Orwell Prize shortlist conversation #2 with Charles Moore and Peter Oborne

In the second of a new series of conversations across genres, styles and perspectives, Orwell shortlisted writers Charles Moore and Peter Oborne discuss the similarities and differences between Thatcher and Johnson, political language, and the relationship between politicians and the media. The winners of all four Orwell Prizes will be revealed via our online Prize Ceremony on Thursday 9th July 2020.
MARGARET THATCHER: HERSELF ALONE, VOL. 3
Charles Moore
Shortlisted for The Orwell Prize for Political Writing 2020
Published by: Allen Lane.
The judges said: "It may be the third volume of Charles Moore’s biography of Margaret Thatcher but Herself Alone can also stand in its own right as a beautifully crafted account of an important chapter in British political history. Magisterial, yes. But also lively and enjoyable throughout. Quite a feat."
Charles Moore joined the staff of the Daily Telegraph in 1979, and as a political columnist in the 1980s covered several years of Mrs Thatcher’s first and second governments. He was Editor of the Spectator 1984-1990; Editor of the Sunday Telegraph 1992-1995; and Editor of the Daily Telegraph 1995-2003, for which he is still a regular columnist. The first volume of his biography of Margaret Thatcher, published in 2013, won the Elizabeth Longford Prize for Historical Biography, the H.W. Fisher Best First Biography Prize and Political Book of the Year at the Paddy Power Political Book Awards.
Peter Oborne (Open Democracy)
Shortlisted for The Orwell Prize for Journalism 2020
The judges said: "Peter Oborne clearly and honestly articulated his own rethink on Brexit. Elegantly, yet with strong feeling, he set out the painful reasoning process that led him to shift from support to opposition and what he saw as the failures of integrity and leadership behind his change of heart."
Peter Oborne is a former political commentator of the Spectator, the Daily Telegraph and Daily Mail. He now writes about politics for Open Democracy and Middle East Eye. He is the author of The Triumph of the Political Class, and The Rise of Political Lying as well as a biography of the cricket Basil D’Oliveira.