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''The Mail on Sunday'' is a British
conservative Conservatism is a cultural, social, and political philosophy and ideology that seeks to promote and preserve traditional institutions, customs, and values. The central tenets of conservatism may vary in relation to the culture and civiliza ...
newspaper, published in a tabloid format. Founded in 1982 by
Lord Rothermere Viscount Rothermere, of Hemsted in the county of Kent, is a title in the Peerage of the United Kingdom. It was created in 1919 for the press lord Harold Harmsworth, 1st Baron Harmsworth. He had already been created a baronet, of Horsey in ...
, it is the biggest-selling Sunday newspaper in the UK. 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 ...
'', was first published in 1896. In July 2011, following the closure of the ''
News of the World The ''News of the World'' was a weekly national "Tabloid journalism#Red tops, red top" Tabloid (newspaper format), tabloid newspaper published every Sunday in the United Kingdom from 1843 to 2011. It was at one time the world's highest-selling ...
'', ''The Mail on Sunday'' sold 2.5 million copies a week—making it Britain's biggest-selling Sunday newspaper—but by September that had fallen back to just under 2 million. Like the ''Daily Mail'', it is owned by the
Daily Mail and General Trust Daily Mail and General Trust (DMGT) is a British multinational media conglomerate, the owner of the '' Daily Mail'' and several other titles. The 4th Viscount Rothermere is the chair and controlling shareholder of the company. The head office ...
(DMGT), but the editorial staffs of the two papers are entirely separate. It had an average weekly circulation of 1,284,121 in December 2016; this had fallen to 673,525 by December 2022. In April 2020, the Society of Editors announced that the ''Mail on Sunday'' was the winner of the Sunday Newspaper of the Year for 2019.


History

''The Mail on Sunday'' was launched on 2 May 1982 to complement 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 ...
'', the first time Associated Newspapers had published a national Sunday title since it closed the ''
Sunday Dispatch The ''Sunday Dispatch'' was a prominent British newspaper, published between 27 September 1801 and 18 June 1961. It was ultimately discontinued due to its merger with the ''Sunday Express''. History The newspaper was first published as the ''Wee ...
'' in 1961. The first story on the front page was the
Royal Air Force The Royal Air Force (RAF) is the Air force, air and space force of the United Kingdom, British Overseas Territories and Crown Dependencies. It was formed towards the end of the World War I, First World War on 1 April 1918, on the merger of t ...
's bombing of
Stanley Stanley may refer to: Arts and entertainment Film and television * ''Stanley'' (1972 film), an American horror film * ''Stanley'' (1984 film), an Australian comedy * ''Stanley'' (1999 film), an animated short * ''Stanley'' (1956 TV series) ...
airport in the
Falkland Islands The Falkland Islands (; ), commonly referred to as The Falklands, is an archipelago in the South Atlantic Ocean on the Patagonian Shelf. The principal islands are about east of South America's southern Patagonian coast and from Cape Dub ...
. The newspaper's owner, the
Daily Mail and General Trust Daily Mail and General Trust (DMGT) is a British multinational media conglomerate, the owner of the '' Daily Mail'' and several other titles. The 4th Viscount Rothermere is the chair and controlling shareholder of the company. The head office ...
(DMGT), initially wanted a circulation of 1.25 million. By the sixth week of its launch, sales were peaking at 700,000. Its sports coverage was seen to be among its weaknesses at the time of its launch. ''The Mail on Sundays first back-page splash was a report from Lisbon on the
roller hockey Roller hockey is a form of hockey played on a dry surface using wheeled skates. It can be played with traditional roller skates (quad skates) or with inline skates and use either a ball or puck. Combined, roller hockey is played in nearly 60 cou ...
world championships A world championship is generally an international competition open to elite competitors from around the world, representing their nations, and winning such an event will be considered the highest or near highest achievement in the sport, game ...
, although this was on a match against Argentina during the
Falklands War The Falklands War () was a ten-week undeclared war between Argentina and the United Kingdom in 1982 over two British Overseas Territories, British dependent territories in the South Atlantic: the Falkland Islands and Falkland Islands Dependenci ...
.
Lord Rothermere Viscount Rothermere, of Hemsted in the county of Kent, is a title in the Peerage of the United Kingdom. It was created in 1919 for the press lord Harold Harmsworth, 1st Baron Harmsworth. He had already been created a baronet, of Horsey in ...
, then the proprietor, brought in the ''Daily Mail''s editor David English, who, with a task force of new journalists, redesigned and re-launched ''The Mail on Sunday''. Over three-and-a-half months English managed to halt the paper's decline, and its circulation increased to 840,000. Three new sections were introduced: a sponsored
partwork A partwork is a written publication released as a series of planned magazine-like issues over a period of time. Issues are typically released on a weekly, fortnightly or monthly basis, and often a completed set is designed to form a reference wo ...
, the initial one forming a cookery book; then a colour comic supplement, an innovation in the British Sunday newspaper market); and lastly, ''You'' magazine. The newspaper's next editor was
Stewart Steven Stewart Gustav Steven (born Stefan Gustaf Cohen; 30 September 1935 – 19 January 2004) was a British newspaper editor and journalist who grew circulation but whose career was marked by three major errors. Biography Born in Hamburg to Jewis ...
. The newspaper's circulation grew from around one million to just under two million during his time. Although its sister paper the ''Daily Mail'' has invariably supported the Conservative Party, Steven backed the SDP / Liberal Alliance in the 1983 General Election. The subsequent editors were Jonathan Holborow, Peter Wright and
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 ...
, who became editor of the ''Daily Mail'' in September 2018 and was replaced at the Sunday title by
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 ...
. In 2021, Verity left to edit the Daily Mail and was replaced by his deputy David Dillon. In the
2016 United Kingdom European Union membership referendum The 2016 United Kingdom European Union membership referendum, commonly referred to as the EU referendum or the Brexit referendum, was a referendum that took place on 23 June 2016 in the United Kingdom (UK) and Gibraltar under the provisions o ...
, the paper, unlike its daily counterpart, came out unequivocally in favour of the
Remain campaign Britain Stronger in Europe (formally The In Campaign Limited) was an advocacy group which campaigned in favour of the United Kingdom's continued membership of the European Union in the 2016 British referendum. It was launched at the Old Truma ...
. ''The Mail on Sunday'' has, following the change of editor from
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 ...
to
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 ...
, shifted to a more
Eurosceptic Euroscepticism, also spelled as Euroskepticism or EU-scepticism, is a political position involving criticism of the European Union (EU) and European integration. It ranges from those who oppose some EU institutions and policies and seek refor ...
stance.


