James Chapman

James Chapman was formerly director of communications to the UK chancellor of the exchequer and first secretary of state George Osborne in May 2015 after the UK general election. After Osborne's sacking following the 'Brexit' vote, Chapman was re-appointed a special adviser to David Davis, secretary of state for the department of exiting the European Union.

Chapman is a former political editor at the Daily Mail.

Career

After completing his A-Levels, Chapman started his career as a general news reporter for the Southern Daily Echo and completed a two year training scheme run by Southern Newspapers.

Chapman then went on to attend the University of Oxford from 1996 to 1999, before starting at the Daily Mail. At the newspaper, Chapman has held roles including news reporter, science and environment correspondent, he joined the political team in 2003, was promoted to deputy political editor in 2005 and political editor in 2009. As political editor he attended daily lobby briefings in Downing Street and joining the Prime Minister on foreign trips.

In 2013 Chapman rejected the chance to become David Cameron's press secretary and his number two under director of communications Craig Oliver.

In May 2015, after the general election, Chapman was appointed director of communications to George Osborne in his roles as both chancellor and first secretary of state. It is believed Osborne was keen to hire a 'Fleet Street heavy hitter' as he is likely to take charge of the EU referendum campaign.