Mary Louisa "Polly" Toynbee is a British journalist and writer. She has been a columnist for The Guardian newspaper since 1998. She is a social democrat and was a candidate for the Social Democratic Party in the 1983 general election. Mary Louisa "Polly" Toynbee is a British journalist and writer. She has been a columnist for The Guardian newspaper since 1998. She is a social democrat and was a candidate for the Social Democratic Party in the 1983 general election.