Known for his contacts inside the Labour Party, Wintour began his career in journalism on the "New Statesman" from 1976 to 1982, before joining "The Guardian" as chief Labour Correspondent in 1983. From 1988, he was the paper's Chief Political Correspondent, 1988–1996, and then Political Editor of "The Observer", "The Guardian"s Sunday sister paper, until 2000. He returned to "The Guardian" as Chief Political Correspondent in 2000 before being appointed political editor in 2006, on the retirement of Michael White. Wintour won the British Press Awards "Political Journalist of the Year" award in 2007.