Hannah Smith

Senior Political Journalist

Hannah joined Full Fact as a fact checker in May 2022. Before that she wrote news and features for UNILAD. She is a qualified journalist, and also has a degree in history.

11 July 2025

Wait and see

Government Tracker

Has the government increased the number of safe countries failed asylum seekers can be quickly returned to?

By Hannah Smith • 3 mins

Full Fact looks at Labour’s manifesto commitment on ‘safe countries’ for immigration returns. Read

Gov Tracker

9 July 2025

Immigration

Are ‘Channel migrants’ 24 times more likely to go to prison than British citizens?

By Hannah Smith • 8 mins

The Conservatives haven’t fully explained the calculations behind this claim, but based on the details reported it is not reliable. Read

Fact checks

26 June 2025

Politics

Did the foreign secretary cite a ‘made-up reference’ to the ministerial code?

By Hannah Smith • 2 mins

In response to a question in the House of Commons on Monday about whether the UK would support the US in the event of a retaliatory strike by Iran, foreign … Read

Analysis

25 June 2025

Politics

What do we know about the Israel-Iran ceasefire timeline, and what happens next?

By Hannah Smith • 3 mins

A ceasefire between Iran and Israel announced by US President Donald Trump on Monday evening appears to be holding, despite confusion over the details, and with both sides initially having … Read

Analysis

19 June 2025

Politics

Child poverty and the two-child benefit limit: explained

By Hannah Smith • 7 mins

Our explainer looks at the different ways child poverty is measured, and the impact of the two-child benefit limit. Read

Analysis

19 June 2025

Politics

Labour MP did not say victims of grooming gangs should ‘shut their mouths’

By Hannah Smith • 2 mins

A post re-circulating on Facebook appears to be based on something that Naz Shah reposted from a parody account then quickly deleted in 2017—she has said the sharing of the post was a “genuine accident”. Read

Fact checks

17 June 2025

Economy, Business & Finance

Did living standards reach an 'all-time low' under the Conservatives?

By Hannah Smith • 4 mins

Last month the Prime Minister claimed living standards were “at an all-time low” under the previous government—but none of the usual measures of living standards back this up. Read

Fact checks

9 June 2025

Immigration

Was Sadiq Khan’s claim about migrant and UK-born workers’ contributions to the economy accurate?

By Hannah Smith • 4 mins

In an interview last month the Mayor of London claimed on average a “skilled migrant” contributes £16,000 a year to the economy, and a “Brit skilled worker” £800 a year. Read

Fact checks

30 May 2025

Economy, Business & Finance

School standards minister confuses interest rates and inflation in Sky News interview

By Hannah Smith • 2 mins

Catherine McKinnell MP claimed “we’ve seen inflation coming down”, but her department has since told us she meant to refer to interest rates. Read

Fact checks

19 May 2025

Politics

What’s been agreed between the UK and the EU on fishing?

By Hannah Smith • 2 mins

The big political story today has been a wide-ranging deal between the UK and EU on fishing, defence, passport checks and more. We’re currently looking into a number of claims around this—but the agreement on fishing has grabbed many of the headlines today. Read

Analysis