Norman Shrapnel

Who was Norman Shrapnel?

Norman Shrapnel was an English journalist, author, and parliamentary correspondent.

Shrapnel was born in Grimsby, Lincolnshire, and was educated at The King's School, Grantham. In 1947, after war service in the RAF, he joined the Manchester Guardian as reporter, book reviewer, and theatre critic. He became the paper’s parliamentary correspondent in 1958, succeeding Harry Boardman, a post he held until 1975. In 1969 he won the first Political Writer of the Year award.

He wrote books on history and politics, and on topography. For The Bluffer’s Guides, he wrote Bluff Your Way in Politics. Shrapnel broadcast on the BBC World Service, presenting British social and political life.

He married Mary Lillian Myfanwy Edwards in 1940, and had two sons, one of whom is the stage actor John Shrapnel. He died at Far Oakridge, Gloucestershire, in 2004.