Sebastian Payne Keynote Speaker
- Whitehall correspondent and columnist, Financial Times
- Regular broadcaster and commentator on UK politics
- London's most influential people 2019 – Media: Print & Digital, by the Evening Standard
Sebastian Payne's Biography
Sebastian Payne is Whitehall correspondent for the Financial Times. In this role he reports and analyses British politics and policy, specialising in the Conservative party, Brexit and foreign policy. He writes a regular column for the opinion pages about politics outside of Westminster and presents the weekly FT Politics podcast.
He appears regularly on the BBC, including Question Time, Newsnight, Any Questions, the Today programme and Politics Live. He is also a frequent paper reviewer for Sky News
At the FT he has worked as political leader writer and an editor on the opinion desk. He was previously an editor at The Spectator magazine and a reporter at The Daily Telegraph. In 2014, he was the 35th Lawrence Stern fellow at the Washington Post, reporting the U.S. midterm elections.
He graduated from Durham University with a BSc in Computer Science and an MA in Investigative Journalism from City University London. He grew up in the north of England and lives in London.
Sebastian Payne's Speaking Topics
Brexit
British politics & the Conservative party
British policy & the Treasury and civil service
Wider British political trends including the rise of populism and nationalism