Ian Hislop

Satirical comedian, editor, television and radio presenter · United Kingdom · On the map · Comedians · Born 1960 · age 66

Ian David Hislop is a British journalist, satirist and television personality. He is the editor of the satirical magazine Private Eye, a position he has held since 1986.

Ian Hislop is read about 1,308 times a day, in 9 languages.

A typical day, 30 days to 13 November 2026

The middle day of the days counted, so one week of news cannot move it. The line under it is the last 117 days, one point a day.

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A life in dates

2013“In Britain we have a free press. It's not a pretty press, but it's free. The people who can't bear the Daily Mail, they say: 'you should ban it'. No no, no no, you don't ban it...”In their words11 October 2013On Have I Got News For YouRead the whole statement

2012“I do have a residual belief that, if at all possible, you should try not to mock the weak.”In their words29 November 2012The Daily TelegraphRead the whole statement

2007“The trouble about working on a tabloid is that they tend to be run by bullies.”In their words9 February 2007Room 101, BBCRead the whole statement

2006“Boris Johnson, people always ask me the same question, they say, 'Is Boris a very very clever man pretending to be an idiot?' And I always say, 'No.”In their words19 November 2006Parkinson, ITVRead the whole statement

1960Born13 July 1960

People around Ian

Also in Deutsch Français

Media & music

Photos 5

Ardingly College in West Sussex

Hislop at a Private Eye book signing in 2009

Hislop speaking at An Evening With Private Eye in 2023

Hislop chatting with a resident at Nightingale House, Wandsworth Common, London, 2008

In their own words 2

Ian Hislop

2 statements, newest first

If this is justice, I am a banana.
Statement to the press outside court, following losing a libel action brought by Sonia Sutcliffe, wife of serial killer Peter Sutcliffe,, Own words
For fifty years Private Eye has pretty much in most issues exposed a miscarriage of justice, and a lot of them have been murders.
On capital punishment in the United Kingdom in response to its advocacy by Priti Patel MP (later Conservative Home Secretary) on Question, Own words

Wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0

About this person

He has appeared on many radio and television programmes and has been a team captain on the BBC satirical quiz show Have I Got News for You since its inception in 1990 and remains the only person to appear in all of its episodes as the other team captain Paul Merton didn't appear in 7 of the 8 episodes of series 11 (1996). Hislop has frequently been involved in legal battles, as Private Eye has often been sued for libel over the years.

Country

United Kingdom