Leo McKinstry


Leo McKinstry is a British journalist, historian and author.
Born in Belfast, Northern Ireland, McKinstry was educated at Portora Royal School, Enniskillen, and Sidney Sussex College, Cambridge, where he graduated with a degree in History in 1985. He writes regularly for several newspapers in the United Kingdom, including the Daily Mail, Daily Express, and The Sunday Telegraph. He often writes about issues relating to immigration and the European Union, being a strong supporter of Brexit. His books include a biography of the Victorian Prime Minister, Lord Rosebery.
In the early 1990s McKinstry was a Labour councillor in Islington and worked as a parliamentary aide to Labour politician Harriet Harman. Losing his seat on Islington council in 1994, he was working for Labour front bencher Doug Henderson when he announced the following year, via an article in The Spectator, that he no longer supported the party. Subsequently, he was a regular columnist in both the Daily Mail and the Daily Express.
McKinstry is married and lives in Kent and Provence.

Awards and honours