David Goodhart
A British thinker who sparked fierce national debates about immigration, identity, and the tensions between community and openness.
Born 1956 (age 70)·British journalist, commentator and author·Birthday: September 12·Baby Boomers
Biography
David Goodhart has spent decades probing the uncomfortable fissures in modern liberal democracy. After cutting his teeth as a journalist at the Financial Times, he founded Prospect magazine in 1995, creating a essential forum for long-form essays on politics and ideas. His own thinking crystallized in the 2010s, most notably with his 2013 essay 'The British Dream' and subsequent book, which introduced the influential 'Anywheres vs Somewheres' thesis. He argued that a divide had opened between mobile, university-educated elites and more rooted, community-oriented citizens, and that this clash explained much of the political upheaval around immigration and Brexit. While his views have drawn criticism from both left and right, Goodhart forced a conversation about the legitimate concerns of those who felt left behind by rapid social change, challenging the orthodoxies of Britain's political class.
Baby Boomers
1946–1964
The largest generation in history at the time. Shaped by postwar prosperity, the Vietnam War, the sexual revolution, and Watergate. They questioned every institution their parents built — then ran them.
David was born in 1956, placing them squarely in the Baby Boomers. The events that shaped this generation — postwar prosperity, civil rights, Vietnam, and the counterculture — shaped the world they entered and the choices available to them.
#1 When David Was Born
The biggest hits of 1956
#1 Movie
The Ten Commandments
Best Picture
Around the World in 80 Days
#1 TV Show
I Love Lucy
David's Life & Times
The world at every milestone
1956Born
Elvis Presley appears on The Ed Sullivan Show
Gas: $0.30/galHome: $10,050Min wage: $1.00/hrPresident: Dwight D. Eisenhower"Heartbreak Hotel" — Elvis PresleyBest Picture: Around the World in 80 Days
1961Started school
Yuri Gagarin becomes the first human in space
Gas: $0.31/galHome: $12,500Min wage: $1.15/hrPresident: John F. Kennedy"Tossin' and Turnin'" — Bobby LewisBest Picture: West Side Story
1969Became a teenager
Apollo 11: humans walk on the Moon; Woodstock festival
Gas: $0.35/galHome: $15,550Min wage: $1.60/hrPresident: Richard Nixon"Sugar, Sugar" — The ArchiesBest Picture: Midnight Cowboy
1972Could drive
Watergate break-in; last Apollo Moon mission
Gas: $0.36/galHome: $19,550Min wage: $1.60/hrPresident: Richard Nixon"The First Time Ever I Saw Your Face" — Roberta FlackBest Picture: The Godfather
1974Could vote
Nixon resigns the presidency
Gas: $0.53/galHome: $22,600Min wage: $2.00/hrPresident: Gerald Ford"The Way We Were" — Barbra StreisandBest Picture: The Godfather Part II
1977Turned 21
Star Wars premieres; Elvis dies
Gas: $0.62/galHome: $31,800Min wage: $2.30/hrPresident: Jimmy Carter"Tonight's the Night" — Rod StewartBest Picture: Annie Hall
1986Turned 30
Challenger disaster; Chernobyl nuclear meltdown
Gas: $0.86/galHome: $66,600Min wage: $3.35/hrPresident: Ronald Reagan"That's What Friends Are For" — Dionne & FriendsBest Picture: Platoon
1996Turned 40
Dolly the sheep cloned
Gas: $1.23/galHome: $99,700Min wage: $4.75/hrPresident: Bill Clinton"Macarena" — Los del RioBest Picture: The English Patient
2006Turned 50
Twitter launches; Pluto reclassified as dwarf planet
Gas: $2.59/galHome: $174,700Min wage: $5.15/hrPresident: George W. Bush"Bad Day" — Daniel PowterBest Picture: The Departed
2016Turned 60
Donald Trump elected president; Brexit vote
Gas: $2.14/galHome: $181,700Min wage: $7.25/hrPresident: Barack Obama"Love Yourself" — Justin BieberBest Picture: Moonlight
2026Turned 70
Gas: $3.91/galPresident: Donald Trump
Key Achievements
- Founded Prospect magazine in 1995, establishing a major platform for in-depth political and cultural debate in the UK.
- Authored the influential book 'The Road to Somewhere', which popularized the 'Anywheres vs Somewheres' political divide.
- Served as head of the Demography, Immigration, and Integration unit at the think tank Policy Exchange.
- His 2013 essay 'The British Dream' was a seminal text in pre-Brexit debates on immigration and national identity.
Did You Know?
He is the son of former Labour cabinet minister and Oxford University chancellor Lord (Roy) Jenkins.
Goodhart was once a dedicated social democrat but his views on immigration shifted his political positioning.
He studied at Oxford University, reading Politics, Philosophy and Economics (PPE).
Before journalism, he worked briefly as a social worker in London.
“We have to find a way to reconcile diversity with solidarity, openness with belonging.”
