The Daily Express is a tabloid newspaper published in London, owned by publisher Reach plc. It was first published as a broadsheet in 1900 and its sister paper, the Sunday Express, launched in 1918. As of June 2022, it had an average daily circulation of 201,608.
It was acquired by Richard Desmond’s company Northern & Shell in 2000. Under Lord Beaverbrook, it grew to become the world’s largest circulation newspaper. In 2018, Trinity Mirror purchased the Daily Express and other assets from Northern & Shell for £126.7 million and changed the name of the company to Reach. Gary Jones took over as editor-in-chief after the purchase.
The paper’s editorial stances have been seen as supportive of Euroscepticism and right-wing factions such as the UK Independence Party (UKIP) and the European Research Group (ERG) of the Conservative Party.
It was founded in 1900 by Sir Arthur Pearson. It was one of the first papers to place news instead of advertisements on its front page, and it also carried gossip, sport, and women’s features. It was the first paper in Britain to have a crossword puzzle.
The Express began printing in Manchester in 1927 and moved its London headquarters to an art deco building in 1931. It was successful due to aggressive marketing campaigns and circulation wars with other newspapers. Under the direction of editor Arthur Christiansen, sales rose from two million in 1936 to four million in 1949. The paper also featured Alfred Bestall’s Rupert Bear cartoon and satirical cartoons by Carl Giles which it began publishing in the 1940s. In 1933, a headline on the front page declared “Jude
In the late 1930s, The Daily Express newspaper supported the appeasement policies of Neville Chamberlain’s National Government. However, less than a month after their headline “NO WAR THIS YEAR”, Britain and France declared war on Nazi Germany due to its invasion of Poland. This front page is featured in the movie In Which We Serve.
Henry Williamson wrote for the Daily Express for half a century. In 1938, the publication moved to the Daily Express Building in Manchester. Glasgow printing ended in 1974 and Manchester in 1989. Johnston Press has a five-year deal to print northern editions of the Daily Express at its Dinnington site in Sheffield. The Scottish edition is printed by facsimile in Glasgow and London editions are at Westferry Printers.
In March 1962, Beaverbrook was criticized in the House of Commons for his negative coverage of the British Royal Family in the Express titles. The Duke of Edinburgh also described the Express as “a bloody awful newspaper.” In 1948, Beaverbrook stated that he ran his papers “purely to make propaganda.” Following Beaverbrook’s death in 1964, circulation declined due to television and changing interests. The Express also opposed entry into what became the European Economic Community.
The Daily Express switched from broadsheet to tabloid in 1977 and was bought by the construction company Trafalgar House. In 1985, it was taken over by United Newspapers and moved to Blackfriars Road in 1989. This resulted in a drop in average daily sales of the Express to below four million in 1967, below three million in 1975, and below two million in 1984.
In 2000, Express Newspapers was sold to publisher Richard Desmond and the names of the newspapers returned to Daily Express and Sunday Express. In 2005, Rupert Bear was purchased by UK Media Group Entertainment Rights for £6 million. The Express still holds a minority interest in Rupert Bear plus the right to publish stories in certain Express publications.
The Sunday Express is a former newspaper that was first started by Lady Diana Manners in 1918. It was edited by Michael Booker until 2021 when he left for GB News. In November 2022, its circulation was 158,623.