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Former Guardian journalist and 'brilliant raconteur' Chris Boffey dies aged 74
The Guardian
|February 17, 2026
The former Guardian and Observer journalist Chris Boffey has been described as a “brilliant raconteur” and “wonderful boss” after his death at the age of 74.
Boffey had a distinguished career as a reporter and served as the head of news for four national newspapers. He also crossed the Westminster divide, spending time as a special adviser to the Blair-era education secretary Estelle Morris.
Boffey worked for the Guardian and its then sister title, the Observer, as well as the Sun and its own former sister title, the News of the World.
He was also at the daily and Sunday editions of the Mirror and the Telegraph, and worked at the Sunday Times, the Daily Star, Today and the Independent on Sunday.
In 2001, he left Fleet Street for a spell - having been headhunted by Tony Blair’s director of communications Alastair Campbell, a longstanding friend, to work for Morris in the Department for Education.
Campbell said: “The same qualities that made Chris a great journalist are what made him a great friend and a great human being. He was curious, intelligent, empathetic and funny, with a real zest for life ... I have lost a good friend and journalism has lost an old-school reporter with real values.”
This story is from the February 17, 2026 edition of The Guardian.
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