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Private Eye
4 March 2005 cover of Private Eye; this is a typical example of the magazine's front cover. The caption refers to the wedding of Prince Charles and Camilla Parker-Bowles.
Type	fortnightly satirical magazine-newspaper
Format	magazine

Owner	Pressdram Ltd
Editor	Ian Hislop
Founded	1961
Political allegiance	none
Headquarters	6 Carlisle Street, London, W1D 3BN

Website: private-eye.co.uk

Private Eye is a fortnightly British satirical magazine-newspaper, edited by Ian Hislop. Shortcut: WP:-( Vandalism is indisputable bad-faith addition, deletion, or change to content, made in a deliberate attempt to compromise the integrity of the encyclopedia. ... Shortcut: WP:-( Vandalism is indisputable bad-faith addition, deletion, or change to content, made in a deliberate attempt to compromise the integrity of the encyclopedia. ... Download high resolution version (868x1250, 202 KB) This is a magazine cover. ... Download high resolution version (868x1250, 202 KB) This is a magazine cover. ... is the 63rd day of the year (64th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... Year 2005 (MMV) was a common year starting on Saturday (link displays full calendar) of the Gregorian calendar. ... The Prince Charles, Prince of Wales (Charles Philip Arthur George[2]; born 14 November 1948), is the eldest son of Queen Elizabeth II and Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh. ... HRH The Duchess of Cornwall The Duchess of Cornwall (Camilla Rosemary Mountbatten-Windsor, formerly Parker Bowles, nÃ©e Shand) (born 17 July 1947) is a member of the British Royal Family. ... 1867 edition of the satirical magazine Punch, a British satirical magazine, ground-breaking on popular literature satire. ... This article or section does not adequately cite its references or sources. ... This article or section does not adequately cite its references or sources. ... Ian Hislop (born 13 July 1960) is the editor of British satirical magazine Private Eye, a team captain on the popular satirical current affairs quiz Have I Got News for You and a comedy scriptwriter. ... This article is about the capital of England and the United Kingdom. ... A fortnight is a unit of time equal to two weeks: that is 14 days, or literally 14 nights. ... 1867 edition of the satirical magazine Punch, a British satirical magazine, ground-breaking on popular literature satire. ... This article or section does not adequately cite its references or sources. ... Ian Hislop (born 13 July 1960) is the editor of British satirical magazine Private Eye, a team captain on the popular satirical current affairs quiz Have I Got News for You and a comedy scriptwriter. ...

History

The magazine's mascot, "Gnitty", drawn by Willie Rushton and based on John Wells

The forerunner of Private Eye was a school magazine edited by Richard Ingrams, Willie Rushton, Christopher Booker and Paul Foot in the mid-1950s. They met at Shrewsbury School and after National Service Ingrams and Foot went to the University of Oxford, where they met their future collaborators Peter Usborne, Andrew Osmond, John Wells and Danae Brook, among others. Private Eye magazine masthead This work is copyrighted. ... Private Eye magazine masthead This work is copyrighted. ... Richard Ingrams (born August 19, 1937) was the second editor of British satirical magazine, Private Eye, taking over from Christopher Booker in 1963. ... William George Rushton, commonly known as Willie Rushton (August 18, 1937â€“December 11, 1996) was a British cartoonist, satirist, comedian, actor and performer. ... Christopher Booker (born 1938) is an English journalist and editor. ... Paul Foot, campaigning journalist Paul Mackintosh Foot (8 November 1937 in Palestine â€“ 18 July 2004 at Stansted Airport) was a British investigative journalist, political campaigner, author, and long-time member of the Socialist Workers Party (SWP). ... King Edward VI Grammar School, Shrewsbury, normally known as Shrewsbury School, is an independent school, located in Shrewsbury, Shropshire, England. ... National service is a common name for compulsory or voluntary military service programs. ... The University of Oxford (usually abbreviated as Oxon. ... John Wells (November 17, 1936 - January 11, 1998) was a British actor, writer and satirist. ...

The magazine proper began when Peter Usborne learned of a new printing process, photo-litho offset, which meant that anybody with a typewriter and Letraset could design a magazine. Although Private Eye was founded amid the British satire boom and the political and social upheavals of the 1960s, at first it was merely a vehicle for silly jokes – an extension of the school magazine and an alternative to other humorous magazines like Punch. However, according to Christopher Booker, its original editor, it simply got "caught up in the rage for satire". Mechanical desktop typewriters, such as this Underwood Five, were long time standards of government agencies, newsrooms, and sales offices. ... Screentone is a generic name for a drafting technique for applying various textures to surfaces from a specially preprinted sheet. ... The satire boom is a general term to describe the emergence of a generation of English satirical writers, journalists and performers at the end of the 1950s. ... Punch was a British weekly magazine of humour and satire published from 1841 to 1992 and from 1996 to 2002. ...

The magazine was initially funded by Usborne and was launched in 1961. It was named when Andrew Osmond looked for ideas in the famous recruiting poster of Lord Kitchener (an image of Kitchener pointing with the caption "Wants You") and, in particular, the pointing finger. After the name "Finger" was rejected, Osmond suggested "Private Eye", in the sense of someone who "fingers" a suspect. Poster from the Spanish Revolution A poster is any large piece of printed paper designed to be attached to a wall or vertical surface. ... Horatio Herbert Kitchener, 1st Earl Kitchener of Khartoum (June 24, 1850 - June 5, 1916) was a British Field Marshal and statesman. ... This article does not cite any references or sources. ...

The magazine was initially edited by Christopher Booker and designed by Willie Rushton, who also drew cartoons for it. Its later editor Richard Ingrams was then pursuing a career as an actor, sharing the editorship with Booker on his return around issue 10 and taking over fully only on issue 40. A cartoon is any of several forms of illustrations with varied meanings that evolved from its original meaning. ...

After the magazine's initial success, more funding was provided by Nicholas Luard and Peter Cook, who ran The Establishment satire club, and Private Eye became a fully professional publication. Nicholas Lamert Luard, (26 June 1937 â€“ 25 May 2004), was a writer and politician, but is perhaps best known for his activities in the early 1960s: co-founding The Establishment with Peter Cook and being one of the Lords Gnome of Private Eye. ... This article does not cite any references or sources. ... The Establishment was a short-lived London nightclub of the early 1960s, based in Soho and famous in retrospect for satire although actually more notable at the time for jazz and other events. ...

In its 21 July 1962 issue, the weekly news magazine Topic reported that a new magazine, Scene, was about to be launched "by the young men who have had a considerable success with Private Eye".^{[citation needed]} is the 202nd day of the year (203rd in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... Year 1962 (MCMLXII) was a common year starting on Monday (the link is to a full 1962 calendar) of the Gregorian calendar. ...

Other people essential to the development of the magazine were Auberon Waugh, Claud Cockburn (who had run a pre-war scandal sheet, The Week), Barry Fantoni, Gerald Scarfe, Tony Rushton, Patrick Marnham and Candida Betjeman. Christopher Logue was another long-time contributor, providing a fortnightly column of "True Stories" featuring cuttings from the national press. The gossip columnist Nigel Dempster wrote extensively for the magazine before he fell out with the editor and other writers, and Paul Foot wrote on politics, local government and corruption. Auberon Alexander Waugh (November 17, 1939 â€“ January 16, 2001) was a British author and journalist. ... Francis Claud Cockburn (pronounced ) (1904-1981) was a renowned radical British journalist, who was controversial for his communist and stalinist sympathies. ... Cover of U.S. edition from December 16, 2005. ... Barry Fantoni is an English writer, cartoonist, and jazz musician most famous for his work with the magazine Private Eye, for whom he created Neasden F.C.. He has also published on Chinese horoscopes. ... Gerald Scarfe (born 1936) is a British cartoonist and illustrator whose work is characterised by an apparent obsession with the grotesque and diseased, perhaps a result of an asthmatic, bed-ridden childhood. ... Candida Lycett Green (b. ... Christopher Logue (born Portsmouth, 1926) is an English poet associated with the British Poetry Revival. ... Neighborly gossips in the Altstadt in Sindelfingen, Germany Gossip consists of casual or idle talk of any sort, usually slanderous and/or devoted to discussing others. ... Nigel Richard Patton Dempster (1 November 1941 in Calcutta, India â€“ 12 July 2007 in Ham, Surrey) was a British journalist, author, broadcaster and diarist. ... Paul Foot, campaigning journalist Paul Mackintosh Foot (8 November 1937 in Palestine â€“ 18 July 2004 at Stansted Airport) was a British investigative journalist, political campaigner, author, and long-time member of the Socialist Workers Party (SWP). ...

In late 2006, the magazine had a total circulation of around 209,000 per issue, of which around 98,000 were by subscription.^[1]

Nature of the magazine

A local poster advertising the appearance of a local councillor in the "Rotten Boroughs" column

Private Eye is often accused of specialising in scurrilous gossip and scandal about the misdeeds of the powerful and famous, and has been the recipient of numerous libel writs. These include three by the late Sir James Goldsmith and several by Robert Maxwell, one of which resulted in costs and reported damages of £225,000 and attacks on the magazine through the publication of a book, Malice in Wonderland, and a magazine, Not Private Eye by Maxwell^[2]. But its defenders point out that it frequently carries news that the mainstream press is frightened to use for fear of legal reprisals, or that is of minority interest. The Eye will often print a story when hard evidence is lacking but there is an overwhelming consensus that the story is true. It is also thought that the Eye avoids breaking stories of politicians' extramarital activities on moral grounds, but it will freely comment on such matters when they are unearthed elsewhere. Download high resolution version (500x800, 70 KB)Poster in Southwark commenting on Private Eye coverage of a local issue. ... Download high resolution version (500x800, 70 KB)Poster in Southwark commenting on Private Eye coverage of a local issue. ... Neighborly gossips in the Altstadt in Sindelfingen, Germany Gossip consists of casual or idle talk of any sort, usually slanderous and/or devoted to discussing others. ... In English and American law, and systems based on them, libel and slander are two forms of defamation (or defamation of character), which is the tort or delict of making a false statement of fact that injures someones reputation. ... In law, a writ is a formal written order issued by a body with administrative or judicial jurisdiction. ... James Goldsmith as he appeared in his Referendum Partyâ€™s mass-mailed video tape, March 1997. ... Robert Maxwell Ian Robert Maxwell MC (June 10, 1923 â€“ November 5, 1991) was a Czechoslovakian-born British media proprietor and formerly Member of Parliament (MP), who rose from poverty to build an extensive publishing empire. ... Not Private Eye was a one-off spoof of the British satirical magazine Private Eye. ...

Many of the contributors to Private Eye are public figures, or specialists in their field, who write anonymously, often under humorous pseudonyms. Many stories originate from writers for other mainstream publications who cannot get their stories published by their employers. A financial column at the back of the magazine ("In the City", written by Michael Gillard) has contributed to a wide city and business readership as a large number of financial scandals and unethical business practices and personalities were first exposed there.

The magazine is also home to many of Britain's most highly regarded humorous cartoonists, and has published a series of independent one‑offs dedicated solely to news reporting of particular current events, such as government inadequacy over the foot and mouth outbreak, or the conviction of Abdel Basset Ali al-Megrahi for the Lockerbie bombing (Lockerbie, the flight from justice, May/June 2001). Another special issue was published in September 2004 to mark the death of long-time staff member Paul Foot. Notice telling people to keep off the North York Moors. ... Abdelbaset Ali Mohmed Al Megrahi Abdelbaset Ali Mohmed Al Megrahi (Arabic: Ø¹Ø¨Ø¯ Ø§Ù„Ø¨Ø§Ø³Ø· Ù…ØÙ…Ø¯ Ø¹Ù„ÙŠ Ø§Ù„Ù…Ù‚Ø±ØÙŠ) (born April 1, 1952) is a former Libyan intelligence officer, head of security for Libyan Arab Airlines, and director of the Center for Strategic Studies in Tripoli. ... Lockerbie Town Hall, 2006. ... Paul Foot, campaigning journalist Paul Mackintosh Foot (8 November 1937 in Palestine â€“ 18 July 2004 at Stansted Airport) was a British investigative journalist, political campaigner, author, and long-time member of the Socialist Workers Party (SWP). ...

Alongside jokes, the magazine frequently breaks news stories before any other outlet. It was the first outlet to name the Kray twins as the gang leaders terrorising the London underworld in the 1960s. This only occurred as the then editor Richard Ingrams was on holiday and proprietor Peter Cook standing in for him thought it too good an opportunity to miss. The Kray twins, Reginald (left) and Ronald, photographed by David Bailey. ... Richard Ingrams (born August 19, 1937) was the second editor of British satirical magazine, Private Eye, taking over from Christopher Booker in 1963. ... This article does not cite any references or sources. ...

