Iain Dale

Education and early career

Dale grew up in Essex, where he attended Ashdon County Primary School and Saffron Walden County High School. He obtained a 2(i) BA Honours degree in German, Linguistics, and Teaching English as a Foreign Language from the University of East Anglia in 1985. Prior to going to university, Dale spent his gap year as a nursing assistant at the Werner Wicker Klinik in West Germany. During his degree course he spent a year teaching English at the gymnasium in Besigheim.

Dale was research assistant to the Conservative Member of Parliament Patrick Thompson, 1985–87, Public Affairs Manager for the British Ports Federation 1987–89, Financial Journalist with Lloyd's List 1989–90, and then Deputy managing director of the Waterfront Partnership & managing director of the Waterfront Conference Company 1990–96.

Publisher and writer

In 1997, he opened Politico's Bookstore and Coffee House in Westminster, selling a mix of political books, memorabilia and novelty items. The shop spawned sister publishing and web design businesses using the Politico's brand. He founded Politico's Publishing in 1998, and sold it in 2003 to Methuen Publishing. In 2004, Dale announced the closure of the walk-in book shop and relocated the business to Kent as a mail-order operation. Later that year the Westminster premises re-opened as the Westminster Bookshop under the ownership of Methuen. In 2006, Dale sold the Politico's Bookstore business to Harriman House. In 2012, Dale relaunched Politico's online as part of the Biteback Publishing business. Dale was also the publisher of Total Politics magazine from June 2008 until its sale to Dods (Group) PLC in December 2012.

Dale's fortnightly comment column for The Daily Telegraph, which he began writing in February 2007, was discontinued in January 2009. He has also written for The Guardian, The Independent, GQ Magazine, The Spectator and the New Statesman.

Dale has edited or written over two dozen political books.This includes co-authoring in May 2006 a book with fellow blogger Guido Fawkes (a.k.a. Paul Staines) about alleged instances of sleaze from the Labour Party since taking office in 1997. A second edition was subsequently released in June 2007.

Broadcaster

Dale was used as a stand-in presenter for London radio station LBC 97.3 during the first nine months of 2010 after doing a couple of test programmes with other journalists. He co-presented LBC's six-hour election night programme on 7 May 2010, with Gaby Hinsliff. In May and June 2010 he presented the Petrie Hosken, Clive Bull, James Max and Jeni Barnett phone in shows, and on 22 June 2010 fronted LBC's budget coverage.

In late July 2010, Dale started a six-week stint on LBC covering for Petrie Hosken and Andrew Pierce, which later turned into a regular show. Dale was the weekly evening presenter on LBC from 7-10pm until March 2013, when Clive Bull took over. Dale instead replaced broadcaster James Whale as the presenter of the Drivetime show between 4-8pm Monday to Friday. Dale continued to present the station's Sunday Politics show between 10am and 1pm each weekend for a further few weeks in March 2013 until Andrew Gilligan took over.

Dale formerly presented Planet Politics on Oneword Radio, and occasionally appeared on Sunday Service on Radio 5 Live. He was also chief presenter on the failed internet TV station 18 Doughty Street. Dale was shortlisted for Speech Radio Programme of the Year at the 2013 Sony Radio Academy Awards, and then went on to win Radio Presenter of the Year at the 2013 Arqiva Commercial Radio Awards.

Conservative candidate and blogger

In May 2005, Dale stood in the general election as Conservative candidate for Norfolk North, losing to the Liberal Democrat incumbent, Norman Lamb; Lamb was elected with a 10,000 plus majority as opposed to 483 at the previous election, which he fought against David Prior. Subsequently Dale acted as chief of staff to the losing leadership candidate David Davis in the run-up to the 2005 Conservative Party leadership campaign. In August 2006, it was confirmed that he had been added to the Conservative 'Priority List' of candidates to fight the next general election. However his ambitions were further frustrated in 2007 when he applied for the Conservative candidacy for the safe seat Maidstone and The Weald, but failed to get past the first interview stage.

In October 2009, Dale ran for selection for the Conservative safe seat of Bracknell in order to succeed Andrew MacKay, who stepped down at the 2010 general election. Dale came third in the run off ballot behind Rory Stewart and the eventual winner Dr Philip Lee.

Dale's blog, entitled Iain Dale's Diary, had been one of the most widely read political blogs in the UK. It was nominated by The Guardian for the Political Blog of the Year Award in 2005. On 17 June 2010, Dale announced on his blog that he was resigning from the Conservative Party candidates list and would not be standing at any forthcoming parliamentary election On 14 December 2010, Dale announced that he was quitting both blogging at Iain Dale's Diary and party politics.

In July 2011, Iain Dale started a collaborative blog site, Dale & Co, with many contributors from the political spectrum, including himself. He continues to author a blog entitled West Ham Till I Die where he writes on West Ham United.

Police caution for assault

On 24 September 2013, Dale became involved in a scuffle with Manchester pensioner Stuart Holmes, an anti-nuclear protester, on the Brighton seafront. Holmes' placard had appeared on-screen behind Damian McBride, during an interview with McBride on breakfast television, coinciding with the Labour Party annual conference there. McBride, a former special advisor to Gordon Brown, is one of Dale's authors at Biteback Publishing. Dale, who was not involved in the television interview, attempted to physically remove Holmes from the shot, resulting in the two men grappling on the ground.

On 26 September, Dale accepted a police caution for the assault. Sussex Police had interviewed both men about the incident. Dale subsequently posted an apology "to Mr Holmes, Mr Miliband [Labour Party leader Ed Miliband], the Police, my family, friends and colleagues".

Personal life

Dale entered into a civil partnership with his long-term partner John Simmons on 15 June 2008 at Wadhurst Castle in East Sussex. This was converted to a marriage in 2015. They have been together since 1995. Dale has been openly gay since he was 40.