Women in Westminster: In Conversation With Jackie Storer
Former BBC journalist Jackie Storer swapped the newsroom for the Speaker's Office where she became press secretary for Sir Lindsay Hoyle, Speaker of the House of Commons. As part of our Women in Westminster series, we sat down with Storer to learn more about why opening up the Commons to the wider world is essential for our democracy
“I always knew I wanted to be a journalist,” Jackie Storer told Women in Westminster at the start of our sit-down conversation. “I think I was eight years old when I got my first typewriter. I was always writing stories and reading them out to my friends in primary school.”
That desire to create and share stories has been a common theme throughout Storer’s career. After starting in local newspapers, Storer progressed to the BBC where she reported on major political events including Brexit and general elections.
Since her early days as a trainee reporter, Storer has always demonstrated a willingness to take risks and explore new directions. Whether working as an au pair to improve her French or writing a book, Hidden Stories of the First World War (published by the British Library), her instinctive curiosity has meant she has never been afraid to try different paths.
“Don't ever think what you've done is a mistake,” she now advises others. “Don't just think you can only do one thing. It's always about seizing the opportunities that come along.”
That mindset and Storer’s desire to apply her skills in new areas led to her becoming press secretary for the Speaker in 2018. It feels like a good fit. The transition, from senior broadcast journalist to press secretary, has furnished Storer with a wealth of experience in newsrooms and given her a deep understanding of media dynamics. She now draws upon that knowledge to help connect the work of the Speaker to the wider world.
And Storer’s background means that she does not simply tell those stories herself. She is a trusted source of advice for Lobby reporters, regional media, and international outlets, providing not just access but also practical support.
She told Women in Westminster that her journalism background means that she has an instinctive understanding of the unique challenges that political reporters face.
“Political journalists, like all journalists, are under a lot of pressure to hold power to account, find stories, move them on, or find a new angle,” she says. “Because I'm a journalist at heart, I get that.”
Her role supporting the Speaker has also placed Storer in the room during some of the most important and historically significant moments in the nation’s recent history.
“The Speaker’s entire tenure has been made up of huge moments,” she reminds us. “The end of Brexit, Covid, the death of the Duke of Edinburgh, the death of the Queen, the Coronation, umpteen Prime Ministers, two general elections, the invasion of Ukraine, and conflict in the Middle East. He has had a very unusual tenure, a very unusual part of history.”
It is an “unusual part of history” that Storer has also shared. Throughout that period of immense political change, Storer has been at the Speaker’s side, helping to tell the stories of how the Commons is responding to national and global events.
In particular, Storer has demonstrated a deftness of touch in explaining to the public not simply what is happening, but also the often arcane workings of Westminster. That, she believes, is essential in broadening public understanding of the way that our democracy works.
When speaking to Storer, it is clear that whilst her current role is different, she fundamentally regards it as a continuation of her journalistic journey, rather than a deviation from it.
“I will always see myself as a journalist,” she says. “I think it's my job to tell the story of what the Speaker does in the most compelling and interesting way.”
Before joining the Speaker’s Office, Storer’s passion for storytelling propelled her from local newspapers to the BBC’s Westminster newsroom. She retains a passionate respect for political reporting, but one that is always underpinned by a deep appreciation of the humanity of our politicians.
“I just felt very excited to work among people I had only ever seen on the television,” she tells us, recollecting her first day in the Lobby. “And that was quite sobering because you think, ‘they're just like us'. But also, I have come to appreciate the pressures they are under, trying to do their best for the country and their constituents, while also living in two places and often having to deal with abuse on social media.”
That focus on the people behind the political headlines has been a hallmark of Storer’s reporting and has equipped her for her current role where she maintains close connections with MPs, staff and journalists across the House. And her sense of respect for the institution of Parliament, a place where she speaks of the “privilege” of working, also appears to be undimmed.
However, whilst appreciating the weight of tradition behind UK politics, Storer is also an important part of communicating a wider modernisation agenda, as the Speaker’s Office adopts a more proactive and outward-facing role to drive changes in how the Commons operates.
Storer herself has been working in and around Westminster long enough to see how that culture has started to shift, not just for MPs, but also for female journalists who report on UK politics.
“When I first started out, there were very few women journalists, particularly in the Lobby,” she tells us. “I remember saying I was getting married and immediately a number of male journalists asking, ‘Oh, are you having children? Are you going to leave?’ It was like you were ending your professional career. It was so misogynistic.”
However, Storer does acknowledge that since she first began reporting from Westminster, there have been profound and positive shifts in the culture of the press Lobby.
“When I started, women journalists were the exception rather than the rule,” she says. “Now we have so many brilliant political editors who are women. They have got there not because they are women, but because they are brilliant.”
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