Running in-jokes

Main article: List of recurring in-jokes in Private Eye

The magazine has a number of running in jokes and convoluted references, often comprehensible only to those who have read the magazine for many years. These in jokes may consist of referring to controversial or legally ambiguous things in a subtle euphemistic code, such as substituting "drunk" with "tired and emotional", or using the phrase "Ugandan relations" to denote illicit sexual exploits, or they may consist of more obvious parodies utilising easily-recognisable stereotypes, such as the lampooning of any Conservative MP viewed to be particularly old-fashioned and bigoted as "Sir Bufton Tufton", or a variation thereof. The first half of the issue, containing reporting and investigative journalism, tends to include these in-jokes in a more subtle manner, so as to maintain journalistic integrity, while the second half, more geared around unrestrained parody and cutting humour, tends to present this kind of humour in a more confrontational way. This is a list of frequently-occuring or long-running in-jokes used in the British satirical magazine Private Eye. ... This article needs additional references or sources for verification. ...

Regular sections

Columns

News (previously called The Colour Section) – effectively the stories the magazine is most proud of that week or thinks most important, placed at its front.
Street of Shame – covering journalism, newspapers and other press stories. The term "Street of Shame" refers to Fleet Street. Usually largely written by Francis Wheen and Adam Macqueen.
Hackwatch – a column highlighting and exposing recent examples of ironic inconsistencies or general poor quality of journalists and newspapers.
Called to Ordure – reporting from recent committee appearances by regulators or otherwise senior civil servants.
HP Sauce – covering politics and politicians. ("HP" refers to Houses of Parliament, as well as being an actual brand of sauce).
Down On The Farm – agricultural issues.
Down On The Fishfarm – issues relating to fish-farming.
Music notes – gossip on the artistic and political intrigues behind the scenes in the world of classical music. Written by "Lunchtime O'Boulez". (Lunchtime O'Booze has been the resident Private Eye journalist since the earliest days; Pierre Boulez, French avant garde composer and conductor, was a controversial choice as Principal Conductor of the BBC Symphony Orchestra in the early 1970s, a time still remembered by many as a dark age of British music-making). In an earlier incarnation, the column published scurrilous and unfounded gossip about the London Symphony Orchestra, which resulted in a significant libel pay-out.
Ad Nauseam – the excesses and faux-pas of the advertising industry.
Court Circular – a parody of The Daily Telegraph and The Times' Court Circular sections which detail the activities of the Royal Family, for example "HRH Prince Harry attended the opening of a bottle of vodka at Slappers Niteclub in Kensington."
Eye TV – analysis of television programmes and news/criticism of the UK television industry. (ITV is a British TV channel).
Doing The Rounds – medical news and coverage of the National Health Service, written by the general practitioner (and sometime comedian) Dr Phil Hammond.
Rotten Boroughs – a column reporting on dubious practice in local government. The name of the column is a play on the term "rotten borough". This section is written by a number of regionally specialist reporters, none of whom are credited, and is edited by Tim Minogue.
Signal Failures – covering railway issues. The author name "Dr B. Ching" refers to Dr Richard Beeching who wielded the Beeching Axe, a report that led to widespread cuts to the British railway network in the 1960s.
High Principals – examining further and higher education issues and spotlighting individuals who might have acted in their own best interest or those of family, friends and associates, rather than in the interest of the wider academic community.
Under The Microscope – looking at issues related to the scientific field.
Nooks & Corners – architectural criticism. This is one of the magazine's most famous sections. It was originally titled Nooks & Corners of the New Barbarism, a reference to the architectural movement known as New Brutalism. The column was founded by John Betjeman, and is currently written by architectural historian Gavin Stamp using the name "Piloti".
Funny Old World – supposedly genuine news stories from around the world; compiled by Victor Lewis-Smith. Continued an earlier column, Christopher Logue's True Stories.
Letter From... – brief column written by a native person of a particular country highlighting the political or social situation there, the name coming from Alistair Cooke's Letter from America.
Literary Review – book reviews and news from the world of publishing and bookselling. The masthead from the magazine of the same name, formerly edited by Auberon Waugh (AKA, Abraham Wargs, "The Voice of Himself"), is lifted for this section.
Diary – A parody of the weekly 'diary' column which appears in The Spectator magazine, written in the style of the chosen celebrity (written by Craig Brown).
In The City – analysis of financial and city affairs and people.
In The Back – in-depth investigative journalism, often taking the side of the downtrodden. This section was until 2004 overseen by the late Paul Foot under whose tenure it was known as Footnotes. It often features stories on potential miscarriages of justice and stories on other embarrassing establishment misdeeds. In the Back was first used in 1999, when Paul Foot suffered an aortic aneurysm and had to spend six months in hospital and the Footnotes name was completely dropped in 2004.

This article does not cite any references or sources. ... Fleet Street in 2005 Fleet Street is a famous street in London, England, named after the River Fleet. ... Francis James Baird Wheen (born January 22, 1957) is a British writer and journalist, who was educated at Harrow School and Royal Holloway College, University of London. ... The Politics series Politics Portal This box: Politics is the process by which groups of people make decisions. ... The HP Sauce logo HP fruity brown sauce HP Sauce is a condiment; a popular brown sauce currently produced in Aston, Birmingham, England, by HP Foods. ... â€œHouses of Parliamentâ€ redirects here. ... A brand includes a name, logo, slogan, and/or design scheme associated with a product or service. ... Intensive, biosecure koi aquaculture facility in Israel Fish farming is the principal form of aquaculture, while other methods may fall under mariculture. ... This does not cite any references or sources. ... Pierre Boulez Pierre Boulez (IPA: /pjÉ›Ê.buËˆlÉ›z/) (born March 26, 1925) is a conductor and composer of classical music. ... A composer is a person who writes music. ... Conducting is the act of directing a musical performance by way of visible gestures. ... The BBC Symphony Orchestra is the principal orchestra of the British Broadcasting Corporation and one of the leading orchestras in Britain. ... The London Symphony Orchestra (LSO) is one of the major orchestras of the United Kingdom. ... In English and American law, and systems based on them, libel and slander are two forms of defamation (or defamation of character), which is the tort or delict of making a false statement of fact that injures someones reputation. ... Advertising is paid, one-way communication through a medium in which the sponsor is identified and the message is controlled. ... This article concerns the British newspaper. ... The Times is a national newspaper published daily in the United Kingdom since 1788. ... Independent Television (generally known as ITV, but also as ITV Network) is a public service network of British commercial television broadcasters, set up under the Independent Television Authority (ITA) to provide competition to the BBC. ITV is the oldest commercial television network in the UK. Since 1990 and the Broadcasting... , the information in this article describes the current English public health service. ... Dr Phil Hammond is a doctor who has become noted as a comedian and commentator on health issues in the UK. Although he still works part time as a GP he is most famous for his humorous commentary on the NHS. He first came into the public spotlight writing a... The term rotten borough referred to a parliamentary borough or constituency in Great Britain and Ireland which, due to size and population, was controlled and used by a patron to exercise undue and unrepresentative influence within parliament. ... Richard Beeching Richard Beeching, Baron Beeching (21 April 1913 - 23 March 1985), commonly known as Doctor Beeching, was chairman of British Railways and a physicist and engineer. ... Many railway lines were closed as a result of the Beeching Axe The Beeching Axe is an informal name for the British Governments attempt in the 1960s to reduce the cost of running the British railway system. ... Brutalism is an architectural style that spawned from the Modernist architectural movement and which flourished from the 1950s to the 1970s. ... A collection of Betjemans poetry, published by John Murray in January 2006 Sir John Betjeman CBE (28 August 1906 â€“ 19 May 1984) was an English poet, writer and broadcaster who described himself in Whos Who as a poet and hack. He was born to a middle-class family... Victor Lewis-Smith (born probably 1961 but possibly earlier) is a British satirist, producer, critic and prankster. ... Alistair Cooke KBE (November 20, 1908 â€“ March 30, 2004) was a legendary British-American journalist and broadcaster. ... Letter from America was a weekly 15 minute radio series on BBC Radio 4, previously called the Home Service, which ran for 2,869 shows from March 24, 1946 to February 20, 2004, making it the longest-running speech radio programme in history. ... â€œPublisherâ€ redirects here. ... Literary Review was founded in 1979 for people who love reading. ... Auberon Alexander Waugh (November 17, 1939 â€“ January 16, 2001) was a British author and journalist. ... Cover of the Nov 12, 2005 issue of The Spectator magazine. ... For other uses, see Celebrity (disambiguation). ... Craig Brown (born May 23, 1957) is a British satirist and writer probably best known for his work in Private Eye. ... Investigative journalism is a kind of journalism in which reporters deeply investigate a topic of interest, often involving crime, political corruption, or some other scandal. ... Paul Foot, campaigning journalist Paul Mackintosh Foot (8 November 1937 in Palestine â€“ 18 July 2004 at Stansted Airport) was a British investigative journalist, political campaigner, author, and long-time member of the Socialist Workers Party (SWP). ...

Newspaper parodies

The latter half of the magazine is taken up with parodies of newspapers; the layout and style of writing mirrors newspapers, which serve as vehicles for parody and satire of current events, plus spoof adverts. Where further content is implied, but omitted, this is said to continue on page 94. In contemporary usage, a parody (or lampoon) is a work that imitates another work in order to ridicule, ironically comment on, or poke some affectionate fun at the work itself, the subject of the work, the author or fictional voice of the parody, or another subject. ... 1867 edition of the satirical magazine Punch, a British satirical magazine, ground-breaking on popular literature satire. ... Highlights The so-called iTunes Law, which Apple has called state-sponsored piracy, is approved by the French Parliament (coat of arms pictured). ...

Lunchtime O'Booze has been the Eye's resident journalist since the early days. The name is a comment on journalists' traditional fondness for alcohol, their prandial habits, the suspicion that they get their stories by hanging around the pub and talking to people they meet there and, by implication, the amount of reliance which might be placed upon their reports.
Glenda Slagg – brash, libidinous and self-contradictory female reporter based on Jean Rook and Lynda Lee-Potter.
Sally Jockstrap – a fictional sports columnist, inspired by Lynne Truss^[3], who is incapable of correctly reporting any sporting facts. Her articles are usually a mishmash of references with several sports, along the lines of "there was drama at Twickenham as Michael Schumacher double faulted to give Arsenal victory"
Dave Spart – ultra-left wing activist (always of a ridiculous-sounding collective or magazine - sometimes the New Spartsman or the Indescribably Sparty - frequently based in Neasden) who is given free rein to express his views. These always begin 'Once again ...', before attempting to lambast the subject of his anger for allegedly constant misconduct, prejudice or general wrongdoing. This very rarely gets further than a few words before it breaks down into a fragmented litany of 'sickening ... totally sickening ... worse than Hitler ..." and so on, before being abruptly curtailed by the inevitable "continued on page 94". Since he must take the alternative view on any subject, he often ends up contradicting himself and getting stuck in logical circles, frequently stopping with "Er..." but continuing anyway.
Poetry Corner – trite obituaries of the recently deceased in the form of poems from the fictional teenage poet E.J. Thribb (17½). The poems (nearly) always have a heading "In Memoriam..." and usually begin "So. Farewell then".
A Doctor Writes – the fictional "A. Doctor" or "Dr Thomas Utterfraud" parodies newspaper articles on topical medical conditions, particularly those by Dr Thomas Stuttaford.
Polly Filler – a vapid and self-centred female "lifestyle" columnist, whose irrelevant personal escapades and gossip serve solely to fill column inches. She complains bitterly about the workload of the modern woman whilst passing all parental responsibility onto 'the au pair', who always comes from a less-advanced country, is paid a pittance, and fails to understand the workings of some mundane aspect of "lifestyle" life. Her name is derived from Polyfilla, a DIY product used to fill holes and cracks in plaster. Polly's sister Penny Dreadful makes an occasional appearance. Like several Private Eye regulars, Polly is based upon more than one female columnist who can be difficult to identify, but Jane Moore of The Sun, whose remarks are often echoed by Polly or commented on elsewhere in the magazine, is a major source. Additionally, the column is a sly dig (as opposed to the more usual Eye bludgeoning with a blunt instrument) at the Murdoch empire in general and Sky Television in particular, as Polly's husband, "the useless Simon", is usually mentioned as being in front of the television (wasting time) watching exotic sports on obscure satellite television channels (a News Corporation speciality).
Toy-town News or Nursery Times – a newspaper based on the mythology of children's stories. For example, Royal butler Paul Burrell was satirised as the "Knave of Hearts" who was "lent" tarts "for safe keeping", rather than stealing them as in the rhyme. Nigel Dempster is referred to as "Humpty Dumpster".
Ye Daily Tudorgraph – a newspaper written in mock-Tudor language, set in that time-period, and clearly a parody of the Daily Telegraph. It usually suggests that former Daily Telegraph editor Bill Deedes was a young boy at the time.
The Has-Beano – a pastiche of Britain's long-running Beano children's comic, used to satirise The Spectator and Boris Johnson (who features as the lead character, Boris the Menace).
Obvious headline – the trite and banal stories about celebrities' antics that receive extensive reporting in the national press are often rewritten as an anonymous headline, such as "SHOCK NEWS: MAN HAS SEX WITH SECRETARY". This is usually "EXCLUSIVE TO ALL NEWSPAPERS".
Official Apology or Product Recall – spoofs the official apologies and product recall notices that newspapers are mandated to print. For example, the subject might be the English national football team.
Gnomemart – the Christmas special edition of Private Eye includes a double page of spoof adverts for useless mail-order gadgets, usually endorsed by topical celebrities, as being capable of playing topical songs or TV theme tunes.
Mary Ann Bighead – A satire of The Times columnist and assistant editor Mary Ann Sieghart. Bighead is lampooned as being pretentious, ignorant, and boastful of her two children Brainella (3) and Intelligencia (7), her high standard of living, her travels (mainly to developing countries where she patronises the locals) and the fact that she can speak so many languages (including Swahili, Tagalog and 13th Century Mongolian).
Pop Scene by Maureen Cleavage – Originally a micky-take on press coverage of the music business and Maureen Cleave, who had a "pop" column on the Evening Standard. At the time (early to mid-Sixties), popular culture was starting to be taken more seriously by the heavier newspapers; some claim that the Eye gang considered this approach to be pretentious, and ripe for ridicule, although others counter-argue that the Eye was in fact covering popular culture before some of the more serious newspapers did. Cleave was supposedly a close friend of John Lennon, indeed she is often credited with bringing the notorious "more popular than Jesus" remark to public notice. Her style was similar to the gushing and uncritical content which now typifies "Bizarre" in The Sun and the "3am Girls" in the Daily Mirror. This section provided an outlet for satirical comment on the activities of popular musicians of the time. Their antics were usually attributed to "The Turds pop group" (fictional) and their charismatic leader "Spiggy Topes". "The Turds" and "Topes" were originally based on The Beatles and a thinly disguised John Lennon, but the names became applied to any rock star or band whose excesses featured in the popular press (Johnny Rotten and the Sex Pistols, for example). This section first appeared in issue Number 69 in August 1964.
Neasden United FC, playing in the wonderfully depressingly & surreally named North Circular Relegation League, is a football club from Neasden, North London often used to satirize the state of British football in general with the manager 'ashen-faced supremo Ron Knee, 59' possibly from Ron Atkinson and their only two fans "Sid and Doris Bonkers" playing on the idea of tiny devoted mindless fanbases of unsuccessful football clubs. In this case, spectacularly unsuccessful, as they invariably lose by a double-figure margin & if they score it's "one boot", flying of the foot of their ageing striker Baldy Pevsner, who usually chips in with several own goals. The reports are written by "E.I. Addio", a punning reference to popular football chanting.
Police log - Neasden Central Police Station – A fictional police station log, satirising current police policies that are met with general contempt and/or disdain. Examples may include an incident in which an elderly woman is attacked by a gang of youths, and is arrested (and unfortunately dies 'of natural causes' in police custody) for infringing on their right to terrorise OAPs, or the officers who arrest themselves for ordering a Full English, in direct contravention of the Celtic Minority (Non-Discriminatory Breakfast Provision) Regulations 2006.

