PP journalist wins young journalist accolade

The awards, now in their seventh year, recognise the best upcoming talent in the news media - selecting 30 journalists to watch from around 400 entries from over 90 different titles.

A small number of journalists were also presented with gold award accolades - and James Phillips was named as gold winner in the business / specialist trade category of the awards, fending off competition from journalists from both the The Daily Telegraph and The Sunday Times.

Jay Rayner, the food journalist and critic, presented trophies to the 30 winners who come from media outlets ranging from Buzzfeed, VICE and Sky News to the BBC and The Daily Telegraph.

The judges - led by senior journalists from leading titles including ITV News, CNN and the Daily Mail - selected the winners based on criteria which reflected a mix of traditional journalistic skills and digital expertise. The qualities the judges looked for included persistence, ingenuity, securing exclusives and using social media as a source and channel for stories.

Commenting on Phillips' award, PP editor Jonathan Stapleton said: "I couldn't be more proud of James's achievement. For James to win such a prestigious award is testament to his talent as a journalist and all the hard work he puts in."

Find out more about the MHP Young Journalist Awards, click here.

The winners

The eight gold winners in the different categories were:

News: Adam Crafton (Daily Mail)

Politics: Alex Wickham (Guido Fawkes)

Health: Patrick Russell (ITV News)

Lifestyle: Tolani Shoneye (Freelance/ Buzzfeed)

Campaigns: Natasha Preskey (Freelance/ Vice.com)

Financial: William Turvill (Mail on Sunday)

Business/ Specialist Trade: James Phillips (Professional Pensions)

Innovation: McKenna Grant (Telegraph Snapchat)

The other 30 To Watch winners were: