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David Hencke

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David Robert Hencke
Born(1947-04-26)26 April 1947
Wandsworth, London, United Kingdom
Died26 June 2026(2026-06-26) (aged 79)
Occupationsinvestigative journalist, writer, political correspondent
Known forUncovering political scandals, including the cash-for-questions affair

David Robert Hencke (/ˈhɛŋkiː/ HENK-ee;[1] 26 April 1947 – 26 June 2026) was a British investigative journalist, writer, and political correspondent. He won numerous journalistic awards for his work, and was best known for exposing several political scandals, most notably the cash-for-questions affair.

Personal life

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David Hencke was born in Wandsworth, London on 26 April 1947.[2][3] He died from liver cancer on 26 June 2026, aged 79.[2]

Career

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Hencke began as a student journalist in 1965 at Warwick University as editor of its first university newspaper, Giblet, while studying history and politics. In 1968 he worked for the Northamptonshire Evening Telegraph, then in 1971 joined the Western Mail in Cardiff and in 1973 the Times Higher Education Supplement.[4]

He joined The Guardian in 1976,[5] becoming the newspaper's Westminster Correspondent in 1986. He won numerous awards for his political coverage.[6]

He came to national prominence in the 90s for uncovering a series of Westminster political financial scandals in what was dubbed "Tory sleaze", which contributed to the Conservatives' historic landslide defeat to Tony Blair-led Labour in the 1997 election.[7]

One of his investigations uncovered the "Cash-for-questions affair" which led to the bankruptcy of Ian Greer Associates, one of the country's biggest lobbying companies, and the resignations of two junior ministers, Neil Hamilton and Tim Smith. Hencke was named in 1994 What the Papers Say Journalist of the Year for this exposé.[8][9]

Hencke won "Scoop of the Year" in 1998[7] for another story, concerning newly elected New Labour, that caused the first resignation of Peter Mandelson, over a secret undeclared £373,000 home loan given to him by fellow Treasury minister, Geoffrey Robinson.[10]

After authoring several more books in the 2000s, he took voluntary redundancy from The Guardian after 33 years in 2009. He worked as the Westminster correspondent for Tribune and an investigative journalist for the (now closed) Exaro website.[9]

In 2012, Hencke was named "Political Journalist of the Year" at the British Press Awards.[11][12] Two uears later, in 2014, he was longlisted for the Orwell Prize for political journalism.[13]

Hencke managed his blog Westminster Confidential on which he published "news, views, investigations and much more",[14] and regularly contributed to Byline Times.[15]

Libel

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Former MP John Hemming (Liberal Democrats), who had been falsely accused of abuse in an article in the Exaro website by Hencke, succeeded in a libel action against him in January 2019, resulting in Hencke and Graham Wilmer of the Lantern Project paying over £10,000 in compensation for the false allegations.[16] In February 2026, Hemming's accuser, Esther Baker, received a trial date of March 2027 after being charged with making false sexual abuse claims against Hemming and others.[17]

Books

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  • David Hencke (1976) Colleges in Crisis[18]
  • David Hencke and Francis Beckett (2004) The Blairs and their court[19]
  • David Hencke (2004) Marching to the Fault Line, which examined the 1984 miners' strike[20]
  • David Hencke and Francis Beckett (2005) The Survivor: Tony Blair in peace and war[21]

References

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  1. ↑ "David Hencke LIVESTREAM 5pm 12th Jan". YouTube. 12 January 2022. Retrieved 2 December 2022.
  2. 1 2 Bates, Stephen (29 June 2026). "David Hencke obituary | Investigative journalism". The Guardian. Retrieved 30 June 2026.
  3. ↑ https://find-and-update.company-information.service.gov.uk/company/03911713/officers
  4. ↑ "My Career so far..." David Hencke. 7 November 2009. Archived from the original on 13 August 2018. Retrieved 13 August 2018.
  5. ↑ "David Hencke | the Guardian". TheGuardian.com.
  6. ↑ Stephen Brook (19 June 2009). "Duncan Campbell and David Hencke among those leaving Guardian". The Guardian. Retrieved 27 December 2013.
  7. 1 2 Kevin Rawlinson (27 June 2026), David Hencke, Guardian journalist who exposed cash-for-questions scandal, dies aged 79, The Guardian
  8. ↑ "Chronology – How the scandal unfolded", The Guardian, 22 December 1999]
  9. 1 2 William Turvill (19 February 2013). "David Hencke: Leveson would have 'seriously damaged' cash-for-questions investigation". Press Gazette. Archived from the original on 30 April 2013. Retrieved 22 April 2013.
  10. ↑ David Hencke; Ewen Macaskill; Seumas Milne (22 December 1998), Mandelson, the minister and the secret £373,000 loan, The Guardian
  11. ↑ "David Walsh scoops Journalist of the Year win at British Journalism Awards" Archived 9 December 2012 at the Wayback Machine, Press Gazette, 4 December 2012.
  12. ↑ William Turvill (22 March 2013). "How David Hencke exposed Whitehall tax avoidance scandal". Press Gazette. Archived from the original on 29 December 2013. Retrieved 27 December 2013.
  13. ↑ "Investigative site Exaro News among nominations for Orwell Prize political journalism award" Archived 28 March 2014 at the Wayback Machine, Press Gazette, 26 March 2014.
  14. ↑ "Westminster Confidential". Westminster Confidential. Archived from the original on 6 June 2021. Retrieved 28 June 2021.
  15. ↑ "Byline Times: David Hencke". Archived from the original on 26 June 2019.
  16. ↑ Evans, Martin (27 January 2019). "Former MP falsely accused of abuse wins libel action". The Daily Telegraph. London. Archived from the original on 1 February 2019. Retrieved 28 July 2019.
  17. ↑ "Trial set for woman accused of false sex abuse claims". www.bbc.com. 11 February 2026. Retrieved 27 June 2026.
  18. ↑ Hencke, David (1978). Colleges in crisis: the reorganization of teacher training, 1971–7. Harmondsworth; New York: Penguin. ISBN 978-0-14-080310-5.
  19. ↑ Beckett, Francis; Hencke, David (2004). The Blairs and their court. London: Aurum. ISBN 978-1-84513-024-4.
  20. ↑ Beckett, Francis; Hencke, David (2009). Marching to the fault line: the miners' strike and the battle for industrial Britain. London: Constable. ISBN 978-1-84901-025-2.
  21. ↑ Beckett, Francis; Hencke, David (2005). The survivor: Tony Blair in peace and war. London: Aurum Pr. ISBN 978-1-84513-110-4.
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