This does not cite any references or sources. ... This article or section is not written in the formal tone expected of an encyclopedia article. ... Glenda Slagg is a spoof columnist in the satirical magazine Private Eye and first appeared in the mid-1960s. ... Lynda Lee-Potter (born Lynda Higginson; May 2, 1935 – October 20, 2004) was a Daily Mail columnist. ... Lynne Truss is a British writer and journalist. ... Twickenham Stadium (usually known as just Twickenham or Twickers[1]) is a stadium located in Twickenham, a suburb of south-west London (in the historic county of Middlesex). ... Michael Schumacher (pronounced / /, born January 3, 1969, in HÃ¼rth HermÃ¼lheim, Germany)[1] is a former Formula One driver, and seven-time world champion. ... The Australian Frank Sedgman was one of the great serve-and-volleyers A serve (or, more formally, a service) in tennis is a shot to start a point. ... Arsenal Football Club (also known as Arsenal, The Arsenal or The Gunners) are an English professional football club based in Holloway, north London. ... The New Statesman is a left-of-centre political weekly published in London. ... The Independent is a British compact newspaper published by Tony OReillys Independent News & Media. ... Neasden Neasden is a place in the London Borough of Brent. ... Adolf Hitler Adolf Hitler (April 20, 1889 – April 30, 1945, standard German pronunciation in the IPA) was the Führer (leader) of the National Socialist German Workers Party (Nazi Party) and of Nazi Germany from 1933 to 1945. ... As far I know E. Jarvis-Thribb (17) and Keiths mum first appeared in the very funny poem On the Tercentenary of Miltons Death, by, I think, Gavin Ewart. ... Dr Thomas Stuttaford (1931-) is a British doctor, author, medical columnist of The Times and former Conservative Member of Parliament. ... Au pair is an anglicization of the French term au pair, which means on par or equal to and describes a young person living on an equal basis with a host family in a foreign country. ... Spackling paste is typically used to fill holes, small cracks and other minor surface defacements in wood, drywall and plaster. ... Penny Dreadful can refer to: The 19th century British penny dreadful publications. ... Jane Moore was born 17 May 1962. ... Look up sun in Wiktionary, the free dictionary. ... Keith Rupert Murdoch AC, KCSG (born 11 March 1931) is an Australian born United States citizen who is a global media executive and is the controlling shareholder, chairman and managing director of News Corporation, based in New York. ... This article or section does not cite any references or sources. ... 1211 Avenue of the Americas (Sixth Avenue), where News Corporation is based News Corporation (abbreviated to News Corp) (NYSE: NWS, NYSE: NWSa, ASX: NWS, LSE: NCRA) is one of the worlds largest media conglomerates. ... Paul Burrell in ITVs Im a Celebrity, Get Me Out of Here!, 2004. ... The Burrell affair was a scandal in United Kingdom, as the Queen is the head of state of a constitutional monarchy and is theoretically the embodiment of the state in all legal proceedings, and any involvement of a reigning monarch in a law court would be unprecedented. ... Nigel Richard Patton Dempster (1 November 1941 in Calcutta, India â€“ 12 July 2007 in Ham, Surrey) was a British journalist, author, broadcaster and diarist. ... This article deals with The Daily Telegraph in Britain, see The Daily Telegraph (Australia) for the Australian publication The Daily Telegraph is a British broadsheet newspaper founded in 1855. ... The Right Honourable William Francis Deedes, Baron Deedes, KBE, MC, DL, PC (born 1 June 1913) is a veteran British journalist and a former politician. ... This March 2007 does not adequately cite its references or sources. ... The Spectator is a conservative British political magazine, established 1828, published weekly. ... Alexander Boris de Pfeffel Johnson, MP (born 19 June 1964, New York),[1] better known as Boris Johnson, is a British Conservative Party politician, journalist and former editor of The Spectator. ... This article does not cite any references or sources. ... First International Scotland 0 - 0 England (Partick, Scotland; 30 November 1872) Largest win Ireland 0 - 13 England (Belfast, Northern Ireland; 18 February 1882) Worst defeat Hungary 7 - 1 England (Budapest, Hungary; 23 May 1954) World Cup Appearances 11 (First in 1950) Best result Winners, 1966 European Championship Appearances 7 (First... See TV (disambiguation) for other uses and Television (band) for the rock band European networks National In much of Europe television broadcasting has historically been state dominated, rather than commercially organised, although commercial stations have grown in number recently. ... The Times is a national newspaper published daily in the United Kingdom since 1788. ... Mary Ann Sieghart (born 1961) is an assistant editor of The Times, where she writes columns about politics, social affairs and life generally. ... Swahili (also called Kiswahili; see below for derivation) is a Bantu language. ... Tagalog (pronunciation: ) is one of the major languages of the Republic of the Philippines. ... Maureen Cleave was a journalist with the London Evening News and London Evening Standard who conducted interviews with famous musicians of the 1960s, including Bob Dylan and John Lennon. ... Headlines of the Evening Standard on the day of London bombing on July 7, 2005, in Waterloo Station The Evening Standard is a British tabloid newspaper published and sold in London and surrounding areas of southeast England. ... John Winston Ono Lennon, MBE (October 9, 1940 â€“ December 8, 1980), (born John Winston Lennon, known as John Ono Lennon) was an iconic English 20th century rock and roll songwriter and singer, best known as the founding member of The Beatles. ... John Winston Lennon (later John Ono Lennon) (October 9, 1940 â€“ December 8, 1980) was best known as a singer, songwriter, poet and guitarist for the British rock band The Beatles. ... Look up sun in Wiktionary, the free dictionary. ... Alternate newspaper: The Daily Mirror (Australia) The Daily Mirror is a popular British tabloid daily newspaper. ... The White Album, see The Beatles (album). ... John Winston Ono Lennon, MBE (October 9, 1940 â€“ December 8, 1980), (born John Winston Lennon, known as John Ono Lennon) was an iconic English 20th century rock and roll songwriter and singer, best known as the founding member of The Beatles. ... John Lydon John Joseph Lydon (born January 31, 1956), also known as Johnny Rotten (a nickname derived from the state of his teeth) was the iconoclastic lead singer of the Sex Pistols and Public Image Ltd (PiL) and an Irish individualist anarchist. ... The Sex Pistols were an iconic and highly influential English punk rock band, formed in London in 1975. ... A player (wearing the red kit) has penetrated the defence (in the white kit) and is taking a shot at goal. ... Neasden Neasden is a place in the London Borough of Brent. ... North London is that part of London which is north of the River Thames. ... A player (wearing the red kit) has penetrated the defence (in the white kit) and is taking a shot at goal. ... This page meets Wikipedias criteria for speedy deletion. ... Ronald Frederick Big Ron Atkinson (born 18 March 1939 in Liverpool, England) is a British former football player and manager. ... A Full English breakfast, or traditional fry-up, is a traditional breakfast meal in England. ...

Mini-sections

Main article: List of regular mini-sections in Private Eye

The magazine contains a variety of regular "spots", consisting of small amusing examples of different aspects of everyday life, generally taken from everyday life themselves and sent in by readers, such as "Colemanballs", gaffes by sports commentators with less than adequate command of the English language, or "Dumb Britain", particularly shocking examples of lacking in knowledge taken from British quiz shows. The following is a list of regularly appearing mini-sections appearing in the British satirical magazine Private Eye. ...

Prime Minister parodies

An almost constant fixture in Private Eye is a full page lampooning the prime minister of the day. The style of the page is always the same, and tries to sum up some fundamental characteristic of the person involved. Occasionally, formerly defunct columns of this type resurface (e.g. Dear Bill, on the death of Denis Thatcher). In reverse historical order: The Dear Bill letters were a regular feature in the British satirical magazine Private Eye. ...

Prime Ministerial Decrees – portrays Gordon Brown as a communist dictator. Additionally, the magazine runs a comic strip called The Broons, portraying Brown and some of his cabinet as grotesque cartoon characters in the style of the long-running Scottish comic strip The Broons; all dialogue is conducted in very thick Scots dialect.
St. Albion Parish News (defunct) – the main focus of the magazine's satire against Tony Blair, who is characterised as a sanctimonious Church of England vicar and his government as various parish officials. Blair often receives updates from his transatlantic confidant, George Bush, from the "Church of the Latter-Day Morons". From 1997-2001, during the presidency of Bill Clinton the correspondence was described as coming from "The Church of the 7th Day Fornicators" in reference to Clinton's alleged womanising.
The Secret Diary of John Major (aged 47¾) (defunct) – A spoof weekly diary entry based on The Secret Diary of Adrian Mole (aged 13¾) in which John Major was typically characterised as being hopelessly naïve and optimistic. The diary reappears occasionally, such as when his affair with Edwina Currie was discovered, when Major was made a KG and after he attended the funeral of Edward Heath.
Dear Bill (defunct) – spoof letters from Denis Thatcher to Bill Deedes, about life in 10 Downing Street with Margaret. The series portrayed Denis as a sozzled rightist alcoholic staggering between snifters.
(There was no parody of James Callaghan)
Heathco Newsletter (defunct) – an internal missive purportedly from the managing director of a struggling small firm called Heathco, in which Edward Heath (managing director) keeps his staff up to date and in high spirits with the latest company news. Cabinet ministers would be recast as petty managers and clerks in this satire. The company's logo was a stylised yacht. The newsletters invariably ended with a request to staff which admonished them for stubbing their cigarettes out in the plastic cups in which the canteen served them with tea.
Mrs Wilson's Diary (defunct) – a chronicle of the events in Harold Wilson's life, from the more down-to-earth and homely perspective of his wife, Mrs Wilson. The series was later adapted to theatre and television. Based on a contemporary radio soap opera Mrs Dale's Diary. Mrs Wilson's Diary inspired a similar feature in the American magazine National Lampoon: Mrs Agnew's Diary, purporting to be the actual journal of Vice President Spiro Agnew's wife. Indeed, several National Lampoon features were "borrowed" from Private Eye.

