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The ''Daily Express'' is a national daily United Kingdom middle-market newspaper printed in
tabloid format A tabloid is a newspaper format characterized by its compact size, smaller than a broadsheet. The term originates from the 19th century, when the London-based pharmaceutical company Burroughs Wellcome & Co. used the term to describe compres ...
. Published in London, it is the flagship of Express Newspapers, owned by publisher
Reach plc Reach plc (known as Trinity Mirror between 1999 and 2018) is a British newspaper, magazine and digital publisher. It is one of the UK's biggest newspaper groups, publishing 240 regional papers in addition to the national ''Daily Mirror'', '' ...
. It was first published as a broadsheet in 1900 by Sir Arthur Pearson. Its
sister paper A sister paper is one of two or more newspapers which share a common owner, but are published with different content, different names, and sometimes (but not necessarily) in different geographical areas. Such an arrangement can offer economies o ...
, the ''Sunday Express'', was launched in 1918. In June 2022, it had an average daily circulation of 201,608. Under the ownership of Lord Beaverbrook, the ''Express'' rose to become the newspaper with the largest circulation in the world, going from 2 million in the 1930s to 4 million in the 1940s. It was acquired by
Richard Desmond Richard Clive Desmond (born 8 December 1951) is a British publisher, businessman, and former Pornography, pornographer. According to the 2021 ''Sunday Times Rich List'', Desmond was the 107th richest person in the United Kingdom. He is the fo ...
's company Northern & Shell in 2000. Hugh Whittow was the editor from February 2011 until he retired in March 2018. In February 2018 Trinity Mirror acquired the ''Daily Express'', and other publishing assets of Northern & Shell, in a deal worth £126.7 million. To coincide with the purchase the Trinity Mirror group changed the name of the company to ''Reach''. Hugh Whittow resigned as editor and Gary Jones took over as editor-in-chief soon after the purchase. The paper's editorial stances have often been seen as aligned to
Euroscepticism Euroscepticism, also spelled as Euroskepticism or EU-scepticism, is a political position involving criticism of the European Union (EU) and European integration. It ranges from those who oppose some EU institutions and policies and seek reform ...
and supportive of the
UK Independence Party The UK Independence Party (UKIP, ) is a Eurosceptic, right-wing populist political party in the United Kingdom. The party reached its greatest level of success in the mid-2010s, when it gained two members of parliament (both through defect ...
(UKIP), and other
right-wing Right-wing politics is the range of political ideologies that view certain social orders and hierarchies as inevitable, natural, normal, or desirable, typically supporting this position based on natural law, economics, authority, property ...
factions including the European Research Group (ERG) of the Conservative Party.


