He also worked on That Was The Week That Was,

Private Eye’s first editor, Christopher Booker, has died at the age of 81.

The magazine announced the news on its Twitter feed, posting: ‘We are very sad to announce the death today of Christopher Booker. author, journalist, satirist and the first editor of Private Eye, after a short illness. He was 81.

‘A full appreciation of his life and contributions to the magazine will be published in a future edition.’

We are very sad to announce the death today of Christopher Booker. author, journalist, satirist and the first editor of Private Eye, after a short illness. He was 81.

A full appreciation of his life and contributions to the magazine will be published in a future edition. pic.twitter.com/uqMKsqVbzs

— Private Eye Magazine (@PrivateEyeNews) July 3, 2019

He founded the magazine with Richard Ingrams and Willie Rushton, all of them former pupils at Shrewsbury School. 

Booker was ousted by Ingrams in 1963, but returned two years later and remained a member of the magazine's  joke-writing team ever since.

As a pioneer of the satirical boom, he was also the resident political scriptwriter on the BBC’s groundbreaking show That Was The Week That Was, fronted by David Frost.

He has also been a columnist for the Spectator and the Sunday and Daily Telegraph, where he was behind the Way Of The World feature  from 1987 and 1990. He wrote his last column for the newspaper in March, citing failing health.

Some of his views were controversial, such as arguing against the scientific consensus on global warming, on the link between asbestos and lung cancer, and even on evolution, favouring ‘intelligent design’.

Published: 3 Jul 2019