For others with the same or similar names, see Gordon Brown (disambiguation). ... The Broons is a comic strip within The Sunday Post newspaper, which is published by D. C. Thomson & Co. ... St Albion Parish News is currently a regular feature in the satirical magazine Private Eye. ... For other people of the same name, see Tony Blair (disambiguation) Anthony Charles Lynton Blair (born May 6, 1953)[1] is the Prime Minister of the United Kingdom, First Lord of the Treasury, Minister for the Civil Service, Leader of the Labour Party, and Member of Parliament for the constituency... The Church of England logo since 1998 The Church of England is the officially established Christian church[1] in England, and acts as the mother and senior branch of the worldwide Anglican Communion, as well as a founding member of the Porvoo Communion. ... George Walker Bush (born July 6, 1946) is the 43rd and current President of the United States, inaugurated on January 20, 2001. ... William Jefferson Bill Clinton (born William Jefferson Blythe III[1] on August 19, 1946) was the 42nd President of the United States, serving from 1993 to 2001. ... The Secret Diary of Adrian Mole, Aged 13Â¾ is the first book in the Adrian Mole series. ... Sir John Major, KG, CH (born 29 March 1943) is a former British politician who was Prime Minister of the United Kingdom and leader of the British Conservative Party from 1990 to 1997. ... Edwina Currie Edwina Currie Jones nÃ©e Cohen, (born 13 October 1946) is a former British Member of Parliament. ... A garter is one of the Orders most recognisable insignia. ... Sir Edward Richard George Heath, KG, OBE (9 July 1916 â€“ 17 July 2005) was Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 1970 to 1974 and leader of the Conservative Party from 1965 to 1975. ... The Dear Bill letters were a regular feature in the British satirical magazine Private Eye. ... Major Sir Denis Thatcher, 1st Baronet MBE TD (May 10, 1915 â€“ June 26, 2003) was a businessman, and the husband of the former British Prime Minister, Baroness Thatcher. ... The Right Honourable William Francis Deedes, Baron Deedes, KBE, MC, DL, PC (born 1 June 1913) is a veteran British journalist and a former politician. ... Prime Minister Tony Blair and U.S. Vice President Dick Cheney stand in front of the famous main door to Number 10. ... Margaret Hilda Thatcher, Baroness Thatcher, LG, OM, PC (born October 13, 1925), former Prime Minister of the United Kingdom, in office from 1979 to 1990. ... The term Snifter might refer to: A snifter glass Snifter - a type of stemware, a short-stemmed glass whose main vessel has a wide bottom but that narrows at the top. ... Leonard James Callaghan, Baron Callaghan of Cardiff, KG, PC (27 March 1912 â€“ 26 March 2005), was Labour Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 1976 to 1979. ... Sir Edward Richard George Heath, KG, OBE (9 July 1916 â€“ 17 July 2005) was Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 1970 to 1974 and leader of the Conservative Party from 1965 to 1975. ... James Harold Wilson, Baron Wilson of Rievaulx, KG, OBE, FRS, PC (11 March 1916 â€“ 24 May 1995) was one of the most prominent British politicians of the 20th century. ... Mary Wilson (born 1918) is a British poet, best known as the wife of former British prime minister, Harold Wilson. ... Mrs Dales Diary was the first significant BBC radio serial drama, first broadcast on the Home Service on 5 January 1948. ... January 1973 cover of National Lampoon National Lampoon was an American humor magazine that began in 1970 as an offshoot of the Harvard Lampoon. ... Spiro Theodore Agnew (November 9, 1918 â€“ September 17, 1996) was the 39th Vice President of the United States serving under President Richard M. Nixon, and the 55th Governor of Maryland. ...

Miscellanea

The cover, with its famous speech bubble, putting ironic or humorous comments into the mouths of the famous in response to topical events.
Letters – readers' letters section which frequently includes letters from the famous and powerful, often so that the Eye can print an apology and thereby avoid litigation. Some people use the page as a voice to express disgust at a recent Eye article and, infamously (or jokingly), end by saying they will cancel their subscription. This section also prints the lookalikes and occasionally prints the embarrassing picture of Andrew Neil described below.
Crossword – a cryptic prize crossword, notable for its vulgarity. In the early 1970s the crossword was set by the Labour MP Tom Driberg, under the pseudonym of "Tiresias" (supposedly "a distinguished academic churchman"). It is currently set by Eddie James under the name "Cyclops". The crossword is frequently pornographic and, by all measures, usually intensely offensive. The prize for the first correct solution opened, £100, is unusually high for a crossword and attracts many entrants.
Classified – adverts from readers. Years ago people with odd sexual tastes would make contact with others via Private Eye's personal ads, using code words (using the names of motor cycles to describe various sexual acts, for example). However, nowadays the classified adverts usually consist of people selling wine or websites, or conspiracy theorists promoting their ideas. Includes the "Eye Need" adverts in which people beg for money. Spike Milligan once placed an ad that ran: "Spike Milligan would like to meet a rich, well-insured widow – intention: murder" and reported receiving several dozen replies.
Old Testament parody – a spoof of the Old Testament, applying Bibilical language and imagery particularly reminiscent of the King James Bible to current affairs in the Middle East.

Four different shapes of speech or thought balloons Speech balloons (also speech bubbles or word balloons) are a graphic convention used in comic books, strips, and cartoons to allow words (and much less often, pictures) to be understood as representing the speech or thoughts of a given character in the... Andrew Ferguson Neil (born May 21, 1949, Paisley) is a Scottish journalist and broadcaster. ... A crossword is a word puzzle that normally takes the form of a square grid of black and white squares. ... The Labour Party is a political party in the United Kingdom. ... A Member of Parliament, or MP, is a representative elected by the voters to a parliament. ... Thomas Edward Neil Driberg, Baron Bradwell (May 22, 1905â€”August 12, 1976) was a British journalist and politician who was an influential member on the left of the UK Labour party from the 1940s to the 1970s. ... A pseudonym (Greek pseudo + -onym: false name) is an artificial, fictitious name, also known as an alias, used by an individual as an alternative to a persons true name. ... Everes redirects here. ... Polyphemus the Cyclops. ... Terence Alan Milligan, KBE, (16 April 1918â€“27 February 2002), known as Spike Milligan, was an Irish writer, artist, musician, humanitarian, comedian, and poet. ... This page is about the version of the Bible; for the Harvey Danger album, see King James Version (album). ...

Defunct sections

Apart from the former Prime Minister parodies mentioned above, several sections are no longer printed. These include:

Auberon Waugh's Diary; Waugh wrote a regular diary for the magazine, usually combining real events from his own life with fictional flights of fancy (i.e. pretending he had been to parties with the Queen), from the early 1970s until 1985. It was generally written in the persona of an ultra-right-wing country gentleman, a subtle exaggeration of his own personality. He described it as the world's first example of journalism specifically dedicated to telling lies.
London Calling – a round-up of news, especially of the most barking loony left variety, during the days of the GLC. This column was retired when the GLC was abolished.
Sally Deedes – genuine consumer journalism column, often exposing spectacularly corrupt or improper goods, services and/or dealings. Sally Deedes (author unknown) was the origin of the Eye's first-ever libel victory in the mid-1990s; column was quietly ditched a few years later.
Illustrated London News – a digest of news and scandal from the metropolis, parodying (and using the masthead of) the defunct gazette of the same name. Usually written by the radical pioneer journalist Claud Cockburn. Later replaced (c.1984) with -
Grovel – a 'society' column, featuring gossip, scandal and scuttlebutt about the rich and famous, and probably the most-sued section in the whole magazine. The character and style of Grovel (a clearly tired and emotional man with a monocle, top hat and cigarette holder) was based on former GLE (Greatest Living Englishman), Nigel Dempster, lampooned as 'Nigel Pratt-Dumpster'. Grovel was replaced in about 1996 with –
Hallo! – the 'heart-warming column' purportedly written by The Marquesa, practically identical in content but with a new prose style parodying the breathless and gushing format established by magazines such as Hello, in which celebrities showed reporters around their lovely houses, etc. Hallo! itself disappeared in about 2000.
Thomas, The Privatised Tank Engine – a parody of Rev. W. Awdry's Railway Series, by Incledon Clark published at the time of the debate over railway privatisation in 1993-4. The criticisms of the privatised railway that was being created turned out to be prescient to an astonishing degree.
Wimmin – a regular 80s section featuring quotes from feminist writing deemed to be ridiculous (similar to Pseuds Corner).

Auberon Alexander Waugh (November 17, 1939 â€“ January 16, 2001) was a British author and journalist. ... Elizabeth II (Elizabeth Alexandra Mary Windsor; born 21 April 1926) is Queen of sixteen sovereign states, holding each crown and title equally. ... Loony left is a pejorative term usually applied to people or organizations of the political far-left, particularly by the right-wing press and tabloid newspapers of the United Kingdom. ... Arms of the Greater London Council The Greater London Council (GLC) was the top-tier local government administrative body for Greater London from 1965 to 1986. ... Francis Claud Cockburn (pronounced ) (1904-1981) was a renowned radical British journalist, who was controversial for his communist and stalinist sympathies. ... Tired and Emotional is a euphemism for drunk. It was coined by the British satirical magazine Private Eye in 1967 in reference to Labour Cabinet minister George Brown but is now used as a stock phrase; the law of libel makes it unwise ever to directly refer to someone as... Nigel Richard Patton Dempster (1 November 1941 in Calcutta, India â€“ 12 July 2007 in Ham, Surrey) was a British journalist, author, broadcaster and diarist. ... Wilbert Vere Awdry, OBE, (June 15, 1911 â€“ March 21, 1997), better known as the Reverend W. Awdry, was a clergyman, railway enthusiast and childrens author. ... Wikiquote has a collection of quotations related to: The Railway Series The Railway Series is a set of story books about a fictional railway system located on the fictional Island of Sodor and the engines that lived on it. ... This article does not cite any references or sources. ... Pseuds Corner is a feature in Private Eye which lists quotes from the media exposing the pompous and pretentious. ...

Cartoons

As well as many one-off cartoons, the magazine features several comic strips:

Bores (defunct) – Michael Heath
Yobs and Yobettes – Tony Husband Satirising yob (Chav) culture (or lack thereof)
Supermodels – Neil Kerber satirising their lifestyle – the characters are infeasibly thin
The Commuters (defunct) – Grizelda - follows the efforts of two commuters to get a train to work.
It's Grim Up North London – Knife & Packer satire about Islington trendies
Young British Artists – Birch - a spoof of artists such as "Tracey" (Emin) and "Damien" (Hirst).
Off Your Trolley (defunct) – Reeve & Way - set in an NHS hospital
Apparently – Mike Barfield
The Premiersh*ts – Paul Wood (cartoonist) - about the state of professional football and footballers
Celeb – Charles Peattie and Mark Warren
Snipcock & Tweed – Nick Newman - two book publishers
The Directors – Dredge & Rigg – comments on the excesses of boardroom fat cats
The Cloggies (defunct) – Bill Tidy – an everyday story of clog-dancing folk
Hom Sap (defunct) – Austin
Scenes you seldom see
Battle for Britain (defunct) – a satire of British politics (1983-1987) in terms of World War II
EUphemisms – Features a European Union (EU) official making a statement, with the caption giving what it means in real terms, generally depicting the EU in a negative light. An example:, a French Minister (indicated by the French Flag behind him) declaring "The Euro is not a failure" with the caption reading "I'm using the word "not" in its loosest possible sense".
Barry McKenzie (defunct) – was a very popular strip in the mid-Sixties detailing the adventures of an expatriate Aussie at large in Earl's Court and elsewhere, written by Barry Humphries (aka Dame Edna Everage) and drawn by Nicholas Garland, later a political cartoonist in the heavyweight dailies.
Dave Snooty - A recent addition to the magazine. Drawn in the style of The Beano, it parodies David Cameron as “Dave Snooty” (a reference to the character ‘’Lord Snooty’’ from The Beano); who ends up involved in all kinds of public schoolboy-type antics (Often involving members of his shadow cabinet).

