brammar steps up as executive editor.

Leach replaces Polly Curtis who left the news website suddenly last year.

He previously worked as digital editorial director at The Independent in 2008 and prior to that spent six years as an executive editor at the Guardian.

He has also worked as head of digital communications at Number Ten and head of digital engagement at the Foreign Office.

Leach currently runs his own digital communications firm, Zinzan Digital, also working as a consultant in this field, and is head of crowdfunding at publisher Unbound.

Press Gazette understands he will leave these roles when he starts at Huffpost UK on 1 April.

Said Leach: “I have been so impressed by all the great reporting by the team and recent projects that look beyond the London bubble, which we so often focus on as an industry. It is a challenging but also a very exciting time for journalism, and I am excited by what we are going to do as a team.”

Content from our partners
How PA Media is helping newspapers make the digital transition
Publishing on the open web is broken, how generative AI could help fix it
Impress: Regulation, arbitration and complaints resolution

Brammar, who joined Huffpost UK last year from BBC Newsnight where she was acting editor, will be responsible for all editorial output and standards at the news website.

Louise Roug, international director of Huffpost, said: “I’m thrilled to welcome Jimmy to Huffpost at this exciting time for our UK newsroom.

“With Brexit exclusives, engaging Life coverage, and in-depth projects, such as the collaboration with The Bureau of Investigative Journalism which found that local councils have been selling libraries, health clinics and community centres to fund job cuts, the UK team continues to cover the issues that matter most to our audience, and I’m sure Jimmy’s strategic mind and digital experience will further help HuffPost grow in the UK.”

HuffPost UK is part of Verizon Media (formerly Oath) and launched in 2011 with a team of six.

Topics in this article :

Email pged@pressgazette.co.uk to point out mistakes, provide story tips or send in a letter for publication on our "Letters Page" blog

Select and enter your email address Weekly insight into the big strategic issues affecting the future of the news industry. Essential reading for media leaders every Thursday. Your morning brew of news about the world of news from Press Gazette and elsewhere in the media. Sent at around 10am UK time. Our weekly does of strategic insight about the future of news media aimed at US readers. A fortnightly update from the front-line of news and advertising. Aimed at marketers and those involved in the advertising industry.
  • Business owner/co-owner
  • CEO
  • COO
  • CFO
  • CTO
  • Chairperson
  • Non-Exec Director
  • Other C-Suite
  • Managing Director
  • President/Partner
  • Senior Executive/SVP or Corporate VP or equivalent
  • Director or equivalent
  • Group or Senior Manager
  • Head of Department/Function
  • Manager
  • Non-manager
  • Retired
  • Other
Visit our privacy Policy for more information about our services, how New Statesman Media Group may use, process and share your personal data, including information on your rights in respect of your personal data and how you can unsubscribe from future marketing communications.
Thank you

Thanks for subscribing.

Websites in our network