David Dillon is a British journalist who was appointed editor of ''

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

'' newspaper in December 2021.

Background

He previously worked on the ''

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

'', before starting at ''The Mail on Sunday'' in 2001. There, he worked as news editor for several years, before being promoted to executive editor and deputy editor. In the early 2010s, he worked on the story concerning the then

secretary of state for energy and climate change The secretary of state for energy and climate change was a British Government cabinet position from 2008 to 2016. The Department of Energy and Climate Change was created on 3 October 2008 when then-Prime Minister Gordon Brown reshuffled his Cabi ...

Chris Huhne Christopher Murray Paul Huhne (born 2 July 1954) is a British energy and climate change consultant, and former journalist, business economist and politician who was the Liberal Democrats (UK), Liberal Democrat Member of Parliament for Eastleigh ...

, swapping speeding points with his then wife

Vicky Pryce Vasiliki "Vicky" Pryce (' Kourmouzi (); born 15 July 1952) is a Greek-born British economist and a former Joint Head of the United Kingdom's Government Economic Service. She is the Chief Economic Adviser at the Centre for Economics and Busine ...

; both were later jailed. Dillon was appointed as the editor of ''The Mail on Sunday'' in late 2021 when

Ted Verity Edward Verity (born 19 August 1965) is a British journalist. He has been editor of the ''Daily Mail'' since 2021. He was formerly editor of ''Mail'' newspapers, with responsibility for the ''Daily Mail'', ''The Mail on Sunday'' and ''You'' magaz ...

was promoted to become editor of its sister paper, the ''

Daily Mail The ''Daily Mail'' is a British daily Middle-market newspaper, middle-market Tabloid journalism, tabloid conservative newspaper founded in 1896 and published in London. , it has the List of newspapers in the United Kingdom by circulation, h ...

'', after

Geordie Greig George Carron Greig (born 16 December 1960), known as Geordie Greig, is an English journalist. He has been the editor-in-chief of ''The Independent'' since January 2023, and was the editor of the ''Daily Mail'' from 2018 to 2021 and the ''Mail ...

left the post. His appointment was not announced at the time, and Dillon is known for never having given a press interview and not having any profile on

social media Social media are interactive technologies that facilitate the Content creation, creation, information exchange, sharing and news aggregator, aggregation of Content (media), content (such as ideas, interests, and other forms of expression) amongs ...

. In April 2022, he faced criticism over the newspaper's allegations that the

deputy leader of the Opposition The Leader of the Opposition is a title traditionally held by the leader of the largest political party not in government, typical in countries utilizing the parliamentary system form of government. The leader of the opposition is typically se ...

Angela Rayner Angela Rayner (' Bowen; born 28 March 1980) is a British politician who has served as Deputy Prime Minister of the United Kingdom and Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government since 2024 United Kingdom general election, Jul ...

, had tried to distract

Boris Johnson Alexander Boris de Pfeffel Johnson (born 19 June 1964) is a British politician and writer who served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom and Leader of the Conservative Party (UK), Leader of the Conservative Party from 2019 to 2022. He wa ...

in the

House of Commons The House of Commons is the name for the elected lower house of the Bicameralism, bicameral parliaments of the United Kingdom and Canada. In both of these countries, the Commons holds much more legislative power than the nominally upper house of ...

by crossing and uncrossing her legs. The

Independent Press Standards Organisation The Independent Press Standards Organisation (IPSO) is the largest independent regulator of the newspaper and magazine industry in the UK. It was established on 8 September 2014 after the windup of the Press Complaints Commission (PCC), which h ...

reported that it had received 5,500 complaints about the article and was exploring possible breaches of its code of practice. The

speaker of the House The speaker of a deliberative assembly, especially a legislative body, is its presiding officer, or the chair. The title was first used in 1377 in England. Usage The title was first recorded in 1377 to describe the role of Thomas de Hung ...

Lindsay Hoyle Sir Lindsay Harvey Hoyle (born 10 June 1957) is a British politician who has served as Speaker of the House of Commons (United Kingdom), Speaker of the House of Commons since 2019 and as Member of Parliament (United Kingdom), Member of Parliamen ...

, asked Dillon to attend a meeting to discuss the report. Dillon initially agreed to meet but later refused, saying that journalists should not "have to take instruction from officials of the House of Commons, however august they may be, on what they can report and not report."

References

Living people British male journalists 21st-century British journalists British newspaper journalists British political journalists Daily Mail journalists Year of birth missing (living people) {{UK-journalist-stub