Additionally, currently and in the past it has used the work of Ralph Steadman, Wally Fawkes, Timothy Birdsall, Martin Honeysett, Willie Rushton, Gerald Scarfe, Bill Tidy, Robert Thompson, Ken Pyne, Geoff Thompson, "Jerodo", Ed McLauchlan, "Pearsall", Kevin Woodcock, Brian Bagnall and Kathryn Lamb. Michael John Heath is a prolific British strip and political cartoonist, and illustrator. ... Look up chav, charva in Wiktionary, the free dictionary. ... Brazilian supermodel Gisele BÃ¼ndchen. ... , Islington is the central district of the London Borough of Islington. ... Tracey Emin RA (born 3 July 1963) is an English artist of Turkish Cypriot origin, one of the group known as Britartists or YBAs (Young British Artists). ... The Physical Impossibility of Death in the Mind of Someone Living by Damien Hirst (1991) Damien Hirst (born June 7, 1965) is an English artist and the most prominent of the group that has been dubbed Young British Artists (or YBAs). ... Charles Peattie is a British cartoonist. ... Mark Warren (born January 4, 1960) is one of only 10 match officials from the United Kingdom to have been a match official in a FIFA World Cup Final. ... Nick Newman is a topical cartoonist for the British satirical magazine, Private Eye. ... // Fat cat is slang term which describes a rich, greedy person who, due to ownership of large amounts of capital, is able to live easy off the work of others. ... The Cloggies, an Everyday Story of Clog-Dancing Folk , was a long running cartoon by Bill Tidy which ran in the Private Eye satirical magazine. ... Bill Tidy MBE (October 9, 1933--) is a British cartoonist, known chiefly for his comic strips: The Fosdyke Saga (Daily Mirror) The Cloggies (Private Eye) Grimbledon Down (New Scientist) Dr. Whittle (General Practitioner) Kegbuster (Whats Brewing?) External links Bill Tidys home page Categories: People stubs | 1933 births | British... Clogging is a traditional type of percussive folk dance which is common in the Appalachian Region of the United States, associated with the predecessor to bluegrass - old time music which is based on Irish and Scots-Irish fiddle tunes. ... David Austin (March 29, 1935 â€” November 19, 2005) was a British cartoonist. ... Battle For Britain was a satirical strip published in the satirical British magazine Private Eye. ... Combatants Allied powers: China France Great Britain Soviet Union United States and others Axis powers: Germany Italy Japan and others Commanders Chiang Kai-shek Charles de Gaulle Winston Churchill Joseph Stalin Franklin Roosevelt Adolf Hitler Benito Mussolini Hideki TÅjÅ Casualties Military dead: 17,000,000 Civilian dead: 33,000... Barry McKenzie or Bazza McKenzie is a fictional character originally created by the Australian comedian Barry Humphries for a comic strip in the magazine Private Eye. ... This article needs additional references or sources for verification. ... Earls Court is a place in the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea, in London, England. ... John Barry Humphries, AO, CBE (born 17 February 1934 in Camberwell, Melbourne, Victoria) is an Australian comedian, satirist and character actor best known for his on-stage and television alter egos Dame Edna Everage, a Melbourne housewife, and Sir Les Patterson, Australias foul-mouthed cultural attachÃ© to Britain. ... Dame Edna Everage featuring on a billboard at the Myer department store in Melbourne. ... This March 2007 does not adequately cite its references or sources. ... David William Donald Cameron (born 9 October 1966) is the Leader of the Conservative Party and Leader of the Opposition in the United Kingdom, positions he has occupied since December 2005. ... This March 2007 does not adequately cite its references or sources. ... The Shadow Cabinet (also called the Shadow Front Bench) is a senior group of opposition spokespeople in the Westminster system of government who together under the leadership of the Leader of the Opposition (or the leader of other smaller opposition parties) form an alternative cabinet to the governments, whose... Ralph Steadman (born Wallasey, May 15, 1936) is a British cartoonist and caricaturist. ... Wally Fawkes (born 1924) is a jazz musician and satirical cartoonist. ... Timothy Birdsall (born 1936, died June 1963) was an English cartoonist from Eastbourne, who appeared on the BBCâ€™s first satirical programme That Was The Week That Was. ... Martin Honeysett (born in 1943 in Hereford, England) is an cartoonist and illustrator. ... William George Rushton, commonly known as Willie Rushton (August 18, 1937â€“December 11, 1996) was a British cartoonist, satirist, comedian, actor and performer. ... Gerald Scarfe (born 1936) is a British cartoonist and illustrator whose work is characterised by an apparent obsession with the grotesque and diseased, perhaps a result of an asthmatic, bed-ridden childhood. ... Bill Tidy MBE (October 9, 1933--) is a British cartoonist, known chiefly for his comic strips: The Fosdyke Saga (Daily Mirror) The Cloggies (Private Eye) Grimbledon Down (New Scientist) Dr. Whittle (General Practitioner) Kegbuster (Whats Brewing?) External links Bill Tidys home page Categories: People stubs | 1933 births | British... Kevin Woodcock is a British cartoonist. ...

Frequent targets for parody and satire

While politicians are frequent and easy targets for the magazine, there have been other figures singled out for various kinds of treatment.

The Royals

Queen Elizabeth II is often referred to as "Brenda", and the Prince of Wales as "Brian". This is a result of the 1969 BBC documentary Royal Family, after which the magazine gave each member of the Royal Family working class nicknames, as though they were characters in a soap opera. The Duke of Edinburgh is "Keith", the late Princess Margaret was "Yvonne", and the late Diana, Princess of Wales was dubbed "Cheryl".

Elizabeth II (Elizabeth Alexandra Mary Windsor; born 21 April 1926) is Queen of sixteen sovereign states, holding each crown and title equally. ... The Prince Charles, Prince of Wales (Charles Philip Arthur George[2]; born 14 November 1948), is the eldest son of Queen Elizabeth II and Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh. ... The British Broadcasting Corporation, which is usually known as the BBC, is the largest broadcasting corporation in the world in terms of audience numbers, employing 26,000 staff in the United Kingdom alone and with a budget of more than GBÂ£4 billion. ... For Philippine soap opera, see Teleserye. ... Sleeping Beauty character (actually spelled Phillip), see Sleeping Beauty (1959 film). ... This article or section does not cite any references or sources. ... Diana, Princess of Wales (Diana Frances;[2] nÃ©e Spencer; 1 July 1961 â€“ 31 August 1997) was the first wife of Charles, Prince of Wales. ...

Prime Ministers

Harold Macmillan was Prime Minister when the magazine began publication. His popular soubriquet was Supermac. This nickname was coined in the 1950s when the cartoonist Vicky on the News Chronicle first depicted Macmillan dressed as the comic character Superman. The original intention was a put-down, but the image became to be seen as an affectionate portrait in the "you've never had it so good" (a misquote) era. By the time Private Eye began publication, Macmillan had been mistreated by the newspapers for years, but the late Cabinet reshuffle often dubbed the Night of the Long Knives and the shenanigans surrounding the succession, with the status of R.A. Butler and the will he/won't he of Quintin Hogg (an ongoing topic) providing much material for mirth and merriment.
Sir Alec Douglas-Home, Macmillan's successor, was heavily lampooned after Scottish newspaper The Aberdeen Evening Express accidentally used a photograph of Home to illustrate a June 1964 story about a Scottish Baillie named Vass. The Baillie Vass episode gave the magazine an opening to exploit, but the image of an aristocratic earl who was obviously ill-at-ease on television, then emerging strongly as the primary medium for political communication, made Home a common target. Private Eye thereafter affected to believe that 'Home' had been unmasked as an impostor, a position it maintained until Home's death in 1995.
Harold Wilson was the first elected PM to receive the Private Eye treatment from scratch, as it were. Calling him Wislon, partly because of its sinister sound, but mainly to avoid retribution in the libel courts, the Eye portrayed him as a relentless chancer, climber and self-promoter, for whom being Prime Minister was infinitely more important than anything he might achieve in the office. In a retrospective for The Life and Times of Private Eye the editors compared him to David Frost, who was always accused by the Private Eye crowd of sharing these same motivations, though this was undoubtedly more to do with the pique felt by Peter Cook when Frost became the star of television satire while Cook, who felt himself (probably justly) a better candidate, was tied up with Beyond the Fringe in the United States. Wilson's name tended to be preceded by expressions such as "sensitive", "versatile" and particularly, "pragmatic", suggesting that he would keep changing his positions to please those around him. In later years, after the jailing of the fraudster Emil Savundra, he was referred to as Wilsundra. One front cover parodied the horror movie Willard, with a Wilson-faced rat, and the title Wislard. A major part of the Eye's assault on Wislon was the celebrated Mrs Wilson's Diary, supposedly the memoirs of his wife, written in the style of the then-popular radio drama series Mrs Dale's Diary. More seriously, the magazine was a major outlet for MI5 smears in the 1970s^[4].
Edward Heath gained the nickname The Grocer from his role in negotiations over the EEC food policies under the Conservative administration before the Wilson government. When elected PM himself, he was portrayed as a hopeless waffler, mostly interested in sailing his yacht Morning Cloud, and ignoring the corruption of some of colleagues such as Reginald Maudling. Heath's unusual status as a bachelor inevitably gave rise to homosexual innuendo.
James Callaghan inherited the role of PM from Wilson in 1976. However, he was not subject to a specific parody, and the times were arguably too dark for a good lampooning.
The Falklands war and high levels of unemployment in 1980s Britain made Margaret Thatcher a popular target for Private Eye. She was also the subject of an ironic piece where she was described as "bewitching... sexual and political power combine to create the perfect woman." The piece continued in a similar vein before ending with the inevitable "That's enough. Ed."

Maurice Harold Macmillan, 1st Earl of Stockton, OM, PC (10 February 1894 â€“ 29 December 1986), was a British Conservative politician and Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 1957 to 1963. ... Victor Weisz (25 April 1913â€“22 February 1966) was a German political cartoonist, drawing under the name of Vicky. ... The News Chronicle was a British Liberal newspaper which closed in 1960, being absorbed into the right-wing Daily Mail. ... Superman is a fictional character and comic book superhero , originally created by American writer Jerry Siegel and Canadian artist Joe Shuster and published by DC Comics. ... In the parliamentary system a cabinet shuffle is an informal term for an event that occurs when a Head of Government rotates or changes the composition of ministers in his or her cabinet. ... The epithet Night of the Long Knives is given to July 13, 1962, when the British Prime Minister Harold Macmillan sacked the following members of his Cabinet: Lord Kilmuir â€” Lord Chancellor Selwyn Lloyd â€” Chancellor of the Exchequer David Eccles â€” Minister of Education Harold Arthur Watkinson â€” Minister of Defence John Scott... Richard Austen Butler, Baron Butler of Saffron Walden, KG, CH, PC, DL (9 December 1902 â€“ 8 March 1982), who invariably signed his name R. A. Butler and was familiarly known as Rab, was a British Conservative politician. ... Quintin McGarel Hogg, Baron Hailsham of St Marylebone, KG, CH, PC, QC (9 October 1907 â€“ 12 October 2001), formerly 2nd Viscount Hailsham (1950â€“1963), was a British judge and Conservative politician. ... Alexander Frederick Douglas-Home, Baron Home of the Hirsel,[1] KT, PC (2 July 1903 - 9 October 1995) 14th Earl of Home from 1951 to 1963, was a British Conservative (actually SUP) politician, and served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom for a year from October 1963 to October... A baillie (alternative spelling bailie, from Old French) was a local civic officer in Scottish burghs, approximately equivalent to the post of alderman or magistrate (see bailiff) in other countries. ... Alexander Frederick Douglas-Home, Baron Home of the Hirsel KT1 (July 2, 1903 - October 9, 1995), known from 1951 to 1963 as the 14th Earl of Home, was a British politician, and served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom for a year from October 1963 to October 1964. ... James Harold Wilson, Baron Wilson of Rievaulx, KG, OBE, FRS, PC (11 March 1916 â€“ 24 May 1995) was one of the most prominent British politicians of the 20th century. ... Sir David Paradine Frost, OBE (born April 7, 1939) is an English television presenter. ... This article does not cite any references or sources. ... Album of Beyond the Fringe Published by EMI in 1996 Beyond the Fringe was a British comedy stage revue written and performed by Peter Cook, Dudley Moore, Alan Bennett and Jonathan Miller. ... Emil Savundra, (1923 - 1976), was a convicted fraudster and swindler. ... Willard is a 1971 horror film starring Bruce Davison and Ernest Borgnine, directed by Daniel Mann. ... Mrs Wilsons Diary was a featured column in the fortnightly British satirical magazine Private Eye. ... Mrs Dales Diary was the first significant BBC radio serial drama, first broadcast on the Home Service on 5 January 1948. ... Sir Edward Richard George Heath, KG, OBE (9 July 1916 â€“ 17 July 2005) was Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 1970 to 1974 and leader of the Conservative Party from 1965 to 1975. ... The European Community (EC), most important of three European Communities, was originally founded on March 25, 1957 by the signing of the Treaty of Rome under the name of European Economic Community. ... Rt. ... Leonard James Callaghan, Baron Callaghan of Cardiff, KG, PC (27 March 1912 â€“ 26 March 2005), was Labour Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 1976 to 1979. ... Margaret Hilda Thatcher, Baroness Thatcher, LG, OM, PC (born October 13, 1925), former Prime Minister of the United Kingdom, in office from 1979 to 1990. ...

Other politicians

Jeffrey Archer, the former Conservative MP (for Louth, Lincolnshire) who was Deputy Chairman of the party under Margaret Thatcher and who later served time in prison for perjury, is usually referred to as Lord Archhole. The Eye has occasionally thrown the spotlight on his wife, the "fragrant" Mary Archer.
Reginald Maudling was one of the Heath administration's prime targets for contributors to the Eye. The volume rose following news about his role in the Real Estate Fund of America, with its connections to shady Italian-Americans and even to friends of Richard Nixon. His fondness for fine dining led him to be caricatured as a "bloated voluptuary", usually dressed in a nightshirt and sleeping cap, waking only to eat. The constant sleeping symbolized his inaction over the Ulster situation, when he was Home Secretary. There was a famous cartoon in the Eye following Bloody Sunday, which showed Maudling and another, the bubble from the other said "Six-and-a-half brace" and the one from Maudling said "Not bad for the time of year", and this played a part in the flaying which Maudling received in the media and elsewhere over his semi-comatose handling of the episode. Another Eye item featured a spoof dictionary and its definition of the verb "maudle" ("to prevaricate, procrastinate etc.").
Ian Paisley (or his Spitting Image puppet) has featured on the cover of Private Eye several times.^[5] He is also referred to on the front cover of Issue 202 (12 September 1969) which showed the young Bernadette Devlin flashing her knickers (an embarrassing picture for Ms Devlin) with the balloon saying "This should get a rise out of Paisley". He is usually referred to in connection with events in Northern Ireland, whether or not he was directly involved in the issues raised. On the 1967 Christmas record, The Abominable Radio Gnome, the announcer says, "And now a comment from Father Palsy", (to a Protestant, a gratuitously offensive Catholic mode of address) to which the response, in a camp Ulster accent, is, "Begorrah, bejabers and sod the Pope" - "begorrah and bejabers" are phrases only used by stage and comic-book Irishmen, though the phrase "sod the Pope" recurs with monotonous regularity in Private Eye references to Ian Paisley. Consistent with the Eye treatment of Mohamed Fayed and his affected name, Private Eye seldom calls Paisley "Reverend" (he is, but only in the Free Presbyterian Church of Ulster, in which the Paisley family has always had the predominant influence) or "Doctor" (it is an honorary degree of the type not usually bestowing the right to be addressed as "Doctor", awarded by Bob Jones University of South Carolina, a private institution outside the US mainstream which reflects an uncompromising Protestant viewpoint). This is part of a wider Private Eye dislike for Bob Jones University and similar US institutions, criticising them by making a comparison with e.g. McDonald's, which calls its principal training establishment "Hamburger University".
The former Secretary of State, Margaret Beckett, was always named Rosa Klebb after the villain of the James Bond film From Russia With Love.

