Peter Jonathan Hitchens is an English author, broadcaster, journalist, and commentator. He writes for The Mail on Sunday and was a foreign correspondent reporting from both Moscow and Washington, D.C.
Previously a socialist and supporter of the Labour Party, Hitchens became more conservative during the 1990s. He joined the Conservative Party in 1997 and left in 2003, and has since been deeply critical of the party, which he views as the biggest obstacle to true conservatism in the UK.
Eric Ernest Hitchens and Yvonne Jean Hitchens
Peter Hitchens was born in Malta, where his father, Eric Ernest Hitchens (1909–1987), a naval officer, was stationed as part of the then Mediterranean Fleet of the Royal Navy.
Hitchens had hoped to become a naval officer himself, but an eye defect prevented him from doing so. His mother, Yvonne Jean Hitchens (Hickman; 1921–1973) had met Eric while serving in the Women’s Royal Naval Service (Wrens) during World War II.