Rookie Australian journalist Noa Hoffman broke story that led to British PM Boris Johnson’s fall

Australian journalist Noa Hoffman broke one of the biggest stories that played a part in bringing down the reign of British Prime Minister Boris Johnson.

The Sun’s Australian-born political reporter Noa Hoffman outside 10 Downing Street in London.

Australian journalist Noa Hoffman was only on her fourth day in her new job as political reporter at London’s The Sun newspaper when she broke a story that would play a significant part in ending British Prime Minister Boris Johnson’s political reign.

The 25-year-old Sydney-born reporter, who admits she spent her early years in journalism on the “dog poo beat”, scooped the entire British press pack with her revelation that Tory deputy chief whip Chris Pincher had allegedly groped two men after a boozy session at the Carlton Club in London’s Piccadilly.

The story – sourced from what she describes as an “incredible tip”– ran on the front of The Sun on July 1 and resulted in the instant resignation of Pincher while contributing to Johnson’s sensational resignation as prime minister seven days later.

“I was sent a tip late in the afternoon telling me what had allegedly happened and that a formal complaint had been made to the Whip’s office, so that’s when I told my editors and they helped get it all verified. Within hours we broke it online, because when you have a story this big, you cannot wait for print,” she said.

“When it comes to getting a big scoop like the Pincher one, a lot of it is luck, so you are lucky that someone messaged you because they were in the right place at the right time.

“But you need that person to message you in the first place, and that’s the result of hours and hours of networking.

“It’s very competitive and everyone wants to get the next big story, so you have to spend so much time building those ­contacts.”

The Sun front page on July 1, 2022.

After completing high school in Sydney, Hoffman moved to Edinburgh and completed a four-year undergraduate degree in politics and philosophy while working for student news ­websites.

She then undertook stints in local news in the Scottish capital, and later in Leeds in northern England.

“I got quite a few stories picked up by the national press (from Edinburgh and Leeds) and I loved it,” she said.

“I applied for all the university graduate schemes but got rejected, then I got onto the Jewish newspaper (Jewish Chronicle in London) and that was the first national title I worked on.

“But I did my time on the dog poo beat. I did all the classic stories about dog poo, garbage bins, and the ‘bike versus car’ wars.”

She said after 10 months working at a political website in London, PoliticsHome, she heard a job was going at The Sun and she successfully applied.

Hoffman is modest about her role in bringing down the British Prime Minister.

“When the story broke my phone died out of stress – so many people contacted me,” she said.

“I know people say it in a nice way but I did not bring down the British government … there were massive stories like Partygate that were also crucial.”

But the young reporter admits making a mark in the British press is a tough task. “It’s a lot harder when you’re under 30, a woman and Australian,” she said.

Hoffman said it was her dream from a young age to become a journalist and growing up she would read the newspapers every day, notably The Australian and The Sydney Morning Herald, and would routinely watch political news and current affairs shows. She was even a regular in the audience of ABC’s Q+A.

As for what’s next, Hoffman said she’s just focused on “getting good stories”.