Mad, malign, historic: Editor of the New Statesman Jason Cowley delivers verdict ahead of Wolverhampton visit

Tony Blair 'the 2016 version' and 'offensive' Nigel Farage stand as the top most 'engaging' people the New Statesman editor has ever sat down with for a chat - the latter even he admitted was a 'strange' choice.

The influential journalist is to be a guest speaker at the University of Wolverhampton this week.

Having never been to Wolverhampton before, he said he was very much looking forward to meeting the city's 'ambitious academics'.

"One of the reasons I accepted the invitation is that I had never been to Wolverhampton," he said. "I only know about it because of the football team. I spend most of my time in London and if not there, then I’m in Oxford or Cambridge so it’s nice to branch out. It’s nice to visit a smaller university but still one with ambitious academics."

Jason Cowley will be in conversation with George Kassimeris, Professor in Security Studies at the University of Wolverhampton tomorrow evening (November 1).

The editor, who has been leading the New Statesman for 10 years, said they would be discussing 'the big political shocks of our time' including Trump, Brexit, the rise of populism across Europe, the return of great power politics, the rise of strongman politics, and more.

The 53-year-old has met and interviewed a varied spectrum of people across his years as a journalist, from leading politicians to famous sportsmen and women to award-winning authors.

But when asked who his favourite person was to interview, Jason struggled to pin down one answer.

"It's almost an impossible question to answer," he admitted. "But out of the politicians I would say two of the most engaging were Tony Blair; the 2016 version, humbled by the Iraq War, and strangely enough Nigel Farage was very interesting.

"Although his politics are not my politics he did more than any other party to create conditions for Brexit.

"A lot of people may find him offensive but that doesn't mean you should not speak to him. I like to talk to people who are making history of our era or attempting to explain and document it."

Despite having interviewed the likes of Theresa May, Jeremy Corbyn and David Cameron, there is one profession of people Jason cannot abide interviewing - celebrities.

"I’ve interviewed people like Jennifer Aniston, and other celebrities in the past but I hate it," he added. "I can't bear the sense of control they wish to exert over you. And they always want to sell something. I don't want to be a part of that."

In Conversation with the Editor of the New Statesman is a free event, open to all and will take place in MC001, Millennium City Building at 5.30pm tomorrow.

After the event, Jason Cowley will be signing copies of his new book Reaching for Utopia: Making Sense of an Age of Upheaval at the discounted price of £8. Anyone interested in purchasing one is asked to bring exact change.

While being interviewed by the Express & Star, Jason took part in a one-word-only, quick-fire game. We offered him 12 famous names, and he had to respond with just one, quick word. Here's what we found out:

Tony Blair - troubled

Jeremy Corbyn - messianic

Theresa May - cautious

Nigel Farage - exuberant

David Cameron - smug

George Osborne - deluded

Boris Johnson - detestable

Arsene Wenger - visionary

Russell Brand - mad

Donald Trump - malign

Gareth Southgate - inspirational

Margaret Thatcher - historic