Christopher Hope spent twenty years at The Daily Telegraph, seventeen of them in the Westminster lobby, and was part of the team that broke the MPs’ expenses scandal — the story that ended more political careers than any other in modern British history. He is now Political Editor of GB News, and almost everyone in Westminster calls him Chopper.
Quick Bio / At a Glance
| Detail | Information |
|---|---|
| Name | Christopher Hope |
| Date of Birth | 24 October 1971 |
| Birthplace | Liverpool, England |
| Education | Politics, University of Bristol; postgraduate journalism, Cardiff University |
| Early Papers | Formby Times; PrintWeek; Construction News; The Scotsman; The Herald |
| The Telegraph | 2003–2023, rising to Associate Editor (Politics) |
| Major Story | The 2009 MPs’ expenses scandal |
| Podcast | Chopper’s Politics |
| Current Role | Political Editor and Head of Politics, GB News, since August 2023 |
Liverpool, Bristol, Cardiff
Hope was born in Liverpool on 24 October 1971. He read politics at the University of Bristol and then took a postgraduate diploma in magazine journalism at Cardiff University’s School of Journalism, Media and Culture — for decades the most reliable route into British national newspapers.
He began with work experience on local papers including the Formby Times.
The Trade Press Years
His early career was in specialist and Scottish journalism rather than in Fleet Street. He joined PrintWeek in January 1997, and worked for Construction News, The Scotsman and The Herald.
In 2001 he helped found Business AM, a daily financial newspaper in Scotland. It folded the following year.
That grounding in trade and business reporting is not incidental. It is where journalists learn to read accounts, and it shows in the kind of stories he later pursued.
Twenty Years at the Telegraph
From Business to the Lobby
He was hired by The Daily Telegraph in 2003 as part of its business team, and moved into the Westminster lobby, where he spent the following seventeen years.
He rose through Senior Political Correspondent, Chief Political Correspondent and Assistant Editor (Politics) to Associate Editor (Politics).
MPs’ Expenses
In 2009 the Telegraph obtained and published the unredacted expenses claims of every Member of Parliament. Hope was one of the reporters on the team that broke it.
The consequences were extraordinary: resignations, deselections, criminal convictions, a Speaker forced out, and a permanent change in how British MPs are funded and scrutinised. It remains the defining British political investigation of the century so far.
Chopper
The nickname — universal in Westminster — gave its name to Chopper’s Politics, the Telegraph‘s weekly interview podcast, which he presented. It became one of the more listened-to British political podcasts and one of the few places senior figures would speak at length.
GB News
In August 2023, after almost twenty years at the Telegraph, Hope joined GB News as Political Editor and Head of Politics.
The move was significant in the British media landscape: a senior lobby journalist from a national broadsheet moving to a young, avowedly opinionated broadcaster. He continues to present political programming and interviews there.
Why He Matters in British Politics
Lobby journalism runs on longevity. Hope has been in the same building as the same politicians for over two decades, which is what produces the sourcing that breaks stories.
He is also an award-winning journalist with a genuinely rare credit on his record — a reporter on the story that changed the terms of British public life.
More journalism profiles: Nigel Rosser and Lucy Hockings.
