The Political Editor of the Sunday Times, began her journey at the heart of Westminster as a regional correspondent, hearing first hand from senior politicians and leading business figures. As well as her role as editor, Caroline is a frequent political commentator on TV and radio. Her investigative journalism exposed the contaminated blood scandal in the NHS and the unfair working conditions for fast-fashion textile workers in the UK.
Caroline Wheeler is the Political Editor of the Sunday Times. In over 17 years of parliamentary reporting, she has broken numerous agenda-setting stories including coronavirus lockdowns, Theresa May’s snap general election (that would ultimately wipe out her parliamentary majority) and exposing Operation Yellowhammer, the government’s secret contingency plan for a hard Brexit. She holds a fascinating insider’s view into government and Whitehall.
Her work in Westminister began as the Parliamentary Correspondent for Local World Media, reporting on political events for a string of regional newspapers. Working in the heart of the action, she interviewed Cabinet Ministers, including the Prime Minister and MPs which helped her build impressive contacts with senior politicians, leading business figures and civil servants. She then went on to work as the Political Editor at the Sunday Express before moving to the Sunday Times and working her way from Deputy to Political Editor.
Her investigative roots began when she covered the NHS contaminated blood scandal for two decades as a reporter on the Sunday Mercury in Birmingham. It was her research that led May to launch a public inquiry into the worst treatment disaster in NHS history. More recently she triggered a National Crime Agency (NCA) investigation into modern slavery by exposing details of how textile workers in Leicester making clothes for the fast-fashion giant Boohoo were being paid as little as £3.50 an hour.
Caroline is a frequent political commentator for the BBC and Sky and has also appeared as a guest analyst on the BBC Andrew Marr show and Westminster Hour on BBC Radio 4.