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Regional press journalist who became Fleet Street sketch writer dies at 80

Andrew AlexanderA parliamentary sketch writer on Fleet Street who began his career in the regional press has died at the age of 80.

Andrew Alexander started his journalism career at the Yorkshire Post in the early 1960s as a leader writer.

He then moved on to work as parliamentary sketch writer for the Daily Telegraph and later became city editor for the Daily Mail.

Andrew, who continued writing a column for the Mail until 2014, died last month at the age of 80.

During his time at the Yorkshire Post, he twice stood for election for the Conservatives in Colne Valley in 1963 and 1964.

But he failed to win a seat and decided to focus on journalism instead.

Andrew joined the Daily Telegraph in 1966 as leader writer and parliamentary sketch writer before moving to the Daily Mail in 1972 to write their sketches.

He became city editor at the Mail in 1984, remaining in the post until 2002, and won several awards during his time in journalism.

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  • August 20, 2015 at 9:35 am
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    He was an extremely witty sketch writer and almost got me interested in politics. The Mail has had no-one like him since.

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  • August 20, 2015 at 12:40 pm
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    So sad to hear of Andrew’s death. He was one of the old school, a real professional with an amazing grasp of city matters and company results. In my days as Corporate Affairs Director with Tarmac he had always done his homework and was always very close to the statement we were to make. So few of his kind left – where are we going? With best regards, Ken Jackson

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