Martin Townsend (born 11 July 1960) is a British journalist. He was the editor of the ''

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

'' 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. Its origins are in education for the printing and retail industries; it now specialises in media-related subjects including advertising, animation ...

. 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 ''

Today Today (archaically to-day) may refer to: * The current day and calendar date ** Today is between and , subject to the local time zone * Now, the time that is perceived directly, present * The current, present era Arts, entertainment and m ...

''. 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. 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 ...

''s ''You'' magazine, then in 1999 was appointed editor of ''

OK! ''OK!'' is a British weekly magazine that primarily specialises in royal and celebrity news. Originally launched as a monthly magazine, its first issue was published in April 1993. In September 2004, ''OK''! launched in Australia as a monthly ...

''. During his tenure, he persuaded

Anthea Turner Anthea Turner (born 25 May 1960) is an English 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 at the ...

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 ''

''. 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 (BD), previously known as manic depression, is a mental disorder characterized by periods of Depression (mood), depression and periods of abnormally elevated Mood (psychology), mood that each last from days to weeks, and in ...

. This won the

Mind The mind is that which thinks, feels, perceives, imagines, remembers, and wills. It covers the totality of mental phenomena, including both conscious processes, through which an individual is aware of external and internal circumstances ...

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 Reach plc (known as Trinity Mirror between 1999 and 2018) is a British newspaper, magazine and digital publisher. It is one of the UK's biggest newspaper groups, publishing 240 regional papers in addition to the national ''Daily Mirror'', '' ...

(formerly Trinity Mirror) bought the titles owned by Richard Desmond's

Northern and Shell Northern may refer to the following: Geography * North, a point in direction * Northern Europe, the northern part or region of Europe * Northern Highland, a region of Wisconsin, United States * Northern Province, Sri Lanka * Northern Range, a r ...

at that time. Townsend was the

ghost writer A ghostwriter is a person hired to write literature, literary or journalism, journalistic works, speeches, or other texts that are credited to another person as the author. Celebrities, executives, participants in timely news stories, and pol ...

of (former) Express owner

Richard Desmond Richard Clive Desmond (born 8 December 1951) is a British publisher, businessman, and former Pornography, pornographer. According to the 2021 ''Sunday Times Rich List'', Desmond was the 107th richest person in the United Kingdom. He is the fo ...

's autobiography, ''The Real Deal: The Autobiography of Britain's Most Controversial Media Mogul'' which was published in 2015.

Lynn Barber Lynn Barber (born 22 May 1944) is a British journalist who has worked for many publications, including ''The Sunday Times''. Early life Barber was born in Bagshot and attended Lady Eleanor Holles School in southwest London. While she was stud ...

, in her ''

Sunday Times ''The Sunday Times'' is a British Sunday newspaper whose circulation makes it the largest in Britain's quality press market category. It was founded in 1821 as ''The New Observer''. It is published by Times Newspapers Ltd, a subsidiary of N ...

'' 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 Camelot is a legendary castle and Royal court, court associated with King Arthur. Absent in the early Arthurian material, Camelot first appeared in 12th-century French romances and, since the Lancelot-Grail cycle, eventually came to be described ...

which was the franchise holder for the

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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 Alumni of the London College of Printing British newspaper editors People educated at Harrow High School People from Harrow, London