Is "The Guardian" A Left-wing Paper?

"The Guardian" has traditionally been seen as a left-of-centre paper, or at the very least, one that has always been somewhat anti-establishment. Founded in 1821 in Manchester, the paper started off as a liberal publication, in terms of its views on civil and religious freedom for all. At various points in its past, "The Guardian" was often supportive of the Liberal Party and the paper was perceived as essentially centrist. This changed during the Spanish Civil War, when The Guardian, like Britain's other leftist papers, supported Spain's Republican forces.

The perception that The Guardian is a left-wing paper was strengthened in 2001 and again in 2003, when the newspaper generally opposed both the Afghanistan and the Iraq wars. Over all, it is probably most appropriate to say that The Guardian is, by default, left of centre, but that it does allow for dissenting opinions to appear on its pages. A good example of this is the publicist Sir Simon Jenkins, who also writes for this daily.