Geraldine Scott

About Me

An award-winning journalist currently working as Senior Political Correspondent for The Times in Westminster.

Previously, Political Correspondent at PA Media (formerly the Press Association), Westminster Correspondent at The Yorkshire Post, and Health and Political Correspondent at the Eastern Daily Press.

Recent exclusives

The Times • 2nd August 2023

Get on your (Deliveroo) bike if you need to work, minister tells over-50s

The over-50s should consider delivering takeaways and other flexible jobs traditionally targeted at young people if they want to maintain their lifestyle into old age, a cabinet minister has said.

The Times • 7th July 2023

Somerton and Frome locals tire of Tory scandals before by-election

The Conservatives in the small market town of Bruton find themselves in an invidious position. Voters who might usually back the Tories are split between being angry at their party for getting rid of Boris Johnson, or furious over the scandals that led to his downfall.

The Times • 7th July 2023

I was ignored after traumatic birth — no mother should experience that

Lying on a hospital bed and bleeding heavily, Theo Clarke was sure she would never get to properly meet her daughter.

The Times • 9th June 2023

Labour to return £100k donation from finance boss sued for harassment

The Labour Party is to return £100,000 in donations from a finance boss who commented on the size of a female colleague’s breasts.

The Times • 2nd June 2023

Crackdown on Westminster sex pests amid new scandal

MPs and peers accused of violent or sexual offences face being banned from Westminster under new rules due to be approved this month.

The Times • 29th May 2023

Tories could lose millions in donations from angry housebuilders

Property developers that have donated millions of pounds to the Conservative Party are considering withholding their funding over concerns the government has become more houseblocker than housebuilder.

The Times • 20th May 2023

Parliament in decay: MPs endure flooding, rats and broken toilets

When Queen Elizabeth died last year, visitors queued for hours to make their way through Westminster Hall to see the monarch lying in state and soak up the atmosphere.

Parliamentary cleaners were left soaking up something very different, as the antiquated plumbing which snakes around the Palace of Westminster buckled under the pressure, providing yet another example of the crumbling mess at the heart of Britain’s democracy.

The Times • 2nd May 2023

Labour sends in hit squads to boost local election wins

Failing local Labour groups put under the supervision of the party’s HQ have been asked to reflect on the leadership style of one of the most well-known and successful army commanders in order to win at the ballot box.

The Times • 28th April 2023

Labour’s answer to Lynton Crosby was banned from contacting ministers

Sir Keir Starmer has recruited a lobbyist nicknamed Labour’s Lynton Crosby who was banned from contacting Australian state ministers in an integrity inquiry.

The Times • 16th April 2023

Tory HQ sacks cleaners to boost elections war chest

The Conservative Party has sacked security staff and cleaners to try to bolster its election war chest after months of leadership chaos.

The Times • 22nd January 2023

Universities have ‘risky’ ties to China

More than 40 British universities have collaborated with institutions that have been linked to malign activities of the Chinese state.

The Times • 21st January 2023

Rishi Sunak’s jet to be upgraded with an XXL loo

Rishi Sunak’s private plane is to be upgraded to include an XXL lavatory.

The Times • 18th January 2023

Levelling up is so 2019... Rishi Sunak’s Tories are now gauging up

It was once seen as the panacea to almost all of Britain’s ills. Levelling up would solve racial inequality, antisemitism, and boost disability rights, according to officials, as well as fulfilling its initial aim of fixing regional disparities.

But now Boris Johnson’s flagship policy — which helped him to win the 2019 election — has been the victim of a “mercy killing” akin to that of its biggest backer.

The Times • 2nd January 2023

Ministers’ phones ‘could be hacked in 20 minutes’ using online data

The mobile phone numbers, social media profiles and personal details of thousands of civil servants left publicly online for years could be used by hackers in “parlour tricks” to try to access sensitive government information, it has been claimed.

The Times • 2nd January 2023

MPs wearing stab vests for security to meet constituents

MPs are wearing stab vests to constituency surgeries and considering hiring private security as they fear another politician will be killed before their safety is taken seriously.

The Times • 12th December 2022

Tories fear Nigel Farage and Reform UK could deliver a red wall rout

Nigel Farage returning to frontline politics and going “all in” at the next general election would cause the Tory vote in red wall seats to collapse, MPs fear.