History

The ''Daily Express'' was founded in 1900 by Sir Arthur Pearson, with the first issue appearing on 24 April 1900. Pearson lost his sight to
glaucoma Glaucoma is a group of eye diseases that can lead to damage of the optic nerve. The optic nerve transmits visual information from the eye to the brain. Glaucoma may cause vision loss if left untreated. It has been called the "silent thief of ...
in 1913, and sold the title to the future Lord Beaverbrook in 1916. The ''Express'' was one of the first papers to place news instead of advertisements on its front page, and carried gossip, sport, and women's features. It was also the first in Britain to have a
crossword puzzle A crossword (or crossword puzzle) is a word game consisting of a grid of black and white squares, into which solvers enter words or phrases ("entries") crossing each other horizontally ("across") and vertically ("down") according to a set of cl ...
. It began printing in Manchester in 1927. In 1931 it moved its London headquarters to 120 Fleet Street, a specially commissioned
Art Deco Art Deco, short for the French (), is a style of visual arts, architecture, and product design that first Art Deco in Paris, appeared in Paris in the 1910s just before World War I and flourished in the United States and Europe during the 1920 ...
building. Under Beaverbrook, the paper set newspaper sales records several times throughout the 1930s. Its success was partly due to aggressive marketing campaign and a circulation war with other populist newspapers. Arthur Christiansen became editor in October 1933. Under his direction sales climbed from two million in 1936 to four million in 1949. He retired in 1957. The paper also featured Alfred Bestall's '' Rupert Bear'' cartoon and satirical cartoons by Carl Giles which it began publishing in the 1940s. On 24 March 1933, a front-page headline, "Judea Declares War on Germany" (because of the Anti-Nazi boycott of 1933), was published. During the late 1930s, the paper advocated the
appeasement Appeasement, in an International relations, international context, is a diplomacy, diplomatic negotiation policy of making political, material, or territorial concessions to an aggressive power (international relations), power with intention t ...
policies of
Neville Chamberlain Arthur Neville Chamberlain (; 18 March 18699 November 1940) was a British politician who served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from May 1937 to May 1940 and Leader of the Conservative Party (UK), Leader of the Conservative Party from ...
's National Government, due to the influence of Lord Beaverbrook. On 7 August 1939, the front-page headline was "NO WAR THIS YEAR". Less than a month later, Britain and France were at war with
Nazi Germany Nazi Germany, officially known as the German Reich and later the Greater German Reich, was the German Reich, German state between 1933 and 1945, when Adolf Hitler and the Nazi Party controlled the country, transforming it into a Totalit ...
following its
invasion of Poland The invasion of Poland, also known as the September Campaign, Polish Campaign, and Polish Defensive War of 1939 (1 September – 6 October 1939), was a joint attack on the Second Polish Republic, Republic of Poland by Nazi Germany, the Slovak R ...
. The front page, floating in dirty water, later featured in '' In Which We Serve''. The ruralist and fascist author Henry Williamson wrote for the paper on many occasions over a span of half a century. He also wrote for the ''Sunday Express'' at the beginning of his career. In 1938, the publication moved to the Daily Express Building, Manchester (nicknamed the "Black Lubyianka"), designed by Owen Williams on the same site in Great Ancoats Street. It opened a similar building in Glasgow in 1936 in Albion Street. Glasgow printing ended in 1974 and Manchester in 1989 on the company's own presses. Johnston Press has a five-year deal, begun in March 2015, to print the northern editions of the ''Daily Express'', ''Daily Star'', ''Sunday Express'' and the ''Daily Star Sunday'' at its Dinnington site in Sheffield. The Scottish edition is printed by facsimile in Glasgow by contract printers, the London editions at Westferry Printers. In March 1962, Beaverbrook was attacked in the
House of Commons The House of Commons is the name for the elected lower house of the Bicameralism, bicameral parliaments of the United Kingdom and Canada. In both of these countries, the Commons holds much more legislative power than the nominally upper house of ...
for running "a sustained vendetta" against the
British Royal Family The British royal family comprises Charles III and other members of his family. There is no strict legal or formal definition of who is or is not a member, although the Royal Household has issued different lists outlining who is considere ...
