Michael Toner (journalist)

Michael Toner (29 May 1944 – 26 June 2025) was a British journalist. He was political editor, diplomatic correspondent and leader writer at the Sunday Express,^[1][2] chief leader writer on the Daily Mail until 2006,^[3] a political author^[4] and novelist.^{[5][6][7][8][9][10][11][12][13][14]}

Life and career

Toner was born in Bedford on 29 May 1944.^[15][16] He was educated at Bedford Modern School where he won an exhibition to study history at Sidney Sussex College at the University of Cambridge.^[8][17] He began his career in journalism at the Stoke Sentinel before moving to the Sunday Express^[18] where, in 1981, he interviewed Margaret Thatcher with fellow Express journalist Keith Renshaw.^[19][20][21] He became leader writer of the Sunday Express^[1][2] where he covered many of the controversial topics of the 1980s and 1990s including articles about the IRA, Britain Fumes at US Over I.R.A. Guns,^[22] the miners' strike,^[23] the Falklands War,^[24] child abuse^[25] and the war crime allegations involving Kurt Waldheim.^[26] David Alton described Toner's approach to Alton's anti-abortion bill as "thorough and fair".^[27]

Following his period at the Sunday Express, Toner became Chief Leader Writer at the Daily Mail, a position he held until 2006 when Tom Utley succeeded him to the role.^[3]

Toner's first published work, The Bluffer's Guide To The EU, has run to several editions encapsulating the changing nomenclature of that institution.^{[4][28][29][30]} He published his first novel, Seeing the Light, in 1997.^[31][32][33]

Toner died on 26 June 2025, at the age of 81.^[16] He is survived by his second wife Lynda Toner, five children and eight grandchildren.

Works

• Seeing the Light. Published by Simon & Schuster, London, 1997^[7][31]
• The Bluffer's Guide To The EU. Michael Toner with Christopher White and Lee Rotherham. Published by Oval, London, 1999^[29][34]
• Bluff Your Way in the City^[35]