Jeffrey Howard Archer, Baron Archer of Weston-super-Mare (born 15 April 1940) is a British best-selling author and politician. ... Louth is a market town within the East Lindsey district of Lincolnshire, England. ... Lincolnshire (abbreviated Lincs) is a county in the east of England. ... Margaret Hilda Thatcher, Baroness Thatcher, LG, OM, PC (born October 13, 1925), former Prime Minister of the United Kingdom, in office from 1979 to 1990. ... Mary Doreen Archer, Baroness Archer of Weston-super-Mare (born Mary Doreen Weeden,on 22nd December 1944) is a British scientist specialising in solar power conversion. ... Rt. ... Richard Milhous Nixon (January 9, 1913 â€“ April 22, 1994) was the 37th President of the United States, serving from 1969 to 1974. ... The Secretary of State for the Home Department, commonly known as the Home Secretary, is the minister in charge of the United Kingdom Home Office and is responsible for internal affairs in England and Wales, and for immigration and citizenship for the whole United Kingdom (including Scotland and Northern Ireland). ... // The Bogside area viewed from the city walls Bloody Sunday (Irish: Domhnach na Fola) is the term used to describe an incident in Derry, Northern Ireland, on 30 January 1972 in which 26 civil rights protesters were shot by members of the 1st Battalion of the British Parachute Regiment led... Ian Richard Kyle Paisley MP MLA (born 6 April 1926) is the current First Minister of Northern Ireland. ... Spitting Image was a satirical puppet show that ran on the United Kingdoms ITV television network from 1984 to 1996. ... is the 255th day of the year (256th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... Also: 1969 (Stargate SG-1) episode. ... A mural by the Bogside Artists in Derrys Bogside, depicting Devlin Josephine Bernadette Devlin McAliskey (born April 23, 1947, in County Tyrone, Northern Ireland, to a Catholic nationalist family), also known as Bernadette Devlin and Bernadette McAliskey, is a Northern Ireland republican political activist. ... Northern Ireland (Irish: ) is a part of the United Kingdom lying in the northeast of the island of Ireland, covering 5,459 square miles (14,139 kmÂ², about a sixth of the islands total area). ... Topics in Christianity Movements Â· Denominations Ecumenism Â· Preaching Â· Prayer Music Â· Liturgy Â· Calendar Symbols Â· Art Â· Criticism Important figures Apostle Paul Â· Church Fathers Constantine Â· Athanasius Â· Augustine Anselm Â· Aquinas Â· Palamas Â· Wycliffe Tyndale Â· Luther Â· Calvin Â· Wesley Arius Â· Marcion of Sinope Pope Â· Archbishop of Canterbury Patriarch of Constantinople Christianity Portal This box: The Pope (from Latin... Mohamed Al-Fayed (b. ... The Free Presbyterian Church is a Presbyterian denomination founded and moderated by the cleric and politician, Ian PaisleyÂ¹. Most of its membership live in Ulster. ... Bob Jones University Bob Jones University (BJU) is a private, Protestant Fundamentalist, liberal arts[1] university located in Greenville, South Carolina. ... Official language(s) English Capital Charleston(1670-1789) Columbia(1790-present) Largest city Columbia Largest metro area Columbia Area Ranked 40th - Total 34,726 sq mi (82,965 kmÂ²) - Width 200 miles (320 km) - Length 260 miles (420 km) - % water 6 - Latitude 32Â° 2â€² N to 35Â° 13â€² N - Longitude... Motto: (Out Of Many, One) (traditional) In God We Trust (1956 to date) Anthem: The Star-Spangled Banner Capital Washington D.C. Largest city New York City None at federal level (English de facto) Government Federal constitutional republic - President George Walker Bush (R) - Vice President Dick Cheney (R) Independence from... McDonalds Corporation (NYSE: MCD) is the worlds largest chain of fast-food restaurants, primarily selling hamburgers, chicken, french fries, milkshakes and soft drinks. ... In several countries, Secretary of State is a senior government position. ... Margaret Mary Beckett (nÃ©e Jackson; born 15 January 1943) is a British Labour politician and Member of Parliament (MP) for Derby South. ... Colonel Rosa Klebb is a fictional character from the James Bond novel and film From Russia With Love. ... Flemings image of James Bond; commissioned to aid the Daily Express comic strip artists. ... For the video game, see From Russia with Love (video game). ...

Prominent figures

Solicitor-to-the-rich Lord Goodman, a member of Harold Wilson's circle was a favourite target, and he was usually referred to as Lord "Two Dinners" Goodman and also Lord Badman. The Eye saw him as a latter-day Cardinal Richelieu, the power behind the throne, especially when the Conservatives held power. From the negotiations over the status of Rhodesia, to his central role in many sources of public money, such as the Arts Council, to the many high-profile lawsuits his firm filed, including those against the Eye itself, it seemed he was the true ruler of the country. One cartoon showed him as a spider at the centre of a web of money and influence. Another demonstrated his apparent role in making sure that money always found its way to the Royal Opera House in Covent Garden, seen as an elite institution catering mainly to the upper crust, when the public money was intended to bring art to the masses. Goodman's obesity and hangdog looks made him easy to ridicule. There was however, always the uneasy feeling that the Eye might be right about him.

Arnold Goodman, CH , QC (Hon) (1913â€“1995), British lawyer and political advisor. ... Cardinal Richelieu was the French chief minister from 1624 until his death. ... Southern Rhodesia, todays Zimbabwe. ... The Arts Council of Great Britain was a Quango dedicated to the promotion of the fine arts in Britain. ... The Floral Hall of the Royal Opera House The Royal Opera House is a performing arts venue in London. ... Covent Garden is a district in central London and within the easterly bounds of the City of Westminster. ...

Businessmen

Mohamed Al-Fayed is routinely referred to as "The Phoney Pharaoh". Much jest is made of his mispronunciation of the word "fuck" as "fugg", and conspiracy theories concerning the deaths of his son Dodi Al-Fayed and Princess Diana. He is also referred to simply as Mohamed Fayed on the basis that the 'Al-' was added to his name by Fayed himself.
Richard Branson, the Virgin entrepreneur is a frequent target for his train services and his capacity for self publicity. Usually referred to as 'Beardie'.

Wax statue of Mohammad Fayed Mohamed Abdel Moneim Fayed (Arabic: Ù…ØÙ…Ø¯ Ø§Ù„ÙØ§ÙŠØ¯ ) (born January 27, 1929) is an Egyptian businessman. ... Emad El-Din Mohamed Abdel Moneim Fayed (Arabic: Ø¹Ù…Ø§Ø¯ Ø§Ù„Ø¯ÙŠÙ† Ù…ØÙ…Ø¯ Ø¹Ø¨Ø¯ Ø§Ù„Ù…Ù†Ø¹Ù… Ø§Ù„ÙØ§ÙŠØ¯ ) (April 15, 1955 â€“ August 31, 1997), better known as Dodi Fayed, was the son of the Egyptian billionaire Mohamed Al-Fayed (Arabic: Ù…ØÙ…Ø¯ Ø§Ù„ÙØ§ÙŠØ¯), owner of the British department store Harrods, Fulham Football Club and the HÃ´tel Ritz Paris. ... Diana, Princess of Wales (Diana Frances Mountbatten-Windsor, née Spencer) (1 July 1961–31 August 1997), commonly, but incorrectly, known as Princess Diana, was for fifteen years the wife of HRH The Prince Charles, Prince of Wales. ... Al- is not a permanent component of words, as shown here with , the Arabic for Bahrain. ... To meet Wikipedias quality standards, the lead section of this article may need to be expanded. ... This article needs additional references or sources for verification. ...

Journalists

Nigel Dempster, a former gossip columnist for the Daily Mail and The Mail on Sunday, He received much attention, especially in the Grovel gossip section, including a picture of him in flagrante with an admirer. Later it was revealed that he was the major contributor to Grovel at the time. Referred to in the Eye as "Nigel Pratt-Dumpster", "Humpty Dumpster", or "Former GLE (Greatest Living Englishman) Nigel Dempster".
Peter Hitchens, the journalist's nickname of "Bonkers" was popularised by the Eye
Derek Jameson, former tabloid journalist, aka "Sid Yobbo" for the manner of his speech and his populist attitudes.
Paul Johnson, the conservative polemicist and historian was once a regular target and was referred to as "loonybins". During the Sixties, the US President Lyndon Baines Johnson was dubbed Loony Bins Johnson, and the nickname has been applied to other Johnsons. Targeting Paul Johnson was once a favourite tactic of deputy editor Francis Wheen, but deprecating references to Johnson predated his involvement in the Eye by some years. References to Johnson are now rare.
Piers Morgan, former editor of the Daily Mirror, is still a regular target. He is usually referred to as Piers "Morgan" Moron, as if Moron was really his surname, and Morgan merely a nickname.
Andrew Neil, Scottish broadcaster and journalist, is usually referred to as 'Brillo Pad'. Since the early 1990s, a picture taken of him aside a young, attractive Asian model has featured in nearly every issue, as seen below.
Peregrine Worsthorne, the former editor of The Sunday Telegraph is consistently referred to as 'Sir Perishing Worthless'.
Peter McKay, Scottish journalist was a regular target with variants of a story of his attempts to seduce junior female members of staff. Usually referred to as "McLie" or "McHackey" McKay was the editor of Punch magazine when it was relaunched by Mohammad Fayed as a Private Eye spoiler in 1996.

Nigel Richard Patton Dempster (1 November 1941 in Calcutta, India â€“ 12 July 2007 in Ham, Surrey) was a British journalist, author, broadcaster and diarist. ... The Daily Mail is a British newspaper and the oldest tabloid, first published in 1896. ... The Daily Mail and its Sunday edition the Mail on Sunday are British newspapers, first published in 1896. ... Peter Hitchens Peter Jonathan Hitchens (born 28 October 1951 in Sliema, Malta) is a British journalist, author and broadcaster. ... Broadcaster & journalist Derek Jameson, was born in Londons East End in 1929. ... Paul Johnson (born Paul Bede Johnson on 2 November 1928 in Manchester, England) is a British Roman Catholic journalist, historian, speechwriter and author. ... Lyndon Baines Johnson ( August 27, 1908 – January 22, 1973), often referred to as LBJ, was an American politician. ... Francis James Baird Wheen (born January 22, 1957) is a British writer and journalist, who was educated at Harrow School and Royal Holloway College, University of London. ... Piers Stefan Pughe-Morgan (born 30 March 1965 in Newick, East Sussex) is a former editor of British tabloid newspapers the News of the World (1994 â€“ 1995) and the Daily Mirror (1995 â€“ 2004). ... Alternate newspaper: The Daily Mirror (Australia) The Daily Mirror is a popular British tabloid daily newspaper. ... Andrew Ferguson Neil (born May 21, 1949, Paisley) is a Scottish journalist and broadcaster. ... Sir Peregrine Gerard Worsthorne (born December 22, 1923) is a British Conservative journalist, writer and broadcaster. ... This article deals with The Daily Telegraph in Britain, see The Daily Telegraph (Australia) for the Australian publication The Daily Telegraph is a British broadsheet newspaper founded in 1855. ... Punch was a British weekly magazine of humour and satire published from 1841 to 1992 and from 1996 to 2002. ... Mohamed Al-Fayed (b. ...

Entertainment and media

Lady Antonia Fraser, a sometime actress but now a biographer and wife of Harold Pinter, her high-profile divorce brought her into the public eye, and her views on sex kept her there. She will always be Lady Magnesia Freelove to Eye aficionados.
Sir Paul McCartney is one of the rock music stars whose deeds and misdeeds are most often reported and attributed to "Spiggy Topes", in his case the attribution is to "Sir Spigismond Topes".