in the ''Express'' titles. In the same month, the Duke of Edinburgh described the ''Express'' as "a bloody awful newspaper. It is full of lies, scandal and imagination. It is a vicious paper." At the height of Beaverbrook's control, in 1948, he told a
Royal Commission A royal commission is a major ad-hoc formal public inquiry into a defined issue in some monarchies. They have been held in the United Kingdom, Australia, Canada, New Zealand, Norway, Malaysia, Mauritius and Saudi Arabia. In republics an equi ...
on the press that he ran his papers "purely for the purpose of making propaganda". The arrival of
television Television (TV) is a telecommunication medium for transmitting moving images and sound. Additionally, the term can refer to a physical television set rather than the medium of transmission. Television is a mass medium for advertising, ...
, and the public's changing interests, took their toll on circulation, and following Beaverbrook's death in 1964, the paper's circulation declined for several years. During this period, the ''Express'', practically alone among mainstream newspapers, was vehemently opposed to
entry Entry may refer to: *Entry, West Virginia, an unincorporated community in the United States *Entry (cards), a term used in trick-taking card-games *Entry (economics), a term in connection with markets *Entry (film), ''Entry'' (film), a 2013 Indian ...
into what became the
European Economic Community The European Economic Community (EEC) was a regional organisation created by the Treaty of Rome of 1957,Today the largely rewritten treaty continues in force as the ''Treaty on the functioning of the European Union'', as renamed by the Lisbo ...
. Partially as a result of the rejuvenation of the ''
Daily Mail The ''Daily Mail'' is a British daily Middle-market newspaper, middle-market Tabloid journalism, tabloid conservative newspaper founded in 1896 and published in London. , it has the List of newspapers in the United Kingdom by circulation, h ...
'' under David English and the emergence of ''
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'' under
Rupert Murdoch Keith Rupert Murdoch ( ; born 11 March 1931) is an Australian - American retired business magnate, investor, and media mogul. Through his company News Corp, he is the owner of hundreds of List of assets owned by News Corp, local, national, a ...
and editorship of Larry Lamb, average daily sales of the ''Express'' dropped below four million in 1967, below three million in 1975, and below two million in 1984. The ''Daily Express'' switched from
broadsheet A broadsheet is the largest newspaper format and is characterized by long Vertical and horizontal, vertical pages, typically of in height. Other common newspaper formats include the smaller Berliner (format), Berliner and Tabloid (newspaper ...
to tabloid in 1977 (the ''Mail'' having done so six years earlier), and was bought by the construction company Trafalgar House in the same year. Its publishing company, Beaverbrook Newspapers, was renamed Express Newspapers. In 1982, Trafalgar House spun off its publishing interests to a new company, Fleet Holdings, under Lord Matthews, but this succumbed to a hostile takeover by
United Newspapers UBM plc was a British business-to-business (B2B) events organiser headquartered in London, England, before its acquisition by Informa in 2018. It had a long history as a multinational media company. Its main focus was on B2B events, but its pr ...
in 1985. Under United, the ''Express'' titles moved from Fleet Street to Blackfriars Road in 1989. Express Newspapers was sold to publisher
Richard Desmond Richard Clive Desmond (born 8 December 1951) is a British publisher, businessman, and former Pornography, pornographer. According to the 2021 ''Sunday Times Rich List'', Desmond was the 107th richest person in the United Kingdom. He is the fo ...
in 2000, and the names of the newspapers reverted to ''Daily Express'' and ''Sunday Express''. In 2004, the newspaper moved to Lower Thames Street in the
City of London The City of London, also known as ''the City'', is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county and Districts of England, local government district with City status in the United Kingdom, city status in England. It is the Old town, his ...
. In February 2018, it moved into 1 Canada Square in Canary Wharf. On 31 October 2005, UK Media Group
Entertainment Rights Entertainment Rights PLC (formerly known as Sleepy Kids PLC and SKD Media PLC) was a British multinational mass media and entertainment conglomerate that specialised in television shows and cartoons, children's media, films, and distribution. ...
secured majority interest from the ''Daily Express'' for Rupert Bear. They paid £6 million for a 66.6% control of the character. The ''Express'' retains minority interest of one-third plus the right to publish Rupert Bear stories in certain Express publications.


