Peter Stothard

Sir Peter Stothard (born 28 February 1951) is a British newspaper editor, currently for the "Times Literary Supplement", but of "The Times" from 1992 to 2002.

He was educated at Brentwood School, Essex (1962-68) and Trinity College, Oxford, after which he joined the BBC and wrote for the "New Statesman", "New Society" and "Plays and Players". He joined "The Sunday Times" in 1978 and "The Times" in 1981 where he was chief leader writer, deputy editor and US editor, based in Washington. He was knighted for services to the newspaper industry in 2003. He published "Thirty Days: An Inside Account of Tony Blair at War" (ISBN 0-06-058262-6 www.harpercollins.co.uk) in 2004 which was based on observations inside Downing Street during the Iraq War.

During Stothard's editorship, "The Times" reached a circulation of more than 900,000 - the highest in its history. This was the result of the so-called 'price war' which started in 1993 when "The Times" reduced its cover price and started intense circulation battles against "The Daily Telegraph" and "The Independent". Under the ownership of News International, led by Rupert Murdoch, "The Times" had identified the "Telegraph "rather than "The Guardian" as its main rival while "The Independent" was at first a serious challenger to "The Times". One enduring result of the price war was a significant narrowing of the gap between "The Times" and "Daily Telegraph" and a widening of the gap with "The Independent".

In 1999 he became involved in a controversial legal dispute over political funding with the Conservative Party Treasurer, Michael Ashcroft. Ashcroft sued but subsequently withdrew his suit after a statement agreed by both parties.Stothard was named as Editor of the Year in the same year by Granada TV's "What the Papers Say".

In 2000 he was diagnosed with a rare form of cancer and was away from "The Times" for ten months for successful treatment.

At "The Times Literary Supplement" he writes mainly on Greek drama and Roman poetry. He also maintains a regular [http://www.timescolumns.typepad.com/stothard/ blog] on politics and culture, both Classical and contemporary.

He writes on British politics and classical literature for "The Wall Street Journal" and American politics for "The Times Magazine". He is a trustee of Cancerbackup, the cancer information charity, and of the Roundhouse Trust for the performing arts.

He is married to the novelist and travel writer Sally Emerson and has a son, Michael (Born 1987), and a daughter, Anna (Born 1983), author of the novel "Isabel and Rocco" (Random House).