My twin brother, Edward Welsh, who has died aged 63 of bowel cancer, was a national newspaper journalist and a communications director.
In the late 1980s he worked on the Sunday Times, was a feature writer for the Daily Telegraph and had several roles on the Times. However, after spending a summer at the Carter Center in Atlanta, and observing the former American president Jimmy Carter’s work on conflict resolution during the Bosnian war and his commitment to public service, Edward decided to move into public sector communications.
Born in Orpington, Kent, Edward grew up in Islington, north London, in a large and close-knit household, one of four children of Mary (nee Croker), a prolific author of walking guides to northern England and Scotland, and Tom Welsh, a former Guardian journalist and co-author of McNae’s Essential Law for Journalists. Being a twin created a bond that shaped Edward’s early life and left him with a strong sense of connection and responsibility to others.
He attended William Ellis school in Gospel Oak, until our parents’ move to Cumbria in 1978 meant sixth form at Ulverston Victoria and Sedbergh schools. Edward then went to Bristol University to study history, where he formed deep friendships that lasted a lifetime. After graduating in 1984, he trained as a journalist on the Grimsby Evening Telegraph, before joining the Sunday Times as a reporter (1987-91), then working on the Telegraph for two years. In 1995 he began a master’s degree in international political economy at London School of Economics, during which he spent time at the Carter Center.
Joining the Times in 1997, he served as deputy diary editor, deputy foreign editor and local government correspondent. His first role in the public sector was at the London Assembly from 2002, then the Local Government Association in 2005. In 2009 he joined the Association of Train Operating Companies (ATOC) as director of corporate affairs, becoming director of communications at the Rail Delivery Group in 2013. In 2018 he was appointed executive director of communications and engagement at the Nursing and Midwifery Council.
In 1998 Edward met Tony McLeod, an education specialist, which was the start of a wonderful life partnership formalised with a civil partnership in 2009. They adopted their two sons in 2013 and, together with their black labrador Blu, settled into family life in Crouch End.
Edward lived with his cancer diagnosis for more than four years. He dealt with the physical and emotional demands of treatment with openness and grace, sustained by family and friends and his love of gardening, music and reading.
He is survived by Tony, their sons, Amari and Jayden, two sisters, Cheryl and Sarah, and me.