Richard Desmond era

In 2000, Express Newspapers was bought by Richard Desmond, publisher of celebrity magazine '' OK!'', for £125 million. Controversy surrounded the deal since Desmond also owned
softcore pornography Softcore pornography or softcore porn is commercial still photography, film, imagery, or even audio that has a pornographic or erotic component but is less sexually graphic or intrusive than hardcore pornography, defined by a lack of sexual p ...
magazines. As a result, many staff left, including editor Rosie Boycott and columnist
Peter Hitchens Peter Jonathan Hitchens (born 1951) is an English Conservatism in the United Kingdom, conservative author, broadcaster, journalist, and commentator. He writes for ''The Mail on Sunday'' and was a Foreign correspondent (journalism), foreign cor ...
. Hitchens moved to ''
The Mail on Sunday ''The Mail on Sunday'' is a British conservative newspaper, published in a tabloid format. Founded in 1982 by Lord Rothermere, it is the biggest-selling Sunday newspaper in the UK. Its sister paper, the ''Daily Mail'', was first published i ...
'', saying working for the new owner was a moral conflict of interest since he had always attacked the pornographic magazines that Desmond published. Despite their divergent politics, Desmond respected Hitchens. In 2007, Express Newspapers left the National Publishers Association due to unpaid fees. Since payments to the NPA fund the
Press Complaints Commission The Press Complaints Commission (PCC) was a voluntary regulatory body for British printed newspapers and magazines, consisting of representatives of the major publishers. The PCC closed on Monday 8 September 2014, and was replaced by the Ind ...
, it is possible that the ''Express'' and its sister papers could cease being regulated by the PCC. The chairman of the Press Standards Board of Finance, which manages PCC funds, described Express Newspapers as a "rogue publisher". The Express group lost prominent libel cases in 2008–2009; it paid damages to people involved in the Madeleine McCann case (see below), a member of the Muslim Council of Britain, footballer
Marco Materazzi Marco Materazzi (; born 19 August 1973) is an Italian former professional Association football, footballer and Association football manager, manager. Early in his career, Materazzi played with various Italian teams in Serie B and Serie C, and w ...
, and sports agent Willie McKay. The losses led the media commentator Roy Greenslade to conclude that Express Newspapers (which also publishes the ''Star'' titles) paid more in libel damages over that period than any other newspaper group. Although most of the individual amounts paid were not disclosed, the total damages were recorded at £1,570,000. Greenslade characterised Desmond as a "rogue proprietor". In late 2008, Express Newspapers began cutting 80 jobs to reduce costs by £2.5 million; however, too few staff were willing to take voluntary redundancy. In early 2008, a previous cost-cutting exercise triggered the first 24-hour national press strike in the UK for 18 years. In late August 2009 came plans for a further 70 redundancies, affecting journalists across Express Newspapers (including the ''Daily'' and ''Sunday Express'', the ''Daily Star'', and the ''Daily Star Sunday''). In August 2009, the Advertising Standards Authority criticised the company for
advertorial An advertorial is an advertisement in the form of editorial content. The term "advertorial" is a blend word, blend (see portmanteau) of the words "advertisement" and "editorial". Merriam-Webster dates the origin of the word to 1946. In printed pub ...
s as features alongside adverts for the same products. The ASA noted that the pieces were "always and uniquely favourable to the product featured in the ads and contained claims that have been or were likely to be prohibited in advertisements". In January 2010, the ''Daily Express'' was censured by the Advertising Standards Authority over a front-page promotion for "free" fireworks. This led to comment that the ''Express'' has become "the
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of
Fleet Street Fleet Street is a street in Central London, England. It runs west to east from Temple Bar, London, Temple Bar at the boundary of the City of London, Cities of London and City of Westminster, Westminster to Ludgate Circus at the site of the Lo ...
", in that it is a "frequent offender" which pays little heed to the ASA's criticisms. In May 2010, Desmond announced a commitment of £100 million over five years to buy new equipment for the printing plants, beginning with the immediate purchase of four new presses, amid industry rumours that he was going to establish a printing plant at Luton. On 31 December 2010, the Express, with all the media titles in Desmond's Northern & Shell group, were excluded from the
Press Complaints Commission The Press Complaints Commission (PCC) was a voluntary regulatory body for British printed newspapers and magazines, consisting of representatives of the major publishers. The PCC closed on Monday 8 September 2014, and was replaced by the Ind ...
after withholding payment. Lord Black, chairman of PressBof, the PCC's parent organisation, called this "a deeply regrettable decision". According to ''Press Gazette'', in December 2016 circulation figures showed gross sales of the ''
Daily Mail The ''Daily Mail'' is a British daily Middle-market newspaper, middle-market Tabloid journalism, tabloid conservative newspaper founded in 1896 and published in London. , it has the List of newspapers in the United Kingdom by circulation, h ...
'' were 1,491,264 compared to 391,626 for the ''Daily Express''. The full run of the ''Daily Express'' has been digitised and is available at UK Press Online. In September 2017, ''
Daily Mirror The ''Daily Mirror'' is a British national daily Tabloid journalism, tabloid newspaper. Founded in 1903, it is part of Mirror Group Newspapers (MGN), which is owned by parent company Reach plc. From 1985 to 1987, and from 1997 to 2002, the tit ...
'' publisher
Trinity Mirror Reach plc (known as Trinity Mirror between 1999 and 2018) is a British newspaper, magazine and digital publisher. It is one of the UK's biggest newspaper groups, publishing 240 regional papers in addition to the national ''Daily Mirror'', '' ...
announced its interest in buying all of Express Newspapers from Desmond. The ''
Financial Times The ''Financial Times'' (''FT'') is a British daily newspaper printed in broadsheet and also published digitally that focuses on business and economic Current affairs (news format), current affairs. Based in London, the paper is owned by a Jap ...
'' called it potentially the biggest change in the British newspaper industry for a decade.


Reach era

In February 2018,
Trinity Mirror Reach plc (known as Trinity Mirror between 1999 and 2018) is a British newspaper, magazine and digital publisher. It is one of the UK's biggest newspaper groups, publishing 240 regional papers in addition to the national ''Daily Mirror'', '' ...
acquired the ''Daily Express'', and other publishing assets of Northern & Shell, in a deal worth £126.7 million. To coincide with the purchase the Trinity Mirror group changed its name to ''Reach''. Hugh Whittow resigned as editor and Gary Jones took over as editor-in-chief soon after the purchase. The ''Daily Express'' endorsed
Liz Truss Mary Elizabeth Truss (born 26 July 1975) is a British politician who served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom and Leader of the Conservative Party (UK), Leader of the Conservative Party from September to October 2022. On her fiftieth da ...
in the July–September 2022 Conservative Party leadership election. In 2023, Reach launched a US version of the Express, called the-express.com. It is based in New York City.


