Veronica Wadley

Who is Veronica Wadley?

Veronica Judith Colleton Wadley is a British journalist, who was editor of London's Evening Standard from February 2002 to February 2009, during which time it was owned by Associated Newspapers. She was the first female editor of the paper. After Alexander Lebedev acquired the Standard in 2009, he replaced her with former Tatler editor Geordie Greig.

Wadley was born in Chelsea and educated at the independent Francis Holland School in central London and at Benenden School in Kent. She was employed by Condé Nast, working on Vogue, and subsequently the staff of The Telegraph colour magazine and the Mail on Sunday for five years before rejoining The Daily Telegraph in 1986, being appointed assistant editor in 1989. She has also worked on the Daily Mail.

During her time at the Standard, the newspaper was particularly critical of the then London Mayor, Ken Livingstone. This came to a head in the run-up to the 2008 London mayoral election, in which Wadley's newspaper aggressively attacked Livingstone each day. According to articles in The Guardian and Time Out London, she was strongly influenced by the need to renew Associated Newspaper's multi-million pound contract to deliver the Metro free paper in London Underground stations in 2010, a decision within the gift of the Mayor. A few months after Wadley left the Standard, the publication launched its "Sorry" promotion. "London is laughing at this ludicrous campaign", she claimed.The Guardian reported "The market research evidently discovered that Londoners considered the Standard to be too negative, not celebratory enough and guilty of failing to cater for the capital's needs. A great city with great facilities was being persistently talked down."