Allegra Stratton | |
---|---|
Downing Street Press Secretary | |
In office 8 October 2020 – 20 April 2021 | |
Prime Minister | Boris Johnson |
Preceded by | Rob Oxley |
Succeeded by | Rosie Bate-Williams[1] |
Personal details | |
Born | Allegra Elizabeth Jane Stratton 10 April 1980 Nottingham, England |
Political party | Conservative |
Spouse | |
Children | 2 |
Alma mater | Emmanuel College, Cambridge |
Occupation |
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Allegra Elizabeth Jane Stratton (born 10 April 1980) is a British former political aide, journalist, and writer who served as Downing Street Press Secretary under Boris Johnson from November 2020 to April 2021.
Stratton worked for The Guardian as a political correspondent until joining the BBC in 2012, where she was political editor of BBC Two's Newsnight from 2012 to 2016. She worked for ITV as national editor of ITV News from 2016 to 2018 and co-presenter of Peston on Sunday from 2016 to 2018. After leaving journalism, she became a spokesperson for the British government. She was Chancellor Rishi Sunak's Director of Strategic Communications at the Treasury from April until October 2020, when she became the press secretary for 10 Downing Street.
In April 2021, Stratton was appointed as spokesperson for COP26 President Alok Sharma. She resigned from this post in December 2021 after footage was released of her at a December 2020 press conference rehearsal, in which she joked with colleagues about a Christmas party that secretly took place at 10 Downing Street while the country was in a COVID-19 lockdown.