''Sunday Express''

The printing press of the ''Sunday Express'' was first started by Lady Diana Manners on 29 December 1918. It was edited by Michael Booker from 2018 to 2021 when he left for
GB News GB News is a British free-to-air, editorial, opinion-orientated television and radio news channel. The channel is available on Freeview (UK), Freeview, Freesat, Sky UK, Sky, YouView, Virgin Media and via the internet on Samsung TV Plus, LG web ...
. Its circulation in December 2022 was 153,377.


Controversies


John Bodkin Adams

Suspected
serial killer A serial killer (also called a serial murderer) is a person who murders three or more people,An offender can be anyone: * * * * * (This source only requires two people) with the killings taking place over a significant period of time in separat ...
John Bodkin Adams was arrested in 1956, accused of murdering up to 400 wealthy patients in
Eastbourne Eastbourne () is a town and seaside resort in East Sussex, on the south coast of England, east of Brighton and south of London. It is also a non-metropolitan district, local government district with Borough status in the United Kingdom, bor ...
. The press, "egged on by police leaks, unanimously declared Adams guilty," except for Percy Hoskins, chief crime reporter for the ''Express''.''Two Men Were Acquitted: The trial and acquittal of Doctor John Bodkin Adams'', Secker & Warburg, 1984 Hoskins was adamant that Adams was a naive doctor prosecuted by an overzealous detective, Herbert Hannam, whom Hoskins disliked from previous cases. The ''Express'', under Hoskins's direction, was the only major paper to defend Adams, causing Lord Beaverbrook to question Hoskins's stance. Adams was cleared in 1957 of the murder of Edith Alice Morrell (a second count was withdrawn controversially). After the case, Beaverbrook phoned Hoskins and said: "Two people were acquitted today", meaning Hoskins as well. The ''Express'' carried an exclusive interview with Adams, whom Hoskins interviewed in a safe house away from other newspapers. According to archives released in 2003, Adams was thought by police to have killed 163 patients.


Dunblane

On 8 March 2009, the Scottish edition of the ''Sunday Express'' published a front-page article critical of survivors of the 1996 Dunblane massacre, entitled "Anniversary Shame of Dunblane Survivors". The article criticised the 18-year-old survivors for posting "shocking blogs and photographs of themselves on the internet", revealing that they drank alcohol, made rude gestures and talked about their sex lives. The article provoked complaints, leading to a front-page apology a
fortnight A fortnight is a unit of time equal to 14 days (two weeks). The word derives from the Old English term , meaning "" (or "fourteen days", since the Anglo-Saxons counted by nights). Astronomy and tides In astronomy, a ''lunar fortnight'' is hal ...
later. The
Press Complaints Commission The Press Complaints Commission (PCC) was a voluntary regulatory body for British printed newspapers and magazines, consisting of representatives of the major publishers. The PCC closed on Monday 8 September 2014, and was replaced by the Ind ...
described the article as a "serious error of judgement" and said, "Although the editor had taken steps to resolve the complaint, and rightly published an apology, the breach of the Code was so serious that no apology could remedy it".


Diana, Princess of Wales

The ''Daily Express'' gained a reputation for printing conspiracy theories about the death of Diana, Princess of Wales as front-page news. ''
The Independent ''The Independent'' is a British online newspaper. It was established in 1986 as a national morning printed paper. Nicknamed the ''Indy'', it began as a broadsheet and changed to tabloid format in 2003. The last printed edition was publis ...
'' and ''
The Guardian ''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in Manchester in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'' and changed its name in 1959, followed by a move to London. Along with its sister paper, ''The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardi ...
'' in 2006 both published a selection of then recent ''Express'' headlines on the topic. This practice was satirised in ''
Private Eye ''Private Eye'' is a British fortnightly satirical and current affairs (news format), current affairs news magazine, founded in 1961. It is published in London and has been edited by Ian Hislop since 1986. The publication is widely recognised ...
'' as the ''Diana Express'' or the ''Di'ly Express'', and has been attributed to Desmond's friendship with regular ''Eye'' target Mohamed Fayed.For instance in the "Hackwatch" column of ''Private Eye'' #1174, 19 December 2006. The articles regularly quoted Fayed with the newspaper describing its campaign as "Our relentless crusade for the truth". In 2006 and 2007, these front-page stories consistently appeared on Mondays, and ended only when the paper focused instead on the Madeleine McCann story (see below). According to ''
The Independent ''The Independent'' is a British online newspaper. It was established in 1986 as a national morning printed paper. Nicknamed the ''Indy'', it began as a broadsheet and changed to tabloid format in 2003. The last printed edition was publis ...
'' in 2006: "The Diana stories appear on Mondays because Sunday is often a quiet day." In February and March 2010, the paper returned to featuring Diana stories on the front page on Mondays. In September 2013, following an allegation raised by the estranged wife of an SAS operative, the ''Daily Express'' returned to running daily Princess Diana cover stories.