Lady Antonia Fraser Lady Antonia Fraser (Pinter), CBE (born August 27, 1932, as Antonia Margaret Caroline Pakenham) is a British author of history and novels, best known for writing biographies. ... Harold Pinter, CH, CBE (born 10 October 1930) is an English playwright, screenwriter, poet, actor, director, author, and political activist, best known for his plays The Birthday Party (1957), The Caretaker (1959), The Homecoming (1964), and Betrayal (1978), and also for his screenplay adaptations of novels by others, such as... Sir James Paul McCartney, MBE (born 18 June 1942) is an Academy Award and Grammy Award winning English singer, songwriter and multi-instrumentalist who first gained worldwide fame as one of the founding members of The Beatles. ...

Newspapers

The Guardian is inevitably The Grauniad (for its reputation for typos). After a rebrand where the paper's logotype became lowercase, this became the grauniad (minus caps).
The Daily Telegraph is either The Torygraph (for its support for the Conservative Party), The Hurleygraph (for regularly printing photos of Elizabeth Hurley on its front page), The Hello!graph, or as discussed below The Telavivagraph. The Eye has more recently coined the name the "Maily Telegraph" to mark the hiring of a number of ex-Daily Mail employees.
The Daily Express was called the Titsbychristmas in 1978; afterward it became the Daily Getsworse or the Daily Getsmuchworse, and recently the Daily Sexpress (its owner, Richard 'Dirty' Desmond, also owns or owned several pornographic magazines and satellite pornography channels). Currently the paper is lampooned as The Di-ly Express due to the perceived obsession of the paper with conspiracy theories regarding Diana, Princess of Wales and her death in 1997, and the volume of weekly, front-page coverage it has given to her.
The Independent (widely called the Indy) is described as the Indescribablyboring while its sister paper, The Independent on Sunday, is known as the Sindie (cf. Sindy).
The News of the World is known as The Screws of the World, The News of the Screws, or simply The Screws.
The Daily Mail is usually spoofed for its obsession with property prices, asylum seekers and scare stories. Sometimes referred to as The Daily Lie. In one cartoon in 2004 the magazine published a Mail-style, scare-story cartoon of a newspaper whose headline was 'what kind of society lets the Daily Mail be published EVERY DAY?'
The Daily Mirror is known as The Moron. This is probably a pun on the Eye's nickname for former Mirror editor Piers ("Moron") Morgan (often written as Piers "Morgan" Moron).

The Guardian is a British newspaper owned by the Guardian Media Group. ... This article concerns the British newspaper. ... The Conservative Party (officially the Conservative and Unionist Party) is the second largest political party in the United Kingdom in terms of sitting Members of Parliament (MPs), the largest in terms of public membership, and the oldest political party in the United Kingdom. ... Elizabeth Jane Hurley (born 10 June 1965) is an English actress, fashion model, producer and designer. ... The Daily Mail is a British newspaper and the oldest tabloid, first published in 1896. ... For other uses, see Daily Express (disambiguation). ... Private Eye cover depicting Desmond following his purchase of the Daily Express newspaper Richard Clive Desmond (born December 8, 1951) is a British publisher, current owner of Express Newspapers and founder of Northern and Shell plc. ... Diana, Princess of Wales (Diana Frances;[2] nÃ©e Spencer; 1 July 1961 â€“ 31 August 1997) was the first wife of Charles, Prince of Wales. ... The Independent is a British compact newspaper published by Tony OReillys Independent News & Media. ... Sindy is a British doll for girls. ... The News of the World is a British tabloid newspaper published every Sunday. ... Sexual slang is any slang term which makes reference to sex, the sexual organs, or matters closely related to them. ... The Daily Mail is a British newspaper and the oldest tabloid, first published in 1896. ... Alternate newspaper: The Daily Mirror (Australia) The Daily Mirror is a British tabloid daily newspaper. ...

Other media and merchandise

Private Eye has from time to time produced various spin-offs from the magazine:

Books, e.g. annuals, cartoon collections and investigative pamphlets
Audio recordings
Private Eye TV, a 1971 BBC TV version of the magazine
Memorabilia and commemorative products

Private Eye, the fortnightly British satirical magazine, has published various books and other material separately from the magazine. ... Private Eye, the British fortnightly satirical magazine, has issued a number of sound recordings. ... Private Eye TV was an unsuccessful attempt to turn the satirical magazine Private Eye into a television programme. ... Private Eye, the British fortnightly satirical magazine has, at various times, offered magazine-related items for sale to readers and subscribers. ...

Criticism and controversy

Overall, criticism of the Eye should perhaps be viewed in the light of a remark made to the editors by the director and satirist Jonathan Miller: "When are you lot going to develop a point of view?" Miller once described the Eye's editorial conference as like watching naked, anti-Semitic public schoolboys in a changing room, flicking wet towels at defenceless victims.^{[citation needed]} Sir Jonathan Wolfe Miller, CBE (born 21 July 1934) is a British neurologist, theatre and opera director, television presenter, humourist and sculptor. ...

Critics of the magazine have in the past suggested it has an antisemitic tone, perhaps^{[original research?]} because it regularly features a publisher called 'Snipcock', refers to the Daily Telegraph newspaper as the Telavivagraph (but also as the Tehranagraph), and frequently lampoons events in the Middle East by writing them up into mock KJV Biblical verse ("And first they visited upon the city of Jen-in in a terrible plague of fire and brimstone, so that many of the Araf-ites and Hamas-ites were slain, even men, women and children"). The fact that the previous owner of the Telegraph, Conrad Black, and his wife and contributor Barbara Amiel, are both vocal supporters of Likud party policies is a possible explanation for the Telavivagraph jibe. ^{[citation needed]} This article deals with The Daily Telegraph in Britain, see The Daily Telegraph (Australia) for the Australian publication The Daily Telegraph is a British broadsheet newspaper founded in 1855. ... Tel-Aviv was founded on empty dunes north of the existing city of Jaffa. ... This article or section does not cite any references or sources. ... The King James or Authorized Version of the Bible is an English translation of the Christian Bible first published in 1611. ... Conrad Moffat Black, Baron Black of Crossharbour, PC, OC, KCSG (born 25 August 1944, in Montreal, Quebec, Canada) is a former financier, newspaper magnate, and biographer. ... Barbara Joan Estelle Amiel, Lady Black of Crossharbour (born in Watford, Hertfordshire, England on December 4, 1940), is a British-Canadian journalist and writer. ... Likud (Hebrew: ×œ×™×›×•×“, literally means consolidation) is a centre-right political party in Israel. ...

The cover of issue 256 from 1971 showed Emperor Hirohito visiting Britain with the caption "A nasty nip in the air" (subhead: "Piss off, Bandy Knees").^[6] Idi Amin also was characterised speaking in Pidgin English. In the 1960s and 1970s the magazine mocked the gay rights movement as "Poove Power". In recent years, some have accused the "Dumb Britain" section of cultural snobbery, and of sneering at the working class. Emperor ShÅwa ) (April 29, 1901 â€“ January 7, 1989) was the 124th emperor of Japan according to the traditional order of succession, reigning from December 25, 1926 until his death in 1989. ... Idi Amin Dada (mid-1920s[1]â€“16 August 2003) was an army officer and president of Uganda. ... A pidgin, or contact language, is the name given to any language created, usually spontaneously, out of two or more languages as a means of communication between speakers of different tongues, and usually a simplified form of one of the languages. ... The initialism LGBT is used to refer collectively to Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, and Transgender people. ... A snob, guilty of snobbery or snobbism, is a person who imitates the manners, adopts the world-view and apes the lifestyle of a social class of people to which that person does not by right belong. ... The term working class is used to denote a social class. ...

However, (as per the remark by Jonathan Miller) the magazine is something of a moving target, which always maintains a fog of irony, making it hard to discern if it is being serious or joking in intent. This even applies to readers' letters, which might be published because they make a valid point, or because the editor believes that the writer is so misguided as to be ridiculous. Many such letters are from irate readers who claim they are so disgusted with a particular article or cartoon in a previous issue that they announce the cancellation of their subscription. Irony is a literary or rhetorical device, in which there is a gap or incongruity between what a speaker or a writer says and what is generally understood (either at the time, or in the later context of history). ...

The magazine's irreverence and occasional tastelessness offend some while delighting others. Upon the death of Diana, Princess of Wales, it printed a cover headed "MEDIA TO BLAME". Under this headline was a picture of many hundreds of people outside the gates of Buckingham Palace with one person commenting he couldn't get hold of a newspaper, and another saying, "Borrow mine. It's got a picture of the car.".^[7] The issue also featured a mock retraction of everything negative that the magazine had ever said about Diana. This was enough to cause a flood of complaints, many cancelled subscriptions, and the temporary removal of the magazine from the shelves of several newsagents. On the other hand, the Diana issue is now one of the most highly sought after back issues. The newsagents who removed the magazine included W H Smith, which had previously refused to stock Private Eye until well into the 1970s. (W H Smith was usually characterised in the paper as "WH Smugg", or "WH Smut" on account of its contemporary policy of stocking pornographic magazines. Diana, Princess of Wales (Diana Frances;[2] nÃ©e Spencer; 1 July 1961 â€“ 31 August 1997) was the first wife of Charles, Prince of Wales. ... This article or section does not cite any references or sources. ...

Similar complaints were received about the issues that followed the Ladbroke Grove rail crash, the September 11, 2001 attacks (the magazine even including a special "subscription cancellation coupon" for disgruntled readers to send in) and the Soham murders. Following the 7 July 2005 London bombings the magazine's cover featured Tony Blair saying to Ken Livingstone "We must track down the evil mastermind behind the bombers...", to which Mr. Livingstone replies "...and invite him around for tea", in reference to Ken Livingstone's controversial invitation of Yusuf al-Qaradawi to London.^[8] Cover of the Cullen report The Ladbroke Grove rail crash (also known as the Paddington train crash) was an English rail accident on October 5, 1999 in which thirty-one people died. ... A sequential look at United Flight 175 crashing into the south tower of the World Trade Center The September 11, 2001 attacks (often referred to as 9/11â€”pronounced nine eleven or nine one one) consisted of a series of coordinated terrorist[1] suicide attacks upon the United States, predominantly... This article or section is not written in the formal tone expected of an encyclopedia article. ... This article needs additional references or sources for verification. ... For other people of the same name, see Tony Blair (disambiguation) Anthony Charles Lynton Blair (born May 6, 1953)[1] is the Prime Minister of the United Kingdom, First Lord of the Treasury, Minister for the Civil Service, Leader of the Labour Party, and Member of Parliament for the constituency... Kenneth Robert Livingstone (born June 17, 1945) is an English politician who became Mayor of London on the creation of the post in 2000. ... This article or section seems to contain too many quotations for an encyclopedia entry. ... This article is about the capital of England and the United Kingdom. ...

The 2004 Christmas (issue 1121) issue received an unexpected amount of complaints and subscription cancellations after it featured Pieter Brueghel's painting of a nativity scene, in which one wise man was saying to another: "Apparently, it's David Blunkett's" (who at the time was involved in a scandal where he had got another married woman pregnant). Many readers sent letters accusing the magazine of blasphemy and anti-Christian attitudes, and one stated that the "witless, gutless buggers wouldn't dare mock Islam", an observation later vindicated when the magazine declined to publish the Danish Mohammed cartoons for fear of firebombs. Many letters in the first issue of 2005 disagreed with the former readers' complaints, and some were even parodies of those letters, 'complaining' about issue 1122's cover^[9] - a cartoon depicting Santa's sleigh shredded to pieces by a wind farm: "To use a picture of Our Lord Father Christmas and his Holy Reindeer being torn limb from limb while flying over a windfarm is inappropriate and blasphemous." Christmas is an annual holiday that celebrates the birth of Jesus. ... Pieter Brueghel may be: Pieter Brueghel the Elder Pieter Brueghel the Younger, his son This is a disambiguation page — a navigational aid which lists other pages that might otherwise share the same title. ... David Blunkett (born 6 June 1947) is a British Labour Party politician and has been Member of Parliament for Sheffield Brightside since 1987. ... Look up blasphemy in Wiktionary, the free dictionary. ... Anti-Christian prejudice is a negative categorical bias against Christians â€” both individually and collectively â€” or against Christianity as a whole. ... The Jyllands-Posten Muhammad cartoons controversy began after twelve editorial cartoons, most of which depicted the Islamic prophet Muhammad, were published in the Danish newspaper Jyllands-Posten on 2005-09-30. ... Santa has several meanings: the shortened form of Santa Claus the Spanish word for a female saint, as in Santa Ana (the masculine form is san or santo); the word has the same or similar spellings and meanings in several other Romance languages in astronomy, Santa is a Kuiper belt... A wind farm is a collection of wind turbines in the same location. ...

It is easily claimed that the magazine is more interested in ridiculing people than being fair and kind – the magazine's editorship might well agree. Equally, the magazine is seen as opposed to those in power for the sake of being opposed – it has never been in the least bit content with politicians' actions.

Litigation

The magazine is sued for libel on a regular basis and maintains a large quantity of money as a "fighting fund" (although experience has taught those behind the magazine quick ways to defuse legal tensions, usually by printing a letter from those concerned). As editor, Ian Hislop has become one of the most-sued men in Britain.

