Jonny Ball
contributing editor, UnHerd

Jonny writes on politics and political economy for UnHerd, formerly using the pseudonym and the X handle, Despotic Inroad.

He previously worked at the New Statesman for eight years, writing on policy and becoming associate editor of the magazine’s Spotlight supplements. He also established and ran the weekly newsletter, The Green Transition, commenting on new industrial policy trends and the fraught struggles around Net Zero.

He has completed a PhD in politics, with a thesis analysing the failures of Corbynism. His academic essays on labour history and left hegemonic strategy have appeared in specialist journals, including Renewal. Before entering journalism, he taught English in Vietnam, and spent years on the peripheries of various parties and movements of the British left, most of which are best forgotten. He lives in Liverpool with his partner and two daughters.

Follow Jonny on X: @DespoticInroad

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