Madeleine McCann

In the second half of 2007 the ''Daily Express'' gave a large coverage to the disappearance of Madeleine McCann. From 3 August 2007 to 10 November 2007, the ''Express'' dedicated at least part of the next 100 front pages to her. Of those, 82 used the headline to feature the details of the disappearance (often stylised by "MADELEINE" in red block capitals, plus a picture of the child). Though the family initially said some journalists may have "overstepped their mark" they acknowledged the benefits in keeping the case in the public eye, but said coverage needed to be toned down since daily headlines were not necessarily helpful. In March 2008, the McCanns launched a
libel Defamation is a communication that injures a third party's reputation and causes a legally redressable injury. The precise legal definition of defamation varies from country to country. It is not necessarily restricted to making assertions ...
suit against the ''Daily Express'' and the '' Daily Star'', as well as their Sunday equivalents, following their coverage. The action concerned more than 100 stories across the four newspapers, which accused the McCanns of causing and covering up their daughter's death. Express Newspapers pulled all references to Madeleine from its websites. In a settlement at the
High Court of Justice The High Court of Justice in London, known properly as His Majesty's High Court of Justice in England, together with the Court of Appeal (England and Wales), Court of Appeal and the Crown Court, are the Courts of England and Wales, Senior Cour ...
, the newspapers ran a front-page apology to the McCanns on 19 March 2008, another apology on the front of the Sunday editions of 23 March and a statement of apology at the High Court. The newspapers also agreed to pay costs and damages, which the McCanns said they would use to fund the search for their daughter. ''Guardian'' media commentator Roy Greenslade said it was "unprecedented" for four major newspapers to offer front-page apologies but also said it was more than warranted given that the papers had committed "a substantial libel" that shamed the British press. Craig Silverman of ''Regret the Error'', a blog that reports media errors, argued that given how many of the stories appeared on the front page, anything less than a front-page apology would have been "unacceptable". In its apology, the ''Express'' said "a number of articles in the newspaper have suggested that the couple caused the death of their missing daughter Madeleine and then covered it up. We acknowledge that there is no evidence whatsoever to support this theory and that Kate and Gerry are completely innocent of any involvement in their daughter's disappearance." This was followed in October by an apology and payout (forwarded to the fund again) to a group who had become known as the " Tapas Seven" in relation to the case.


Accusations of xenophobia and hate speech

In 2013, the paper launched a "crusade" against new
European Union The European Union (EU) is a supranational union, supranational political union, political and economic union of Member state of the European Union, member states that are Geography of the European Union, located primarily in Europe. The u ...
rules on migrants from Bulgaria and Romania, inviting readers to sign a petition against lifting restrictions on immigration. The front page on Thursday 31 October declared: "Britain is full and fed up. Today join your ''Daily Express'' Crusade to stop new flood of Romanian and Bulgarian migrants". The
Aberystwyth University Aberystwyth University () is a Public university, public Research university, research university in Aberystwyth, Wales. Aberystwyth was a founding member institution of the former federal University of Wales. The university has over 8,000 stude ...
Student Union announced a ban on the sale of the paper. This ban was overturned in March 2016, following a student vote.
UKIP The UK Independence Party (UKIP, ) is a Eurosceptic, right-wing populist political party in the United Kingdom. The party reached its greatest level of success in the mid-2010s, when it gained two Member of Parliament (United Kingdom), member ...
Leader
Nigel Farage Nigel Paul Farage ( ; born 3 April 1964) is a British politician and broadcaster who has been Member of Parliament (United Kingdom), Member of Parliament (MP) for Clacton (UK Parliament constituency), Clacton and Leader of Reform UK since 20 ...
declared that he had signed the "Crusade" petition, and urged others to do the same. Romanian politician Cătălin Ivan expressed "outrage" at the campaign. In a statement released by The
Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights The Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) is a department of the United Nations Secretariat that works to promote and protect human rights that are guaranteed under international law and stipulated in the Univers ...
(OHCHR) on 24 April 2015, the tabloid's name was mentioned in an accusation of producing
hate speech Hate speech is a term with varied meaning and has no single, consistent definition. It is defined by the ''Cambridge Dictionary'' as "public speech that expresses hate or encourages violence towards a person or group based on something such as ...
, initially referring to an article in ''The Sun'': "...To give just one glimpse of the scale of the problem, back in 2003 the ''Daily Express'' ran 22 negative front pages stories about asylum seekers and refugees in a single 31-day period" ... "..the High Commissioner noted that Article 20 of the ICCPR, as well as elements relating to
hate speech Hate speech is a term with varied meaning and has no single, consistent definition. It is defined by the ''Cambridge Dictionary'' as "public speech that expresses hate or encourages violence towards a person or group based on something such as ...
in the
International Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination The International Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination (ICERD) is a United Nations convention. A third-generation human rights instrument, the Convention commits its members to the elimination of racial discri ...
* (both of which have been ratified by the UK, as well as by all other EU countries), were rooted in the desire to outlaw the type of anti-Semitic and other racially based hate speech used by the Nazi media during the 1930s". Appearing in April 2018 before
Parliament In modern politics and history, a parliament is a legislative body of government. Generally, a modern parliament has three functions: Representation (politics), representing the Election#Suffrage, electorate, making laws, and overseeing ...
's Home Affairs Select Committee, which was investigating the treatment of minority groups in print media, ''Daily Express'' editor Gary Jones said that he would be looking to change the tone of the paper. Jones said that he had found past pages of the newspaper "downright offensive", adding that they made him feel "very uncomfortable" and contributed to an " Islamophobic sentiment" in the media.


