31 Facts About Lance Price

Lance Price was born on 3 September 1958 and is Chief of Staff to Kim Leadbeater, MP for Batley and Spen in the UK.

Lance Price returned to active politics to help run her by-election campaign, having worked with her at the Jo Cox Foundation since the murder of her sister, who was MP for the constituency from 2015 to 2016.

Lance Price was a journalist for the BBC from 1981 to 1998, then became special adviser to Prime Minister Tony Blair, eventually assuming the role of Director of Communications for the Labour Party, coordinating the Labour Party election campaign of 2001.

Lance Price has published five books, and appears regularly on Sky News and the BBC.

Lance Price was born in Swanley, Kent and educated at Blackwell Primary School and Sackville Comprehensive School.

Lance Price received a First Class degree in Philosophy, Politics and Economics at Hertford College, Oxford: here, his early interest for media and journalism was evident in his involvement with the student newspaper, Cherwell.

Whilst studying, Lance Price became involved with the Birmingham Evening Mail and maintained an active membership of the Oxford Labour Club.

Whilst he was a Defence Correspondent, Lance Price travelled on the first ever non-stop RAF flight from the UK to the Falkland Islands.

Lance Price was promoted to the Labour Party's Director of Communications from 2000 until the general election of 2001, playing a significant role in overseeing the party's victorious campaign.

Lance Price was the first person to coin the phrase 'the nasty party' to describe the Conservative Party during his time with Labour.

Lance Price came up with the phrase while ghost-writing a statement by Tory defector, Ivan Massow, who was joining the party.

Lance Price was the co-author and principal photographer for the Berlitz Guide to Iceland, published in 2003, and he maintains an active interest in travel and photography.

Lance Price appeared before the House of Commons Public Administration Committee to answer questions on the reasons for publishing the book; the Committee went on to recommend a new system of oversight for political diaries.

Lance Price called for greater transparency about relationships between journalists and politicians.

Lance Price was called to give evidence to a Select Committee of the House of Commons in January 2006, in response to his first publication of The Spin Doctor's Diary.

Lance Price stated that Rupert Murdoch was the 24th member of Tony Blair's cabinet.

However, Sir Stephen Wall, a former advisor to Blair, said that "Lance Price was right to publish, and should not be damnned".

Lance Price's fourth book, The Modi Effect, was a critical assessment of the first election campaign of the Indian Prime minister, although Lance Price made clear he would not have voted for Modi if he had been able to vote himself.

Lance Price's fifth book, Petrified, was a children's story; he donated the proceeds to the Jo Cox Foundation.

Since leaving the employment of the Labour Party, Lance Price has become an observer of British politics and world affairs, retaining his membership of the party, as he confirmed during an interview on BBC Radio 5 with Richard Bacon on 11 February 2010.

Lance Price is a regular commentator on British and world politics on the BBC News Channel, Sky News, BBC Radio and other outlets.

Lance Price broadcasts regularly on the BBC and other British TV and radio outlets, and is a regular contributor to CBS News' London Comment.

Lance Price has written for many newspapers and magazines including The Guardian, Independent, The Daily Telegraph, The Sunday Times, The Sunday Mirror, GQ and the New Statesman.

Lance Price is an occasional contributor to the Australian Financial Review.

Lance Price was a panellist during the 2010 general election campaign for the BBC News Channel and The World Tonight on BBC Radio 4.

Lance Price has taken an increasingly independent line on political affairs, and was one of the first to call for Gordon Brown to step down as prime minister after Labour's election defeat in May 2010.

In recent years, Lance Price has lectured at the Westminster University, CELSA and Sorbonne in Paris, The Westminster Foundation, Tsinghua University in Beijing, The International School in Toulouse, the Qatar Foundation and City University Journalism School.

Lance Price has spoken at the Edinburgh Television Festival, The Guardian Hay on Wye Festival, The Inverness Book Fair, the John Smith Trust and The Norwegian Public Relations Association.

Lance Price has debated motions on politics and journalism at The Oxford Union, The Durham Union and Intelligence Squared.

In September 2011, Lance Price launched The Kaleidoscope Trust, a UK-based organisation that aims to improve LGBT rights overseas.

Lance Price is married to James Proctor, and splits his time between Yorkshire and London.