Martin Townsend (born 11 July 1960) is a British journalist. He was the editor of the '' Sunday Express'' from 2001 to 2018.

Education and career

Townsend attended

Harrow County School for Boys Harrow may refer to: Places * Harrow, Victoria, Australia * Harrow, Ontario, Canada * The Harrow, County Wexford, a village in Ireland * London Borough of Harrow, England ** Harrow, London, a town in London ** Harrow (UK Parliament constituency ...

(which became

Harrow High School Harrow High School is a co-educational academy in the London Borough of Harrow and a specialist Sports College. It was previously called Gayton High School and Harrow County School for Boys. The school has a sixth form for post-16 studies part ...

in 1975) and the

London College of Printing The London College of Communication is a constituent college of the University of the Arts London. It specialises in media-related subjects including advertising, animation, film, graphic design, photography and sound arts. It has approximately ...

. He gained his first job as a journalist in 1979,Sunday Express editor Martin Townsend wins Mind Book of the Year Award 2008
, Mind working on ''Caravan'' magazine, then was pop music correspondent at ''

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''. In 1987, Townsend became a freelance reporter, but in 1994 was appointed showbusiness editor of ''

The Mail on Sunday ''The Mail on Sunday'' is a British conservative newspaper, published in a tabloid format. It is the biggest-selling Sunday newspaper in the UK and was launched in 1982 by Lord Rothermere. Its sister paper, the ''Daily Mail'', was first pub ...

''s ''You'' magazine, then in 1999 was appointed editor of '' OK!''. During his tenure, he persuaded

Anthea Turner Anthea Turner (born 25 May 1960) is an English former television presenter. She was a host of ''Blue Peter'' from 1992 until 1994, and of ''GMTV'' from 1994 until 1996. Early life Turner was born in Stoke-on-Trent, Staffordshire, and educated ...

and Grant Bovey to pose with chocolate bars in their wedding photos, as part of a promotion. In 2001, he was appointed editor of the '' Sunday Express''. In 2006, Townsend had a cameo role in the television series '' Hustle'' in which he, as editor of the ''Sunday Express'', bought an exposé story from some con men regarding the unscrupulous editor of a rival (fictional) Sunday newspaper.

Awards and recognition

In 2007, Townsend published ''The Father I Had'', an autobiographical account of his relationship with his father, who had

bipolar disorder Bipolar disorder, previously known as manic depression, is a mental disorder characterized by periods of depression and periods of abnormally elevated mood that last from days to weeks each. If the elevated mood is severe or associated with ...

. This won the Mind Book of the Year Award 2008. Townsend left his job in early August 2018 during editorial changes at the Express Newspapers group which was initiated in February 2018. Reach plc (formerly Trinity Mirror) bought the titles owned by Richard Desmond's

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at that time. Townsend was the

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of (former) Express owner Richard Desmond's autobiography, ''The Real Deal: The Autobiography of Britain's Most Controversial Media Mogul'' which was published in 2015. Lynn Barber, in her ''The Sunday Times, Sunday Times'' review wrote that "the bulk of this memoir, about getting on, is a ripping yarn, fluently and wittily told". In late 2018, it was announced Townsend had been appointed by the public relations company Pagefield as a partner. The company's clients include Camelot Group, Camelot which is the franchise holder for the National Lottery (United Kingdom), National Lottery.

Personal life

In 1989, Townsend married Jane O'Gorman. The couple have two sons and a daughter. O'Gorman has worked at the ''Daily Star'' as the paper's agony aunt.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Townsend, Martin 1960 births Living people British newspaper editors People educated at Harrow High School People from Harrow, London