Those who have sued the magazine include many famous names, though as the editors noted, while politicians are a prime target they "tend to take their medicine like men", and the largest number of lawsuits issue from journalists. For the tenth anniversary issue, the cover showed a cartoon headstone inscribed with a long list of well-known names, and the epitaph "They did not sue in vain".

An unlikely piece of British legal history occurred in the case Arkell v. Pressdram. The plaintiff was the subject of an article relating to illicit payments, and for a change the magazine had ample evidence to back up the article. Arkell's lawyers wrote a letter in which, unusually, they said: "Our client's attitude to damages will depend on the nature of your reply". The response consisted, in part, of the following: "We would be interested to know what your client's attitude to damages would be if the nature of our reply were as follows : Fuck off". This caused a stir in certain quarters. In the years following, the magazine would use this case as a euphemism for an obscene reply: In subsequent cases, instead of using the obscenity, Private Eye (and others) would say something like "We refer you to the reply given in the case of Arkell v Pressdram", or perhaps "His reply was similar to that given to the plaintiff in Arkell v. Pressdram ". Like "tired and emotional" this usage has spread far beyond the magazine. Tired and Emotional is a euphemism for drunk. It was coined by the British satirical magazine Private Eye in 1967 in reference to Labour Cabinet minister George Brown but is now used as a stock phrase; the law of libel makes it unwise ever to directly refer to someone as...

The most famous litigation case against the magazine was initiated by James Goldsmith (AKA Jammy Fishpaste), who managed to arrange for criminal libel charges to be brought (effectively meaning that, if found guilty, those behind the Eye could be imprisoned). He sued over allegations that members of the Clermont Set, including Goldsmith, had conspired to shelter Lord Lucan after Lucan had murdered his family nanny, Sandra Rivett. Goldsmith won a partial victory and eventually reached a settlement with the magazine. The case threatened to bankrupt the magazine, which turned to its readers for financial support in the form of the Goldenballs Fund. Goldsmith himself was referred to as Jaws. The solicitor involved in many litigation cases against Private Eye, including the Goldsmith case, was Peter Carter-Ruck (or "Carter-Fuck", as the Eye referred to him).^[10] James Goldsmith as he appeared in his Referendum Partyâ€™s mass-mailed video tape, March 1997. ... The Clermont Set was an exclusive group of rich British gamblers who met at the Clermont Club in Londons Berkeley Square, Mayfair. ... Richard John Bingham, 7th Earl of Lucan (born 18 December 1934) was or is a British peer who disappeared 8 November 1974 after his childrens nanny was found murdered. ... Sandra Rivett was the nanny who was murdered by Lord Lucan on the night of 7 November 1974. ... Peter Frederick Carter-Ruck (February 26, 1914-December 19, 2003) was an English lawyer, specialising in libel cases. ...

Robert Maxwell (Captain Bob) also sued, for the suggestion he looked like a criminal. He won a significant sum. The editor, Ian Hislop, summarised the case: "I've just given a fat cheque to a fat Czech." Sonia Sutcliffe also sued after allegations that she used her connection to her husband, the Yorkshire Ripper, Peter Sutcliffe, to make money. She won £600,000 which was later reduced to £60,000 on appeal. However, the initial award caused Hislop to quip outside the court: "If this is justice, I'm a banana.".^[11] Robert Maxwell Ian Robert Maxwell MC (June 10, 1923 â€“ November 5, 1991) was a Czechoslovakian-born British media proprietor and formerly Member of Parliament (MP), who rose from poverty to build an extensive publishing empire. ... Ian Hislop (born 13 July 1960) is the editor of British satirical magazine Private Eye, a team captain on the popular satirical current affairs quiz Have I Got News for You and a comedy scriptwriter. ... This article includes a list of works cited or a list of external links, but its sources remain unclear because it lacks in-text citations. ...

A rare victory for the Eye came in late 2001, when a libel case brought against the magazine by a Cornish lawyer, Stuart Condliffe, finally came to trial after 10 years. The case was thrown out after only a few weeks as Condliffe had effectively accused his own legal team (Carter-Ruck and Associates) of lying. Cornwall (pronounced ; Cornish: ) is a county in south-west England, United Kingdom, on the peninsula that lies to the west of the River Tamar and Devon. ...

Ownership

The magazine is apparently owned by an odd and eclectic cartel of people, albeit officially published through the mechanism of a limited company called Pressdram Ltd,^[12]which was bought as an "off the shelf" company by Peter Cook in November 1961. This article does not cite any references or sources. ...

Private Eye is not the kind of magazine to publish explicit details of individuals concerned with its upkeep (it notably doesn't even contain a "flannel panel" listing of who edits, writes and designs the magazine), but in 1981 the owners were quoted in the book The Private Eye Story as being Peter Cook, who owned most of the shareholding, with smaller shareholdings by the likes of Dirk Bogarde, Jane Asher, and several of those involved with the founding of the magazine. Most people on the list have since died, however, and it's not clear what happened to their shareholdings. Those concerned are reputedly contractually only able to sell their shareholdings at the price they originally paid for them. Sir Derek Jules Gaspard Ulric Niven van den Bogaerde (28 March 1921 â€“ 8 May 1999), better known by his stage name Dirk Bogarde, was an actor and author. ... Jane Asher (born 5 April 1946) is an English film and television actress and the author of several full-length novels as well as a former girlfriend of Paul McCartney. ...

Shareholders as of the last annual return, 26 March 2005, are: (note: many of the shareholders have inherited shares) March 26 is the 85th day of the year (86th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... Year 2005 (MMV) was a common year starting on Saturday (link displays full calendar) of the Gregorian calendar. ...

Jane Asher
Barbara Braden
David Cash (also a director)
Elizabeth Cook
Lin Cook
Barry Fantoni
Tessa Fantoni
Ian Hislop (also a director)
Eileen Lewenstein
Executor of Lord Farington
Peter Cook (Productions) Ltd
Private Eye (Productions) Ltd
Anthony Rushton (also a director)
Connor Hammil
Sarah Seymour
Thomas Usbourne
Brock van der Bogaerde.

The other directors are Sheila Molnar, who is also the company secretary, and Richard Ingrams. Jane Asher (born 5 April 1946) is an English film and television actress and the author of several full-length novels as well as a former girlfriend of Paul McCartney. ... Barry Fantoni is an English writer, cartoonist, and jazz musician most famous for his work with the magazine Private Eye, for whom he created Neasden F.C.. He has also published on Chinese horoscopes. ... Ian Hislop (born 13 July 1960) is the editor of British satirical magazine Private Eye, a team captain on the popular satirical current affairs quiz Have I Got News for You and a comedy scriptwriter. ... This article does not cite any references or sources. ... Richard Ingrams (born August 19, 1937) was the second editor of British satirical magazine, Private Eye, taking over from Christopher Booker in 1963. ...

Trivia

This section contains a list of trivia items.

The section could be improved by integrating relevant items into the main text and removing inappropriate items.

This section has been tagged since June 2007.

News (previously called The Colour Section - a misnomer) – The logo for this section of the magazine is a donkey-riding naked Mr Punch caressing his erect and oversized penis, while hugging a female admirer. It is a detail from a frieze by "Dickie" Doyle that once formed the masthead of Punch magazine, which the editors of Private Eye had come to loathe for its perceived descent into complacency. The image, hidden away in the detail of the frieze, had appeared on the cover of Punch for nearly a century and was noticed by Malcolm Muggeridge ("Muggo" or "The Guru") during a guest-editing spot on the Eye. The 'Rabelaisian gnome' (as the character was called) was enlarged by Gerald Scarfe, and put on the front cover of issue 69 at full size. He was then formally adopted as a mascot on the inside pages, as a symbol of the old, radical incarnation of Punch magazine that the Eye admired.

"The Eye lunch" (or "The Old Crappola")^[13] takes place upstairs in The Coach and Horses, a public house known for its association with deceased columnist Jeffrey Bernard. The lunch plays host to magazine staff and visitors who attend to share their inside information.

Terry Major-Ball (brother of John Major) once complained to Ian Hislop on Have I Got News For You about the price rise of the Eye from 90p to £1. He then noted that it would be cheaper to photocopy the magazine. The price is now £1.50. Assuming that one page can be copied for five pence, the 40 page magazine can be copied for £2.

On May Day 1965, the magazine held a "Mass for Vass" rally in Central London in for beleaguered former British Prime Minister Alec Douglas-Home, a reference to his nickname "Baillie Vass". Some 300 marchers under police supervision carried banners proclaiming "High-Speed Vass Gets Things Done", "The Baillie Will No Fail Ye", "Hands off the Rann of Kutch!" and "Who's a Cretin?" (a reference to a former nickname, "Sir Alec Douglas-Who?"). The march progressed from Parliament Square to Conservative Central Office, where, accompanied by a brass band, the participants sang rousing songs in mock support of Home to the occupants of the building. This incident went almost entirely unreported in the national media.

A traditional Punch and Judy booth. ... Richard Dickie Doyle (September 1824 - December 11, 1883) was a notable Victorian illustrator. ... Punch was a British weekly magazine of humour and satire published from 1841 to 1992 and from 1996 to 2002. ... Thomas Malcolm Muggeridge (March 24, 1903â€“November 14, 1990) was a British journalist, author, satirist, media personality, soldier-spy and Christian scholar. ... François Rabelais (ca. ... Gerald Scarfe (born 1936) is a British cartoonist and illustrator whose work is characterised by an apparent obsession with the grotesque and diseased, perhaps a result of an asthmatic, bed-ridden childhood. ... The Coach and Horses. ... This article or section is not written in the formal tone expected of an encyclopedia article. ... Jeffrey Bernard (May 27, 1932 - September 4, 1997) was a British journalist, notorious for a feckless and chaotic career and life of alcohol abuse. ... Terry Major-Ball (born 1932) is the elder brother of the former Prime Minister of the United Kingdom, Sir John Major. ... Sir John Major, KG, CH (born 29 March 1943) is a former British politician who was Prime Minister of the United Kingdom and leader of the British Conservative Party from 1990 to 1997. ... Have I Got News for You is a British television panel show; produced by Hat Trick Productions and a flagship programme for the BBC. It is based loosely on the BBC Radio 4 show The News Quiz, and has been running since 1990. ... A prime minister is the most senior minister of a cabinet in the executive branch of government in a parliamentary system. ... Alexander Frederick Douglas-Home, Baron Home of the Hirsel,[1] KT, PC (2 July 1903 - 9 October 1995) 14th Earl of Home from 1951 to 1963, was a British Conservative (actually SUP) politician, and served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom for a year from October 1963 to October... Anti-war protesters gather at Parliament Square on the afternoon of March 20, 2003. ... Conservative Central Office (CCO) is the headquarters of the British Conservative Party, housing its central staff and committee members. ...

External links

Official website
Media Guardian story

References

^ ABC circulation report
^ "Not Private Eye", Tony Quinn, Magforum.com, 6 March 2007
^ http://www.guardian.co.uk/g2/story/0,3604,1159035,00.html
^ Lobster Magazine 17
^ Ian Paisley on the cover of Private Eye. Retrieved on 2007-06-15.
^ Private Eye Issue 256. Retrieved on 2007-06-15.
^ Private Eye Issue 932. Retrieved on 2007-06-15.
^ Private Eye Issue 1137. Retrieved on 2007-06-15.
^ Private Eye Issue 1122. Retrieved on 2007-06-15.
^ "A-list libel lawyer dies", BBC News, December 21, 2003.
^ "Private Eye - 40 not out ... yet", BBC News, October 25, 2001.
^ Pressdram. WebCHeck - Company Details. Companies House. Retrieved on 2007-02-10.
^ Eric Ellis. "A Punch In The Eye", Sydney Morning Herald, November 23, 1991.

Categories: Articles needing additional references from July 2007 | All articles with unsourced statements | Articles with unsourced statements since March 2007 | Articles with unsourced statements since July 2007 | Articles that may contain original research | Articles with trivia sections from June 2007 | Private Eye | British satirical magazines | British magazines | Criticism of journalism | Publications established in 1961 | Biweekly magazines | Satirical magazines is the 65th day of the year (66th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... Year 2007 (MMVII) is the current year, a common year starting on Monday of the Gregorian calendar and the AD/CE era. ... This article does not cite any references or sources. ... Year 2007 (MMVII) is the current year, a common year starting on Monday of the Gregorian calendar and the AD/CE era. ... is the 166th day of the year (167th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... Year 2007 (MMVII) is the current year, a common year starting on Monday of the Gregorian calendar and the AD/CE era. ... is the 166th day of the year (167th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... Year 2007 (MMVII) is the current year, a common year starting on Monday of the Gregorian calendar and the AD/CE era. ... is the 166th day of the year (167th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... Year 2007 (MMVII) is the current year, a common year starting on Monday of the Gregorian calendar and the AD/CE era. ... is the 166th day of the year (167th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... Year 2007 (MMVII) is the current year, a common year starting on Monday of the Gregorian calendar and the AD/CE era. ... is the 166th day of the year (167th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... Companies House is an Executive Agency of the United Kingdom Government Department of Trade and Industry (DTI). ... Year 2007 (MMVII) is the current year, a common year starting on Monday of the Gregorian calendar and the AD/CE era. ... is the 41st day of the year in the Gregorian calendar. ...

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