Hoggart was diagnosed with terminal pancreatic cancer in mid-2010 and died of the disease at Royal Marsden Hospital on 5 January 2014.

[4][5] Hoggart joined The Guardian in 1968, later becoming the American correspondent for The Observer, and occasional guest commentator on National Public Radio's Weekend Edition Saturday.

In March 2006, Hoggart presented his last edition of The News Quiz, commenting: "I'm getting a bit clapped out and jaded, and I think that's beginning to show.

His published books form an eclectic list, including debunking the supernatural, anecdotes about Parliament, a biography, his thoughts about the United States, a serious political review and collected Christmas round-robin letters.

He coined the phrase "the law of the ridiculous reverse", "which states that if the opposite of a statement is plainly absurd, it was not worth making in the first place".