Steve Richards is the chief political columnist for the Independentnewspaper and a regular presenter on radio and television. He graduated in History at the University of York, and worked in local radio and regional TV in Newcastle before becoming a BBC political correspondent in 1990.

In 1996 he became political editor of the New Statesman while continuing to present on TV and radio, and in 2000 he was appointed as a political columnist at the Independent and Independent on Sunday. His book Whatever it Takes: The real story of Gordon Brown and New Labour was published in 2010.