Consultant Editor, The Daily Mail Feared and revered in equal measure, Andrew Pierce is a tenacious political hack with a talent for breaking stories about the great and good. Pierce, 50, was brought up on a Swindon council estate, attended his local comp, never went to university and cut his teeth on local papers.

As consultant editor of The Daily Mail he is the most senior out gay journalist in British newspapers. He is also a seasoned broadcaster, has appeared in Question Time, and regularly makes the top 100 in the influential gays list.