Sir Albert Lamb (15 July 1929 – 19 May 2000), commonly known as Larry Lamb, was a British newspaper editor. He introduced the ''

Page 3 Page 3, or Page Three, was a British newspaper convention of publishing a large image of a topless female glamour model (known as a Page 3 girl) on the third page of mainstream red-top tabloids. '' The Sun'' introduced the feature, publishi ...

'' feature to '' The Sun'' (for which he was editor from 1969 to 1972, and then again from 1975 to 1981), which saw a dramatic increase in sale in the 1970s. He also applied the term '

Winter of Discontent The Winter of Discontent was the period between November 1978 and February 1979 in the United Kingdom characterised by widespread strikes by private, and later public, sector trade unions demanding pay rises greater than the limits Prime Minis ...

' to the series of strikes over the winter of 1978–79. He was Deputy Chairman of

News Group A Usenet newsgroup is a repository usually within the Usenet system, for messages posted from users in different locations using the Internet. They are discussion groups and are not devoted to publishing news. Newsgroups are technically distinct ...

from 1979 but was transferred to the '' Western Mail'' in

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a sovereign country comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands. With an area of , Australia is the largest country by ...

in 1981, and edited ''

The Australian ''The Australian'', with its Saturday edition, ''The Weekend Australian'', is a broadsheet newspaper published by News Corp Australia since 14 July 1964.Bruns, Axel. "3.1. The active audience: Transforming journalism from gatekeeping to gatew ...

'' in 1982.

Early life

Lamb was born in Fitzwilliam,

West Riding of Yorkshire The West Riding of Yorkshire is one of three historic subdivisions of Yorkshire, England. From 1889 to 1974 the administrative county County of York, West Riding (the area under the control of West Riding County Council), abbreviated County ...

,Albert Lamb
Oxford Dictionary of National Biography, 2004; accessed 17 June 2012 the son of Henry Lamb, a colliery surface blacksmith, and Coronetta Small. Called Albert, he adopted the name Larry from the lamb in Toytown, a BBC Children's Hour radio series. Lamb was educated at Rastrick Grammar School.

Journalism career

Lamb was editor of '' The Sun'' from 1969 to 1972 and again from 1975 to 1981, and also of the ''

Daily Express The ''Daily Express'' is a national daily United Kingdom middle-market newspaper printed in tabloid format. Published in London, it is the flagship of Express Newspapers, owned by publisher Reach plc. It was first published as a broadsheet ...

'' from 1983 to 1986. He was northern editor of the ''

Daily Mail The ''Daily Mail'' is a British daily middle-market tabloid newspaper and news websitePeter Wilb"Paul Dacre of the Daily Mail: The man who hates liberal Britain", ''New Statesman'', 19 December 2013 (online version: 2 January 2014) publish ...

'' in

Manchester Manchester () is a city in Greater Manchester, England. It had a population of 552,000 in 2021. It is bordered by the Cheshire Plain to the south, the Pennines to the north and east, and the neighbouring city of Salford to the west. The ...

from 1968 until he was recruited by

Rupert Murdoch Keith Rupert Murdoch ( ; born 11 March 1931) is an Australian-born American business magnate. Through his company News Corp, he is the owner of hundreds of local, national, and international publishing outlets around the world, including ...

to take over ''The Sun'' (recently bought from IPC). Lamb pioneered the paper's populist style, established the

feature, which he later regretted, and saw circulation dramatically increase. He insisted that Page 3 models were "nice girls", as "big-breasted girls look like tarts". He also applied the term '

' to the series of strikes over the winter of 1978–79. He was Deputy Chairman of

from 1979 but was transferred to the '' Western Mail'' in

in 1981, and edited ''

'' in 1982, where he was nicknamed "Sir Loin" by staff members. He left the Group in 1983 to work for the ''

''. In 1985, during his time as editor of the ''Daily Express'', Lamb declared that the unconditional release of

Nelson Mandela Nelson Rolihlahla Mandela (; ; 18 July 1918 – 5 December 2013) was a South African anti-apartheid activist who served as the first president of South Africa from 1994 to 1999. He was the country's first black head of state and the ...

, imprisoned ANC leader in apartheid

South Africa South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the southernmost country in Africa. It is bounded to the south by of coastline that stretch along the South Atlantic and Indian Oceans; to the north by the neighbouring coun ...

, would be "a crass error". After standing down in 1986 he set up his own

public relations Public relations (PR) is the practice of managing and disseminating information from an individual or an organization (such as a business, government agency, or a nonprofit organization) to the public in order to influence their perception. ...

company, Larry Lamb Associates.

Personal life

Lamb was

knighted A knight is a person granted an honorary title of knighthood by a head of state (including the Pope) or representative for service to the monarch, the church or the country, especially in a military capacity. Knighthood finds origins in the G ...

in the Queen's 1980 Birthday Honours List on the recommendation of

Margaret Thatcher Margaret Hilda Thatcher, Baroness Thatcher (; 13 October 19258 April 2013) was Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 1979 to 1990 and Leader of the Conservative Party from 1975 to 1990. She was the first female British prime ...

. His nickname was inspired by the

Children's Hour ''Children's Hour'', initially ''The Children's Hour'', was the BBC's principal recreational service for children (as distinct from "Broadcasts to Schools") which began during the period when radio was the only medium of broadcasting. ''Childr ...

character Larry the Lamb. After he received his knighthood, ''

Private Eye ''Private Eye'' is a British fortnightly satirical and 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 for its prominent critici ...

'' magazine usually referred to him as "Sir Larrold Lamb." Lamb died on 19 May 2000, aged 70. He had been in poor health since suffering a heart attack in 1992.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Lamb, Larry 1929 births 2000 deaths British male journalists British newspaper editors Knights Bachelor Daily Express people People educated at Rastrick High School The Sun (United Kingdom) editors