Editors


''Daily Express''

* Arthur Pearson (April 1900 – 1901) *
Bertram Fletcher Robinson Bertram Fletcher Robinson (22 August 1870 – 21 January 1907) was an English sportsperson, sportsman, journalist, editor, author and Liberal Unionist Party activist. During his life-time, he wrote at least three hundred items, including a ser ...
(July 1900 – May 1904) * R. D. Blumenfeld (1904–1929) * Beverley Baxter (1929 – October 1933) * Arthur Christiansen (1933 – August 1957) * Edward Pickering (1957–1961) * Robert Edwards (acting) (November 1961 – February 1962) * Roger Wood (1962 – May 1963) * Robert Edwards (1963 – July 1965) * Derek Marks (1965 – April 1971) * Ian McColl (1971 – October 1974) * Alastair Burnet (1974 – March 1976) * Roy Wright (1976 – August 1977) * Derek Jameson (1977 – June 1980) * Arthur Firth (1980 – October 1981) * Christopher Ward (1981 – April 1983) * Sir Larry Lamb (1983 – April 1986) * Sir Nicholas Lloyd (1986 – November 1995) * Richard Addis (November 1995 – May 1998) * Rosie Boycott (May 1998 – January 2001) * Chris Williams (January 2001 – December 2003) * Peter Hill (December 2003 – 18 February 2011) * Hugh Whittow (18 February 2011 – March 2018) * Gary Jones (March 2018 – September 2024) * Tom Hunt (September 2024 – present)


''Sunday Express''

*1920: James Douglas *1928: James Douglas and John Gordon *1931: John Gordon *1952: Harold Keeble *1954: John Junor *1986: Robin Esser *1989:
Robin Morgan Robin Morgan (born January 29, 1941) is an American poet, writer, activist, journalist, lecturer and former child actor. Since the early 1960s, she has been a key Radical feminism, radical feminist member of the American Feminist movement, Wom ...
*1991: Eve Pollard *1994: Brian Hitchen *1995: Sue Douglas *1996: Richard Addis *1998: Amanda Platell *1999: Michael Pilgrim *2001: Martin Townsend *2018: Michael Booker (acting) *2022: David Wooding


Notable columnists and staff


Current

*
Jasmine Birtles Jasmine Birtles is a British financial and business journalist, author and presenter. She has made appearances on several British television programmes, principally addressing financial and property matters from the point of view of the consum ...
, has a daily column and writes regularly for ''
The Independent ''The Independent'' is a British online newspaper. It was established in 1986 as a national morning printed paper. Nicknamed the ''Indy'', it began as a broadsheet and changed to tabloid format in 2003. The last printed edition was publis ...
'' * Vanessa Feltz, columnist and journalist *
Frederick Forsyth Frederick McCarthy Forsyth ( ; 25 August 1938 – 9 June 2025) was an English novelist and journalist. He was best known for thrillers such as ''The Day of the Jackal'', ''The Odessa File'', ''The Fourth Protocol'', ''The Dogs of War (novel), ...
, novelist, journalist and political commentator * Adam Helliker, journalist and columnist * Lucy Johnston, journalist and health editor * Leo McKinstry, journalist, historian and author * Ross Clark, journalist and author * Richard and Judy, (Richard Madeley and Judy Finnigan), columnists * Ann Widdecombe, writer and former politician * Dean Dunham, consumer law columnist


