Sam Coates (born 22 April 1978) is a British journalist. He has worked for Sky News since 2019 as their Deputy Political Editor.[1] Coates previously worked as a newspaper journalist for The Times from 2000 until 2019.[2]

Sam Coates
Born
Samuel Coates

(1978-04-22) 22 April 1978 (age 46)
EducationKing's College School
Alma materMagdelene College, Cambridge
OccupationJournalist
Years active2000–present
Employer(s)The Times (2000–2019)
Sky News (2019–present)
TitleDeputy Political Editor, Sky News

Early life and education

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Coates attended King's College School, a private day school in Wimbledon, London until 1996[3] . Coates read English and Social and Political Sciences (SPS) at Magdelene College, Cambridge, graduating in 2000.[4]

Career

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The Times

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Coates joined The Times in 2000 as a graduate trainee, working on the diary, foreign desk, and general reporter.[2] He won the Laurence Stern fellowship in 2005,[5] and worked at The Washington Post during summer 2005.[6] Coates joined The Times' lobby team in 2005 as Chief Political Correspondent, before being promoted to Deputy Political Editor in November 2010. In 2012, Coates spent a year as banking editor of The Times.[7]

During his time working at The Times, he contributed to the 2010 The Times Guide to the House of Commons,[8] and his picture of the 2017 Westminster attack was used on the front cover of the newspaper.[9] His reaction to Boris Johnson ruling himself out in the 2016 Conservative Party leadership election led to Coates featuring in the Daily Mirror and other outlets.[10][11] Coates was said to be "pivotal to The Times' parliamentary coverage" in a 2019 report.[12]

While at The Times, Coates regularly presented BBC Radio 4's Week in Westminster.[13][14] Coates also appeared as a paper reviewer on BBC One's The Andrew Marr Show,[15] Politics Live,[16] and appeared on ABC's Lateline programme in March 2012.[17] He also appeared on ABC's Insiders programme on 2 May 2010 alongside future Sky News colleague Adam Boulton.[18]

Sky News

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In February 2019, it was announced that Coates would be joining Sky News later that year as deputy political editor, replacing Beth Rigby who was promoted to political editor.[19][20] Coates obtained a leaked document regarding the impact of a no-deal Brexit[21] which featured widely in news outlets in the UK and Ireland.[22][23]

In the build-up to Britain's proposed exit from the European Union on the 31 October 2019, Coates participated in Sky News' #Brexplainer feature,[24] and featured in Sky News' 2019 general election overnight coverage.[25][26]

Selected bibliography

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  • Coates, Sam (11 June 2012). "Eight out of ten Britons want a vote on Europe". The Times. Retrieved 21 June 2020.
  • Zeffman, Henry; Coates, Sam (2 August 2018). "Jeremy Corbyn raised Nazi crimes to describe Israel in Gaza". The Times. Retrieved 21 June 2020.
  • Coates, Sam; Walsh, John (7 December 2018). "Warning of food shortages in Ireland". The Times. Retrieved 21 June 2020.
  • Coates, Sam (2 August 2019). "UK faces potential 'consumer panic' and 'security gaps' under no-deal Brexit, says government document". Sky News. Retrieved 16 June 2020.
  • Coates, Sam (30 September 2019). "Brexit is 'unsettling' the civil service, cabinet sec admits in leaked letter". Sky News. Retrieved 21 June 2020.

References

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  1. ^ "Sam Coates". Sky News. Retrieved 3 June 2020.
  2. ^ a b "Sam Coates | The Times & The Sunday Times". www.thetimes.co.uk. Retrieved 3 June 2020.
  3. ^ "Old King's Club Newsletter" (PDF). Old King's Club. January 2022. p. 56. Retrieved 1 June 2024.
  4. ^ "Reporting Change". Magdalene College. Retrieved 3 June 2020.
  5. ^ "Laurence Stern Fellowship at the Washington Post". National Press Foundation. Retrieved 3 June 2020.
  6. ^ Coates, Sam (28 August 2005). "Near the President's Ranch, Protests Expand in the Heat". The Washington Post. Retrieved 3 June 2020.
  7. ^ "Sam Coates appointed banking editor at The Times". ResponseSource. 31 October 2012. Retrieved 3 June 2020.
  8. ^ The Times (2010). The Times Guide to the House of Commons. Times Books. ISBN 978-0-00-735158-9.
  9. ^ Ponsford, Dominic (29 March 2017). "Met Police PR chief says officers were 'extremely upset' by Times front page image". Press Gazette. Retrieved 16 June 2020.
  10. ^ Oakley, Nicola (30 June 2016). "Funniest reactions as Boris Johnson rule himself out as next Prime Minister". Mirror. Retrieved 16 June 2020.
  11. ^ "This week in politics: Accurate at the time of writing". Lexington Communications. 1 July 2016. Retrieved 16 June 2020.
  12. ^ "TOP 50 POLITICAL INFLUENCERS" (PDF). Vuelio. 2019. Retrieved 16 June 2020.
  13. ^ Grafton-Green, Patrick (30 June 2017). "Theresa May's Brexit red lines have left Britain 'hamstrung'". Evening Standard. Retrieved 16 June 2020.
  14. ^ "BBC Radio 4 – The Week in Westminster, 12/01/2019". BBC. Retrieved 16 June 2020.
  15. ^ "BBC One – The Andrew Marr Show, 09/09/2018". BBC. Retrieved 16 June 2020. Reviewing the papers are... Sam Coates, deputy political editor of The Times.
  16. ^ "BBC Two – Politics Live, 23/04/2019". BBC. Retrieved 16 June 2020.
  17. ^ Alberici, Emma (27 March 2012). "The Tories have form here: Coates". Lateline. Australian Broadcasting Corporation. Retrieved 16 June 2020.
  18. ^ Cassidy, Barrie (2 May 2010). "UK set for hung parliament". Insiders. Australian Broadcasting Corporation. Retrieved 16 June 2020.
  19. ^ Tobitt, Charlotte (6 February 2019). "Times deputy political editor Sam Coates moves to Sky News". Press Gazette. Retrieved 3 June 2020.
  20. ^ "Sam Coates appointed Sky News Deputy Political Editor". ResponseSource. 6 February 2019. Retrieved 3 June 2020.
  21. ^ Coates, Sam (2 August 2019). "UK faces potential 'consumer panic' and 'security gaps' under no-deal Brexit, says government document". Sky News. Retrieved 16 June 2020.
  22. ^ Ryan, Órla (2 August 2019). "'Panic' and 'security gaps': Internal British document warns about impact of no-deal Brexit". TheJournal.ie. Retrieved 16 June 2020.
  23. ^ Bush, Stephen (1 August 2019). "What will day one of a no-deal Brexit look like?". New Statesman. Retrieved 16 June 2020.
  24. ^ Allegretti, Aubrey (13 September 2019). "#Brexplainer: Your questions answered simply by the Sky News experts". Sky News. Retrieved 16 June 2020.
  25. ^ Cremona, Patrick (12 December 2019). "How can I watch the General Election?". Radio Times. Retrieved 16 June 2020.
  26. ^ "'The red wall is obliterated': Analysis from Sky's political experts". Sky News. 13 December 2019. Retrieved 16 June 2020.
Media offices
Preceded by Deputy Political Editor of Sky News
2019–present
Incumbent
  NODES
INTERN 1
Note 1