Jessica Cunniffe started her speechwriting career in Parliament and then at Conservative Campaign Headquarters. She continued to write speeches in the Department for Communities and Local Government and the Foreign and Commonwealth Office as special adviser to Baroness Warsi before moving to 10 Downing Street. She spent three years as a speechwriter and special adviser to prime ministers David Cameron and then Theresa May, during which she penned David Cameron’s 2015 address to a party conference. More recently, she helped to write his bestselling autobiography, For the Record, described by the Telegraph as "well-written and lucid" and by the Sunday Times as "the political memoir of the decade".
Jess has spoken at the University of Cambridge about speechwriting and appeared on stage at the University of Oxford in conversation with Sarah Hurwitz, speechwriter to the Obamas. She returned to Oxford in 2023 to deliver a speech on writing memoirs. She regularly provides workshops to people looking to develop their speechwriting and communication skills. She has ghost-written prime ministerial op-eds for every major UK national newspaper. She commentates on speeches in the media, from BBC Newscast to Times Radio. Before speechwriting, she was a local newspaper journalist.
