Journalism Stratton worked as a producer for the
BBC Television current affairs programme
Newsnight, She then joined
The Guardian as a political correspondent, presenting the newspaper's Politics Weekly podcast with journalist Tom Clark. In 2006, Stratton published a non-fiction book,
Muhajababes, that explored the youth culture of the Middle East and the contradictions of the modern life of young adults in
Muslim societies. The book was based on Stratton's experiences of travelling in the region in 2005. as
political editor of
Newsnight, replacing
Michael Crick who left to become a political correspondent for
Channel 4. In May the same year, she faced criticism for a
Newsnight interview with a single mother who was claiming housing benefit. The interviewee described feeling "humiliated" by Stratton, who misrepresented her as unemployed.
Private Eye magazine reported that Stratton had chosen the single mother over several other interviewees offered, including a couple with four children who had lost their jobs and faced homelessness. Following an official complaint to the BBC's Editorial Complaints Unit, a correction and apology was issued by
Peter Rippon, the editor of Newsnight, in August. In November 2015, the BBC announced that Stratton was leaving to join
ITV News as its national editor. She made her first appearance on ITV's
News at Ten in January 2016 and co-presented
Peston on Sunday with
Robert Peston until April 2018, when she departed to spend weekends with her children. After a six-month hiatus, in June 2022, Stratton joined
Bloomberg News as UK contributing editor, writing an afternoon newsletter called "Readout".
Government communications Stratton left ITV News in April 2020 to become Director of Strategic Communications at
the Treasury under
Chancellor Rishi Sunak. Six months later, in October 2020, she was given the newly created role of
Downing Street Press Secretary, to present proposed televised press briefings initially scheduled for launch in November 2020. The briefings were subsequently delayed to January 2021 and it was reported that they would take place when the House of Commons was sitting on Mondays, Tuesdays and Thursdays. The January launch date was repeatedly pushed back due to the
COVID-19 lockdowns and on 20 April it was announced that the briefings would be scrapped entirely, with Stratton instead becoming the spokesperson for the
COP26 summit that was held in Glasgow in November 2021. In this role, she made comments that a diesel car suited her lifestyle better than an electric car, that not rinsing plates before putting them in the dishwasher would help the environment, and that the public should join the
Green Party in order to combat the climate crisis. During the conference
The Guardian reported she "stayed in the background" and had "an unclear role".
2020 Downing Street Christmas party controversy On 7 December 2021,
ITV News released a video of a mock
press conference from 22 December 2020, in which Stratton and other Downing Street staff made joking references to a
Christmas gathering at 10 Downing Street that took place four days earlier. In the leaked 47-second clip, filmed from the
Downing Street Press Briefing Room, Stratton and the other staff joked about the "fictional party" being just "cheese and wine" and a "business meeting" with "no social distancing".
BBC News reported that the event had "several dozen" attendees and that "party games were played, food and drink were served, and the party went on past midnight". At the time of the alleged party, London was under
COVID-19 tier 3 lockdown restrictions. The day after the ITV story was broadcast, Prime Minister
Boris Johnson apologised for the video during
Prime Minister's Questions, describing himself as "furious" about it, but continued to deny that a party had taken place and declared that an investigation would be undertaken by
Cabinet Secretary Simon Case. Three hours later, Stratton resigned from her position as government spokesperson for the COP26 summit and apologised for her remarks which she asserted she would regret "for the rest of [her] days". On 15 December, a picture was leaked showing Johnson taking part in a Christmas quiz at 10 Downing Street around the same time that the parties happened in 2020; the quiz was virtual and happened online, but the picture showed Johnson sitting in a room with at least two other people. ==Personal life==