British economic and political pundit
Grace Blakeley
Blakeley in 2019
Born (1993-06-26 ) 26 June 1993 (age 30) Education Alma mater Occupations
Commentator
columnist
journalist
author
Employers Political party
Labour Writing career Subjects
Website
graceblakeley .co .uk
Grace Blakeley (born 26 June 1993)
[1] is an English economics and politics commentator,
[2]
[3] columnist, journalist and author. She is a staff writer for
Tribune and panelist on
TalkTV . She was previously the economics commentator of the
New Statesman and has contributed to
Novara Media .
Early life
Blakeley was born in
Basingstoke in Hampshire.
[4] She is half Welsh on her father's side.
[5] She was privately educated at
Lord Wandsworth College ,
[6] and later attended the
Sixth Form College, Farnborough .
[7] She studied
philosophy, politics and economics at
St Peter's College, Oxford , graduating with a
first class honours degree .
[7]
[8] Blakeley then obtained a master's degree in
African studies at
St Antony's College, Oxford .
[9] After graduating, she worked as a management consultant for
KPMG in their Public Sector and Healthcare Practice division.
[8] Blakeley then worked as a research fellow for a year at a left-wing
think tank , the
Institute for Public Policy Research , in Manchester, specialising in regional economic policy.
[8]
Career
Blakeley in September 2018
Blakeley joined the magazine
New Statesman in January 2019 as its economics commentator, writing a fortnightly column and contributing to the website and podcasts.
[10] Her articles for the magazine included support for
Lexit and a
Green New Deal .
[11]
[12] Her first book, Stolen: How to Save the World from Financialisation , was published by
Repeater Books on 10 September 2019.
[13] Michael Galant writing for the
openDemocracy website, praised the book as a "convincing critique of modern capitalism for socialists and sceptics alike".
[14]
CapX 's Diego Zuluaga commented in his review that it was a "sweeping
polemic against the market economy", and felt the author had been selective in how she presented evidence for her arguments.
[15]
Blakeley became a staff writer for the
democratic socialist magazine
Tribune in January 2020.
[16] She sits on the
Labour Party 's
National Policy Forum , which is responsible for policy development.
[17]
Blakeley's second book, The Corona Crash: How the Pandemic Will Change Capitalism , was published in October 2020.
[18]
Political views
Blakeley identifies as a
democratic socialist
[19] and supports the use of
capital controls .
[20] She supported
Jeremy Corbyn and voted for him in the
2015 and
2016 Labour leadership elections , though she criticised him in 2016 for failing to "challenge the hegemony of neoliberalism" in the way she had imagined he would.
[20]
[21]
Blakeley promotes a
Green New Deal .
[20]
[22] Though she has emphasised it as running "counter to a capitalist system", she has argued that "even those who do not identify as socialists" may soon realise that a green industrial revolution is the "only option". She calls for a "fair transition towards a low-carbon economy".
[23]
Blakeley is a
Eurosceptic , and has branded the
European Union as "
neoliberal ", "
neo-colonial " and "run in the interests of financial and corporate elites".
[20]
[24]
Works
Books
Blakeley, G. (2019). Stolen: How to Save the World From Financialisation (London: Repeater)
Blakeley, G. (2020). The Corona Crash: How the Pandemic Will Change Capitalism (London: Verso)
Blakeley, G. (2024). Vulture Capitalism: Corporate Crimes, Backdoor Bailouts, and the Death of Freedom (London: Bloomsbury)
ISBN
9781982180850 ,
9781982180874 ,
9781797174754
Edited books
Blakeley, G. (ed.) (2020). Futures of Socialism: The Pandemic and the Post-Corbyn Era (London: Verso)
References
^ Grace Blakeley [@graceblakeley] (26 June 2019).
"T-W-E-N-T-Y S-I-X 2DAY BITCHEZ And I got to spend it with these beauts" (
Tweet ) – via
Twitter .
^
"Economics for millennials: an interview with Grace Blakeley" . openDemocracy .
^ Denvir, Daniel (27 March 2020).
"Coronavirus Economics with Grace Blakeley" . The Dig . Retrieved 27 September 2020 .
^
"Famous people from Basingstoke" . Basingstoke Gazette . 29 June 2020. Retrieved 26 July 2020 .
^ Grace Blakeley (26 September 2020).
"Well I am half welsh... This is going to make my dad extraordinarily happy" . Retrieved 8 November 2020 – via Twitter.
^
"The Sower 2009" (PDF) . The Sower . p. 16. Retrieved 9 February 2020 .
^
a
b
"University Admissions 2011" (PDF) . Sixth Form College, Farnborough. p. 3. Retrieved 9 February 2020 .
^
a
b
c
"Biography" . Institute for Public Policy Research. 21 November 2016. Archived from
the original on 17 May 2019. Retrieved 9 February 2020 .
^
"E-Newsletter: Antonian Books – TT19" . St Antony's College, Oxford. 27 June 2019. Retrieved 9 February 2020 .
^
"Grace Blakeley appointed New Statesman economics commentator" . New Statesman . 12 November 2018.
Archived from the original on 26 June 2019. Retrieved 9 February 2020 .
^ Blakeley, Grace (16 January 2019).
"Why the left should champion Brexit" . New Statesman .
Archived from the original on 2 February 2020. Retrieved 9 February 2020 .
^ Blakeley, Grace (2 October 2019).
"Why we need a Green New Deal to solve humanity's greatest challenge" . New Statesman .
Archived from the original on 10 November 2019. Retrieved 9 February 2020 .
^
"Stolen: How to Save the World from Financialisation" . Repeater Books .
^ Galant, Michael (9 October 2019).
"Socialism or barbarism: a review of 'Stolen' by Grace Blakeley" .
openDemocracy .
Archived from the original on 10 November 2019. Retrieved 11 November 2019 .
^ Zuluaga, Diego (2 September 2019).
"Grace Blakeley's 'Stolen' is a tired invective against market capitalism" .
CapX .
Archived from the original on 6 December 2019. Retrieved 11 November 2019 .
^ Strutt, Andrew.
"Grace Blakeley joins the team at Tribune" . Response Source. Retrieved 9 February 2020 .
^
"Grace Blakeley" . Labour Party. Retrieved 9 February 2020 .
^
"The Corona Crash: How the Pandemic Will Change Capitalism" . Waterstones . Retrieved 28 July 2020 .
^ Cohen, Roger (8 March 2019).
"Socialism and the 2020 American Election" . The New York Times .
Archived from the original on 18 August 2019. Retrieved 9 February 2020 .
^
a
b
c
d Blakeley, Grace (16 January 2019).
"Another Britain Is Possible" . The Express Tribune .
Archived from the original on 1 February 2020. Retrieved 9 March 2020 .
^ Blakeley, Grace (4 July 2016).
"I campaigned for Corbyn – but he's failed to change the conversation" . Left Foot Forward . Retrieved 9 March 2020 .
^ Blakeley, Grace (13 February 2019).
"Whatever the Brexit outcome, the UK desperately needs a green new deal" . New Statesman .
Archived from the original on 20 February 2019. Retrieved 9 March 2020 .
^ Blakeley, Grace (1 May 2019).
"Why Britain needs its own Green New Deal" . New Statesman .
Archived from the original on 30 July 2019. Retrieved 9 March 2020 .
^
"Lexit: The left's strategy for Brexit" . BBC One . 23 November 2018.
Archived from the original on 15 September 2019. Retrieved 9 March 2020 .
External links