An Interview With the Journalist Who Released the UK"s "Lockdown Files"

Isabel Oakeshott is a British political journalist. 

Oakeshott was the political editor of The Sunday Times and is the co-author, with Michael Ashcroft, of an unauthorised biography of former British prime minister David Cameron, Call Me Dave, and of various other non-fiction titles, including White Flag? An examination of the UK's defence capability, also written with Ashcroft, Farmageddon, co-written with Philip Lymbery, and Pandemic Diaries, co-written with Matt Hancock, which provides an account of Hancock's tenure as the UK's Health Secretary during the COVID-19 pandemic. 

Oakeshott helped former Health Secretary Matt Hancock write his book, Pandemic Diaries, The Inside Story Of Britain's Battle Against Covid.[32] 

Published in December 2022, it was widely viewed as an attempt by Hancock to rehabilitate his reputation, following his ministerial resignation for breaking the UK's Covid lockdown rules with his mistress Gina Coladangelo, and criticism of his appearance on the ITV reality series I'm A Celebrity Get me Out Of Here, while he was still a serving and salaried MP.[33] 

Oakeshott then passed more than 100,000 of Hancock's WhatsApp messages to The Daily Telegraph, who began to publish them in March 2023.[34] She had been given the messages for the purpose of using them to help write Hancock's book and she was subject to a contractual confidentiality restriction.[34] The newspaper reported that Hancock's messages suggested he wanted to ignore the advice of the then chief medical officer for England, Chris Whitty, to test all new admissions into England's care homes for COVID-19, preferring to test only those being released from hospital into the homes.[35][36] 

A spokesman for Hancock said, "These stolen messages have been doctored to create a false story that Matt rejected clinical advice on care home testing".[37] 

Oakeshott confirmed in an interview that she had broken the non-disclosure agreement by leaking Hancock's messages,[38] but said that doing so was in the public interest.[39] 

Oakeshott said Hancock sent a "threatening" message alleging she had made a "big mistake" and added "He's since followed through with threats of legal action."[40]