Richard Littlejohn (born 18 January 1954) is an English author, broadcaster and journalist. He writes a twice-weekly column for the Daily Mail about British affairs as observed from reading the news at home in Florida. Littlejohn has been a columnist for The Sun and has written for The Spectator and the London Evening Standard. Littlejohn earned a place in the inaugural Press Gazette Newspaper Hall of Fame as one of the most influential journalists of the past 40 years. He was awarded the title of "Columnist of the Year" at the 1997 British Press Awards. He has been criticised for insufficient fact checking and for alleged homophobia. Primarily a newspaper journalist, Littlejohn has also presented numerous radio and television shows and has authored or co-authored several books. Early life Littlejohn was born in Ilford, Essex in 1954. His family moved to Peterborough when he was five. His father worked as a policeman and later as a manager for British Rail. Littlejohn attended West Town Primary School where he passed the eleven-plus, obtaining the highest marks in his year.<ref name=lostworld>{{cite book|date=2014|author=Richard Littlejohn|isbn=978-0-099-56928-2|title=Littlejohn's Lost World|publisher= Arrow Books}}</ref> He was offered a public school scholarship which he turned down because the school did not play football, and subsequently attended Deacons Grammar School in Dogsthorpe, Peterborough. At the Deacon's School he appeared, when 13, as part of a team of four boys in Top of the Form against Kings Norton Grammar School for Girls, broadcast on Sunday 22 October 1967 on the new BBC Radio 2, which was recorded on Tuesday 19 September 1967. In his team were Michael Conning, Martin Bradshaw of Walton, and the captain Martin Chambers. It was recorded in the school hall with John Ellison; Tim Gudgin was at Kings Norton.BBC Genome October 1967 Journalism At 16, Littlejohn found employment as a trainee journalist in Peterborough. He worked for local newspapers during the early 1970s. In the mid-1970s, he joined the Birmingham Evening Mail as an industrial correspondent. He worked at the London newspaper the Evening Standard from 1979 to 1989, initially as industrial editor, later a feature writer, then in 1988 as a columnist. While industrial editor in the early 1980s he was asked to stand as a Labour Party candidate, which he declined. In 1989, he joined The Sun as a columnist, which attracted controversy, and he was voted "Irritant of the Year" at the 1992 What The