Ian Aitken

:"This page is on the journalist. For the footballer see Ian Aitken (football).

Ian Aitken (born 1927) is a British journalist and political commentator. He was educated at the King Alfred School, Hampstead, Lincoln College, Oxford and the LSE. He served in the Fleet Air Arm from 1945-48.

Aitken entered journalism in 1953 as the industrial correspondent of the "Tribune" newspaper, after a spells as a HM inspector of factories and a trade union official. The following year (1954) he joined the "Daily Express" and filled a number of positions at the paper before joining "The Guardian" in 1964. From 1975 to 1990 he was "The Guardian's" political editor.

He now writes occasional columns for that paper and for "Tribune". Politically he is 'traditional' left-of-centre (sometimes called 'classic labour'), being against the Iraq War, and having accused 'New Labour' of having 'hijacked' the Labour Party.

Ian Aitken's father, George, fought with the Republican side in the Spanish Civil War.

References

*Dennis Griffiths (ed) "The Encyclopedia of the British Press 1492-1992", 1992, Macmillan