The Times • 22nd November 2022

Paedophile former MP was given expenses after being jailed for sex assault

A paedophile former Tory MP was paid more than £14,000 of taxpayers’ money after he had been jailed for groping a 15-year-old boy.

The Times • 19th November 2022

Meet Simon Young, the Pitcairn Islands’ exotic new mayor (from Yorkshire)

You cannot please all of the people all of the time, is what politicians in Westminster will often tell you. But with an electorate of fewer than 50, Simon Young, the mayor elect of a tiny remnant of the British Empire some 1,350 miles from the nearest mainland, is hoping he can.

The Times • 18th November 2022

Matt Hancock may be barred from standing as a Tory at next election

Matt Hancock is to be blocked from standing as a Conservative MP at the next election if he fails to regain the Tory whip promptly, The Times understands.

The Times • 7th November 2022

£2 million ‘golden visa’ review is long overdue, ministers told

The government is resisting calls to release a review almost five years old into the security risks posed by granting “golden visas” to Russians.

The Times • 7th November 2022

Greg Hands heads to ‘ally’ Taiwan in defiance of Beijing

The UK is strengthening ties with Taiwan as a way to “future-proof” British interests in the face of an emboldened China.

The Times • 3rd November 2022

Overseas territories meeting cancelled with officials already en route

A top-level meeting between the government and leaders of Britain’s far-flung territories has been cancelled at the last minute, even though some have already started their long journeys.

The Times • 21st October 2022

Rivalry between Rishi Sunak and Boris Johnson could make Penny Mordaunt the unity choice

Penny Mordaunt is hoping that the bitter rivalry between Boris Johnson and Rishi Sunak could pave the way for her to be a party unity pick for No 10.

The Times • 16th October 2022

MP’s wife with China links joined him at security forum

A Labour MP’s wife who worked for an organisation accused of spying on behalf of China accompanied him to an international intelligence forum, it can be revealed.

A selection of my latest stories, click on the menu for more.

The Times • 14th August 2023

MPs put on alert for climate activists trying to infiltrate their offices

The Times • 13th August 2023

We’ll lose seats if Rishi Sunak dilutes net zero, warn blue wall Tories

The Times • 13th August 2023

Foreign Office clams up over David Cameron briefing for China

The Times • 9th August 2023

State pensions to cost more than education, policing and defence combined

The Times • 7th August 2023

Sleaze complaints quadruple amid Boris Johnson and Tory scandals

The Times • 6th August 2023

Stay out of politics, Tory MP tells businesses after Costa Coffee row

The Times • 2nd August 2023

Get on your (Deliveroo) bike if you need to work, minister tells over-50s

The Times • 7th July 2023

Somerton and Frome locals tire of Tory scandals before by-election

The Times • 7th July 2023

I was ignored after traumatic birth — no mother should experience that

The Times • 2nd July 2023

Middle-aged women ‘hold key to winning the next election’

The Times • 2nd July 2023

Meet the Patriotic Millionaires who want to pay more tax

The Times • 24th June 2023

Unemployed can’t afford to be ‘job snobs’, says minister

The Times • 23rd June 2023

Times CEO Summit 2023: I won’t rely on quick fix of migration, Starmer says

The Times • 19th June 2023

Ban children changing pronouns at school, Tory MP Miriam Cates says

The Times • 17th June 2023

The Uxbridge by-election is about more than one man

The Times • 9th June 2023

Break up Oxbridge PPE clique who decide policy, says Jake Berry

The Times • 9th June 2023

Labour to return £100k donation from finance boss sued for harassment

The Times • 2nd June 2023

Crackdown on Westminster sex pests amid new scandal

The Times • 29th May 2023

Whitehall accused of ‘racist institutional bias’

The Times • 29th May 2023

Traffic-light labels on contracts ‘could save taxpayer billions’

The Times • 29th May 2023

Tories could lose millions in donations from angry housebuilders

The Times • 20th May 2023

Parliament in decay: MPs endure flooding, rats and broken toilets

The Times • 2nd May 2023

Labour sends in hit squads to boost local election wins

The Times • 2nd May 2023

Yvette Cooper shrugs off hostile briefing by colleagues

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