Ben Quinn
Ben Quinn is a political correspondent at the Guardian whose reporting tracks how populist and far-right movements intersect with mainstream politics, public institutions and security. He combines daily political coverage with sustained attention to disinformation, policing, prisons and the mechanics of party funding and regulation. His work follows the consequences of political decisions for local communities, protesters and frontline services.
Far right, Reform UK and populist movements
Quinn devotes sustained coverage to Reform UK, Nigel Farage and the wider constellation of populist and far-right actors.
He has reported on turmoil around Reform UK conferences, leadership struggles and donation scandals, showing how internal crises shape the party’s national appeal. His stories on far-right agitators converging on places such as Dover and on disorder in neighbourhoods like Harehills document how online mobilisation translates into street unrest and pressure on local policing. In broadcast appearances he unpacks the dynamics of byelections such as Clacton, where mainstream parties weigh whether to contest seats dominated by Reform UK.
Across these pieces he treats populist politics as an organised project with strategy, infrastructure and consequences, rather than as a series of isolated incidents.
Security, policing and the justice system
Quinn’s politics reporting frequently runs through the lens of security, policing and criminal justice.
He has covered cases where sentences for violent offenders, including a Luton triple-murderer, are referred back for review after political intervention, highlighting the friction between public safety concerns and judicial independence. His coverage of prison incidents and capacity – from alleged attacks on officers with hot cooking oil to warnings from officials about jails operating close to their limits – frames overcrowding and violence as products of policy decisions rather than purely operational failings. Stories about far-right groups converging on small towns and about the policing response to disorders such as those in Harehills connect frontline operations with national debates on extremism, protest and community relations.
He also follows institutional vulnerabilities, including the publication of a fake 10 Downing Street listing on a major travel platform, as part of a broader concern with how security lapses intersect with politics and public trust.
Government, diplomacy and political accountability
Quinn tracks how decisions at the centre of government play out across watchdogs, city halls and public services. He has reported on ministers weighing the closure or reshaping of a social mobility watchdog, disputes over unpaid staff at a news website and scrutiny of Sadiq Khan’s car tax fines and court processes, treating each as a test of institutional accountability and fairness.
His coverage of a sudden departure by Britain’s second most senior diplomat in Washington shows an interest in the diplomatic dimension of political power and the signals sent by senior staffing changes.
Pieces on fake listings linked to Downing Street, betting scandals around the timing of a general election and controversies surrounding party funding and donations underline his focus on rules, ethics and the grey areas where political advantage meets regulation. This strand of his work consistently returns to the question of who holds power to account when the political class, regulators and commercial platforms collide.
International and long-form reporting
Alongside his politics role at the Guardian, Quinn has reported internationally on UK affairs for outlets including the Christian Science Monitor. Earlier in his career he worked as a global development reporter, filing on-the-ground pieces from Somalia, South Sudan and Haiti on development policy and the politics of aid. That experience feeds into later coverage that links domestic debates on nationalism, migration and foreign policy to wider geopolitical currents. His portfolio includes reporting on arguments over Britain’s colonial legacy and reparations, adding historical and international context to contemporary disputes about identity and responsibility.
Across politics, security and international work, he favours detailed, document-based reporting supplemented by interviews with officials, campaigners and experts, producing stories that show how ideological movements and state institutions interact over time.
4 more politics journalists.
Abbi Garton-Crosbie
Abbi Garton-Crosbie is a multimedia political reporter who treats independence as a live process shaped by Holyrood power struggles, party manoeuvres and grassroots pressure. She works at The National, a pro-independence newspaper, covering how political power is contested and exercised in contemporary Scotland, with a core focus on parties, parliament and the mechanics of constitutional change. She reports on parliamentary votes, government strategy around future independence referendums, and elections across Scotland in the wider context of devolution in Wales and Northern Ireland. Her work centres on party leadership, resignations and internal conflict, including long-form interviews with senior politicians and coverage of emerging and smaller parties. She examines far-right activity, protest politics and movement organisation, and runs policy-driven reporting on rent caps, AI data centres, health boards and public services, across written, video and podcast formats.
Abubakar Ahmadu Maishanu
Abubakar Ahmadu Maishanu is a politics reporter with Premium Times who treats politics as a system of rules, contests and consequences rather than personalities. He focuses on power struggles, security shocks and governance disputes shaping party competition in northern Nigeria, especially how violence, corruption investigations and economic strain intersect with political authority. He reports on Bauchi’s 2027 governorship race, APC primaries and PRP realignment, tracking defections, party constitutions and factional manoeuvring. His coverage of Jigawa and Yobe follows power-sharing fights, candidate substitutions and Tinubu reelection mobilisation efforts. He links banditry and local security crises in Kano and Zamfara to political structures, using precise locations and casualty figures. His investigative work on alleged shady dealings around the Dala Inland Dry Port and reporting on soaring cooking gas prices add a corruption and economic hardship lens.
Aisha Iqbal
Aisha Iqbal covers local and regional politics for the BBC, with a distinct focus on grassroots power and how local decisions shape trust, representation and public services. She reports on Bradford Council decisions, waste services, cultural funding, regeneration grants and the use of public money. She also covers grooming gangs, community safety, political trust, elections, Muslim voters, Gaza, ceasefire campaigns and the links between faith, foreign policy and representation. Her work includes culture and public figures when they intersect with civic identity, including a feature on David Hockney. She connects committee-room votes, neighbourhood disputes and national debates, showing who gains, who loses and how communities respond. She reports across broadcast and online platforms in a clear, explanatory style. Earlier, she covered politics, culture and consumer issues for regional newspapers.
Alessia Simona Maratta
Alessia Simona Maratta stands out for showing how political decisions, regulations and conflicts ripple through communities, pairing national and global stories with on-the-ground voices and clear policy explanations. She is a digital reporter, producer and editor with Global News’ network news desk, covering breaking news, crime, politics, public health, housing, labour, immigration, environment and climate, social issues and features. Her recent work spans politics, public health regulation, labour and technology, and human-interest features that ground complex issues in everyday experience. She reports on politics, policy and community impact, public health and social debates, and labour and regulation at the intersection of technology, globalization and worker rights. Alongside hard news, she produces features that use individual stories, straightforward narrative arcs and accessible explanations to connect history, science and policy to everyday life.