Michael Toner (born 1944) is 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]
Toner was born in Bedfordshire in 1944[15] and educated at Bedford Modern School and the University of Cambridge.[8][16] He began his career in journalism at the Stoke Sentinel before moving to the Sunday Express[17] where, in 1981, he interviewed Margaret Thatcher with fellow Express journalist Keith Renshaw.[18][19][20] 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,[21] the miners' strike,[22] the Falklands War,[23] child abuse[24] and the war crime allegations involving Kurt Waldheim.[25] David Alton described Toner's approach to Alton's anti-abortion bill as "thorough and fair".[26]
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][27][28][29] He published his first novel, Seeing the Light, in 1997.[30][31][32]
michael toner sunday express.