Jane Merrick (born 23 November 1973) is a British journalist who is currently the policy editor at the i newspaper. She was previously the political editor of The Independent on Sunday between 2008 and 2015. Merrick has also worked as a political correspondent for The Daily Mail and the Press Association.
At the age of 19, Merrick set up a listings magazine called L:Scene during her gap year in 1993 which was her first job in journalism.[8] She worked as a political correspondent for the Press Association in Westminster between 2001 and 2003.[9] She then worked for The Daily Mail as a political correspondent between 2003 and 2008.[10][11] Merrick left the newspaper to become political editor for The Independent on Sunday,[12][13] a position she held till 2015 when she became a freelance journalist to spend more time with her daughter.[8][14] She co-founded a daily news briefing email service called The Spoon which launched in 2017.[15]
In November 2017, then Secretary of State for DefenceMichael Fallon resigned following Merrick's allegation of sexual harassment when she was a 29-year-old journalist for The Daily Mail in 2003. She had accused Fallon of lunging towards her.[18][19] Merrick was highlighted in Time's Person of the Year edition in the same year, which highlighted "The Silence Breakers" who spoke out against sexual harassment.[20]
Merrick was named in The House magazine list of 100 most inspirational women in Westminster in 2022.[21]
Personal life
Merrick is in a relationship with Toby Helm who is the political editor of The Observer. They have a daughter born in 2010.[3][22]
