Nick Cohen
Nick Cohen | |
|---|---|
| Born | 1961 Stockport, Cheshire, England |
| Occupation(s) | Author, political analyst, journalist |
| Years active | 1990s–present |
| Known for | Columns for The Observer and The Spectator; author of political books |
Nicholas Cohen (born 1961) is a British author, political analyst, and journalist. Previously a columnist for The Observer, he now contributes to The Spectator. Following allegations of sexual misconduct, he departed from The Observer in 2022 and subsequently initiated an online newsletter.
Early life
Born in Stockport, Cheshire, England, Cohen grew up in Manchester. His father was of Jewish heritage. He attended Altrincham Grammar School for Boys before pursuing Philosophy, Politics and Economics (PPE) at Hertford College, Oxford.
Career
Cohen started his journalism career at the Sutton Coldfield News and later joined the Birmingham Post. By 1996, he was contributing to both The Independent and The Observer. His work has appeared in publications such as Time, Independent on Sunday, the London Review of Books, the London Evening Standard, the New Statesman, and The New European.
In August 2022, following public accusations of sexual harassment made by barrister Jolyon Maugham and journalist Lucy Siegle, Guardian News and Media (GNM) suspended Cohen’s column in The Observer pending an inquiry. Siegle also criticized GNM’s handling of her 2018 complaint, recounting her experience in an article for The New European.
Cohen’s final column for The Observer was published in July 2022. By January 2023, he had left the newspaper amid several allegations from former female colleagues but attributed his departure to "health reasons". In May 2023, additional allegations emerged, with reports emphasizing the British media’s restrained coverage. It was also disclosed that the Financial Times had previously opted not to publish similar claims due to editorial judgments.
Domestic
In August 2014, Cohen was one of 200 signatories of a letter published in The Guardian opposing Scottish independence prior to the September referendum. That same year, he criticized the UK Independence Party and its leader Nigel Farage in his columns for The Observer, a stance that contributed to him receiving the Commentator Award from the European Press Prize in 2015.
Foreign policy
Described by The Independent as a left-leaning journalist whose endorsement of removing Saddam Hussein marked a departure from traditional leftist positions, Cohen prioritizes opposition to authoritarian regimes. According to The Isis Magazine, he evolved from a committed left-winger into a critic of what he perceives as the Western left's drift toward relativism and anti-globalism.
Although initially critical of Tony Blair's foreign policy, Cohen changed his stance after 2001 by supporting the 2003 invasion of Iraq and opposing the Stop the War Coalition. He endorsed the NATO-led mission in Libya aimed at toppling Muammar Gaddafi and advocated for Western military involvement in the Syrian Civil War during 2012.
In 2006, Cohen was among the principal signatories of the Euston Manifesto, which called for a renewed political consensus favoring military intervention and rejecting perceived anti-American tendencies within left-wing circles.
Works
He has written five books centered on political and societal analysis: Cruel Britannia: Reports on the Sinister and the Preposterous (1999), which compiles his journalistic pieces; Pretty Straight Guys (2003), offering a critical examination of the New Labour initiative; What's Left? (2007), an evaluation of the modern liberal left that was shortlisted for the Orwell Prize; Waiting for the Etonians: Reports from the Sickbed of Liberal England (2009); and You Can't Read this Book (2012), which explores issues surrounding censorship.
- Cohen, Nick (2000). Cruel Britannia: Reports on the Sinister and the Preposterous. Verso Books.
- Cohen, Nick (2003). Pretty Straight Guys. Faber and Faber.
- Cohen, Nick (2007). What's Left? How Liberals Lost Their Way. Fourth Estate.
- Cohen, Nick (2009). Waiting for the Etonians: Reports from the Sickbed of Liberal England. Fourth Estate.
- Cohen, Nick (2012). You Can't Read This Book: Censorship in an Age of Freedom. Fourth Estate.
Personal life
Cohen lives in Islington with his wife and their son. While he identifies as an atheist, he has acknowledged a deepening affinity with his Jewish roots.
External links
- Columns by Nick Cohen at The Guardian
- Articles with short description
- Articles with hCards
- No local image but image on Wikidata
- 1961 births
- Alumni of Hertford College, Oxford
- British male journalists
- Living people
- Writers from Manchester
- Writers from Stockport
- British critics of religions
- English atheists
- English people of Jewish descent
- British critics of Islam
- The Observer people
- The Spectator people
- The Independent people
- London Evening Standard people
- European Press Prize winners
- British republicans
- Sexual harassment in the United Kingdom