Past

*
Bertram Fletcher Robinson Bertram Fletcher Robinson (22 August 1870 – 21 January 1907) was an English sportsperson, sportsman, journalist, editor, author and Liberal Unionist Party activist. During his life-time, he wrote at least three hundred items, including a ser ...
, journalist, chief war correspondent, day editor and editor * H. V. Morton, journalist and travel writer * J. B. Morton, better known as '' Beachcomber'' * Basil Cardew * Sefton Delmer * G. E. R. Gedye * William Hickey *
Peter Hitchens Peter Jonathan Hitchens (born 1951) is an English Conservatism in the United Kingdom, conservative author, broadcaster, journalist, and commentator. He writes for ''The Mail on Sunday'' and was a Foreign correspondent (journalism), foreign cor ...
* Sheila Hutchins, cookery editor * Andrew Marr *
Jenni Murray Dame Jennifer Susan Murray, (''née'' Bailey; born 12 May 1950) is an English journalist and broadcaster, best known for presenting BBC Radio 4's '' Woman's Hour'' from 1987 to 2020. Early life Murray was born in Barnsley, West Riding of Yo ...
* Charles Gordon McClure (1885–1933), also known as Dyke White, cartoonist * Veronica Papworth * Yvonne Ridley * Jean Rook * Michael Watts ('Inspector Watts') * Dame Barbara Cartland


Political allegiance

With the exception of the 2001 general election when it backed the Labour Party, and the 2015 general election when it backed the
UK Independence Party The UK Independence Party (UKIP, ) is a Eurosceptic, right-wing populist political party in the United Kingdom. The party reached its greatest level of success in the mid-2010s, when it gained two members of parliament (both through defect ...
, the newspaper has declared its support for the Conservative Party at every general election since
World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...
. In 2011, when the newspaper first endorsed UKIP, it became one of the first media outlets in the United Kingdom to demand a
withdrawal from the European Union Article 50 of the Treaty on European Union (TEU) provides for the possibility of an EU member state leaving the European Union "in accordance with its own constitutional requirements". Currently, the United Kingdom is the only state to ha ...
.


"Crusade for Freedom"

"Crusade for Freedom" was the newspaper's own campaign to give the people of the United Kingdom the opportunity to add their names to a petition addressed to the
Prime Minister of the United Kingdom The prime minister of the United Kingdom is the head of government of the United Kingdom. The prime minister Advice (constitutional law), advises the Monarchy of the United Kingdom, sovereign on the exercise of much of the Royal prerogative ...
in favour of Britain's withdrawal from the
European Union The European Union (EU) is a supranational union, supranational political union, political and economic union of Member state of the European Union, member states that are Geography of the European Union, located primarily in Europe. The u ...
. Each edition of the 8 January 2011 issue had four cut-out vouchers where readers could sign the pledge and send them to the paper's HQ where the petition was being compiled; there were also further editions with the same voucher included. The campaign attracted the support of many celebrities including sportsman/TV personality Ian Botham as well as J D Wetherspoon chairman Tim Martin,"Euro red tape is strangling UK enterprise", ''Daily Express'', page 69, 8 January 2011. who both gave interviews for 8 January's special edition of the paper. The first week of the campaign saw a response of around 370,000 signatures being received (just over 50% of daily readership or around 0.6% of the UK population).


See also

*
Right-wing populism Right-wing populism, also called national populism and right populism, is a political ideology that combines right-wing politics with populist rhetoric and themes. Its rhetoric employs anti- elitist sentiments, opposition to the Establis ...
* '' Scottish Daily News''


Notes


References


External links

* * Derek Jameson
"Matthews, Victor Collin, Baron Matthews (1919–1995)"
''Oxford Dictionary of National Biography'', Oxford University Press, 2004, accessed 9 September 2007 {{Authority control 1900 establishments in England Conservative media in the United Kingdom Daily newspapers published in the United Kingdom Euroscepticism in the United Kingdom National newspapers published in the United Kingdom Newspapers published in London Northern & Shell Newspapers established in 1900 Reach plc Right-wing politics in the United Kingdom Right-wing populism in the United Kingdom Supermarket tabloids