Reem joins the British invasion
Good luck to Reem Ibrahim who starts work today at the Reason Foundation in Washington DC.
Until last week Reem was head of media at the Institute of Economic Affairs which she joined full-time (as communications officer) after graduating from the London School of Economics in the summer of 2023.
She first came to my attention the previous year when I saw her being interviewed on television during the 2022 Conservative Party conference in Birmingham. She was 19 and I was impressed by her confidence and natural ability in front of the camera. I later discovered she was a leading member of the LSE Hayek Society, so the following month I contacted her to see if the society would be interested in hosting a discussion about the war on smoking and vaping.
The subsequent event, which Reem chaired in March 2023, was the first of several collaborations. Two weeks later she took part in a Forest event at the IEA where her fellow panellists were the IEA’s Chris Snowdon, Henry Hill (ConservativeHome), and journalist Kara Kennedy who had written ‘An ode to smoking’ for The Spectator.
She spoke at several other Forest meetings – including events at the House of Commons and at party conference – and we were grateful for her support because her growing media profile undoubtedly helped attract a younger audience.
Her move to Washington DC is well timed because there has been something of a British invasion in recent years. One of the first to cross the pond was Kara Kennedy. Working initially for the US edition of The Spectator, Kara now writes for The Free Press, an American media company recently purchased by CBS News. Having got married and had a baby (with another on the way), she’s also one half of the team that writes and presents The Mom Wars.
Kate Andrews, another former IEA staffer, was also lured to America, although in her case she was returning home after a decade in London. Economics editor of The Spectator from 2020, Kate was appointed deputy editor of the US edition of the magazine towards the end of 2024. Since then she has been recruited by the Washington Post where she is described as an ‘opinion journalist’.
A few months after Kate arrived in DC she was joined by her former colleague Katy Balls who left The Spectator, where she was political editor, to become The Times’ Washington editor. Another arrival last year was Harry Cole, political editor at The Sun, who is now ‘editor-at-large’ for the paper. Based in DC, he also hosts an online politics show, Harry Cole Saves The West.
What they, and Reem, have in common is that they have all, at one time or another, attended Forest events as guests or speakers. One of them (I won’t say who!) even suggested that we organise an event in DC. I loved the idea, and we discussed possible venues for a dinner or drinks party, but the idea stalled because it’s hard to justify the cost versus the benefit. I haven’t ruled it out, though!
Meanwhile I wish Reem the very best of luck, not that she’ll need it. I’ll try not to overstate this, but it’s not often you see someone of her age (or any age!) appear so comfortable in front of a microphone, camera or audience. Others have said the same, notably Reem’s former IEA colleague Chris Snowdon who is another big fan (although he probably won’t thank me for mentioning it!).
What I particularly admire is her ability to speak cogently on multiple issues, her courage in sticking to her guns on contentious subjects such as the NHS, and her impressive ability to rise above the ‘noise’ (the insults and abuse) that she inevitably attracts on social media. Most of all, I love the effervescent good humour she brings to any debate or discussion.
No-one is irreplaceable but given the presence Reem has on social media, and her regular appearances on Five Live, GB News, Talk, Politics Live (BBC1) and Channel 5 (where she has been a regular guest on Jeremy Vine on 5), her departure is a big loss for the IEA.
I doubt we’ve heard the last of her, though. She may not be seen with Jeremy Vine on Channel 5, or review the papers on Five Live, but I’m sure we’ll see her elsewhere, commenting from DC on US and even UK issues. In fact, given the nature of today’s global and social media, there is probably no escape from the woman!
Update: To prove my point, Reem was on GB News on Tuesday night, speaking to presenter Bev Turner from the GB News studio in Washington DC.
See also: Will the last liberty-minded journalist to leave Britain please turn out the lights?
