David English (editor)

Sir David English (26 May 1931 – 10 June 1998) was a British journalist and newspaper editor, best known for his two-decade editorship of the Daily Mail.

Early life

English was born in Oxford, and educated at Bournemouth School. Aged 16, he joined the local Christchurch Times and then had a brief period with the News at Portsmouth, moving to London before he was 20.

Career

English began his newspaper career in 1951 at the Daily Mirror before moving to the Daily Sketch, firstly as Features Editor and then Editor. In 1971 he took up the editorship of the Mail, a post which he held until 1992 when he became Chairman and Editor-in-chief of Associated Newspapers. At a Daily Mail summer party at Hampton Court, Vere Harmsworth, 3rd Viscount Rothermere described English in a speech as the creator of the modern Daily Mail - much to the discomfort of English's successor, Paul Dacre, who was sitting beside him. This fact was reported in The Times obituary of Sir David English.

A prominent supporter of the Conservative government of Margaret Thatcher, English was knighted in 1982. He was appointed a life peer in 1998 but died a few days before the official ceremony.

Personal life

English married Irene Mainwood in 1954, and they had three children. He died in London.

References

Media offices
Preceded by Howard French	Editor of the Daily Sketch 1969–1971	Succeeded by Louis Kirby
Preceded by Arthur Brittenden	Editor of the Daily Mail 1971–1992	Succeeded by Paul Dacre
Preceded by Bernard Shrimsley	Editor of the Mail on Sunday 1982	Succeeded by Stewart Steven