Tributes as Standard City ace Chris Locke dies at 66

Chris Locke

One of the Evening Standard’s longest-serving journalists, City production editor Chris Locke, has died at the age of 66.

Locke joined the paper in 1992 as a sub-editor on the features desk and quickly rose to become features production editor, a job he did for eight years.

After a brief spell at Newsweek he rejoined the Standard in 2018 as City production editor, responsible for the Standard’s famous pink pages of business news. It was a post he held up until his death earlier this week.

Emmanuel College Cambridge-educated Locke served a total of 11 Evening Standard editors, starting with Paul Dacre up to incumbent Dylan Jones.

He started his career as a sub-editor on pumps trade magazine Pumps Pompes Pumpen in the late Seventies before joining Marketing Week in 1980 and then moving to another trade title Precision Marketing, where he was deputy editor.

Outside work Locke, whose partner of 43 years Gaye died last year, was an enthusiastic wicket keeper for a variety of clubs including the Fleet Street Strollers and the Bricklayer’s Arms, Putney.

He was also a keen fan of Charlton Athletic, and, with his remarkable store of general knowledge, a first pick for any pub quiz team.

City Editor Jonathan Prynn said: “Chris was one of the most skilled subs I have worked with, technically brilliant and unflappable in a crisis.

“He was also huge fun and his sense of humour and infectious laugh will be sorely missed after more than 30 years with the Evening Standard.”

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