Ex-Daily Mail editor moves to The Independent

Former Daily Mail editor Geordie Greig has been appointed editor-in-chief of online newspaper The Independent.

Mr Greig was editor of the Daily Mail for three years, after transferring from the Mail on Sunday in 2018.

But he was ousted in 2021, having clashed over the newspaper's direction with his predecessor as editor, Lord Dacre, who returned as editor-in-chief of parent company DMG Media.

While Mr Dacre backed Brexit, Mr Greig supported Remain, and the Mail often took a more critical stance towards then-Prime Minister Boris Johnson under his tenure.

The Independent, which is part-owned by Russian businessman and Evening Standard owner Lord Lebedev, went online-only in 2016.

Around 50 jobs at the outlet - more than a fifth of its workforce – are currently at risk of redundancy as it grapples with a slowdown in the digital advertising market.

It has not had a full time editor since 2020, when Christian Broughton was moved to the newly-created role of managing director.

Before that, the editor's job was held by Amol Rajan, who now works for the BBC as presenter of Radio 4 Today among other programmes.

Mr Greig, who previously editied the Evening Standard, said he was "delighted" to take on the stewardship of The Independent, describing it as the "number one-ranking quality UK news brand".

Independent Digital News and Media Limited (IDNML) chairman John Paton said Mr Greig had a “brilliant track record for building news brands that successfully deliver for their audiences, growing readership and audience engagement”.