Born in 1946, Simon Hoggart is the eldest child of the writer and academic Richard Hoggart. After Cambridge he worked for the Guardian in Northern Ireland, Africa, and Westminster. He joined the Observer in 1991 as US correspondent, based in Washington, then returned to the UK to rejoin the political world. From 1996 to 2006 he chaired the News Quiz on Radio 4, and in 2001 became wine correspondent at the Spectator.