Ian Hislop: My 20 years at the Eye

Many of the 'Private Eye' team were scandalised when, in 1986, the editorship was entrusted to a little-known 26-year-old. Two decades on, Ian Hislop is an institution and his magazine has never been in better shape. He talks to Ciar Byrne

Published: 23 October 2006

Shortly after Richard Ingrams announced that he was passing on the editorship of Private Eye to a 26-year-old Oxford graduate, some of the journalists on the fortnightly satirical title attempted a coup. They took Peter Cook, the magazine's main shareholder, out for lunch, hoping to convince him that the young Ian Hislop was not up to the job. But the mutineers had not reckoned on the effects of a good meal.

Still reigning supreme from his shambolic Soho office two decades on, Hislop identifies the plotters as Peter McKay, now of the Daily Mail, and Nigel Dempster. "There was an attempted coup. They took Peter out for lunch, which is always a mistake, and Peter returned from lunch full of red wine and bonhomie and greeted me with the words 'Welcome aboard'. And that was it. [The coup] failed and then of course I sacked both McKay and Dempster."

Article Length: 2438 words (approx.)