Controversies

In January 2020, ''The Mail on Sunday'' was ordered to pay £180,000 in damages to a former council official in
Rochdale Rochdale ( ) is a town in Greater Manchester, England, and the administrative centre of the Metropolitan Borough of Rochdale. In the United Kingdom 2021 Census, 2021 Census, the town had a population of 111,261, compared to 223,773 for the wid ...
due to a false article from May 2017. It falsely alleged that the man issued taxi licences to drivers involved in the town's child sexual abuse ring. Waj Iqbal believed that the false accusations were solely because he was of the same Pakistani background as the abusers. In February 2021, the High Court found that ''The Mail on Sunday'' acted unlawfully when it published a letter that
Meghan, Duchess of Sussex Meghan, Duchess of Sussex (; born Rachel Meghan Markle, August 4, 1981) is an American member of the British royal family, media personality, entrepreneur, and former actress. She is married to Prince Harry, Duke of Sussex, the younger son ...
had sent to her father. The newspaper was sued for her £1.5 million legal fees, and ordered to issue a front-page apology.


Phone hacking

Under Peter Wright's editorship of the ''Mail on Sunday'' and his membership of the Press Complaints Commission (PCC), the Mail newspaper organisation withheld important evidence about
phone hacking Phone hacking is the practice of exploring a mobile device, often using computer exploits to analyze everything from the lowest memory and CPU levels up to the highest file system and process levels. Modern open source tooling has become f ...
from the PCC when the latter held its inquiry into the News of the World's interception of voicemail messages. Specifically, the PCC was not informed that four ''Mail on Sunday'' journalists—investigations editor Dennis Rice, news editor Sebastian Hamilton, deputy news editor David Dillon and feature writer Laura Collins—had been told by the Metropolitan Police in 2006 that their mobile phones had been hacked even though Wright, who was editor of the ''Mail on Sunday'', had been made aware of the hacking. The facts did not emerge until several years later, when they were revealed in evidence at the News of the World phone hacking trial. Wright became a member of the PCC from May 2008. He took over the place previously held by the ''Daily Mails editor-in-chief
Paul Dacre Paul Michael Dacre (; born 14 November 1948) is an English journalist and the former long-serving editor of the British tabloid the ''Daily Mail''. He is also editor-in-chief of DMG Media, which publishes the ''Daily Mail'', ''The Mail on Sunda ...
, who had served on the body from 1999 to April 2008. The PCC issued two reports, in 2007 and 2009, which were compiled in ignorance of the significant information from the ''Mail'' group about the hacking of its journalists’ phones. According to ''
The Guardian ''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in Manchester in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'' and changed its name in 1959, followed by a move to London. Along with its sister paper, ''The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardi ...
'' journalist
Nick Davies Nick Davies (born 28 March 1953) is a British investigative journalist, writer, and documentary maker. Davies has written extensively as a freelancer, as well as for ''The Guardian'' and ''The Observer'', and been named Reporter of the Year, ...
, whose revelations had resulted in the ''News of the World'' phone hacking trial and subsequent conviction of
Andy Coulson Andrew Edward Coulson (born 21 January 1968) is an English journalist and political strategist. Coulson was the editor of the ''News of the World'' from 2003 to 2007, following the conviction of one of the newspaper's reporters in relation to ...
, this reinforced
News International News Corp UK & Ireland Limited (trading as News UK, formerly News International and NI Group) is a List of newspapers in the United Kingdom, British newspaper publisher, and a wholly owned subsidiary of the American mass media Conglomerate (c ...
's "rogue reporter" defence. The PCC's 2009 report, which had rejected Davies' claims of widespread hacking at the ''News of the World'', was retracted when it became clear that they were true. Wright and Dacre both failed to mention the hacking of the four ''Mail on Sunday'' staff in the evidence they gave to the
Leveson Inquiry The Leveson Inquiry was a judicial public inquiry into the culture, practices, and ethics of the British press following the News International phone hacking scandal, chaired by Lord Justice Leveson, who was appointed in July 2011. A serie ...
in 2012.


Angela Rayner story

In April 2022, the ''Mail on Sunday'' published an article which alleged that unnamed Conservative Party MPs claimed that Labour's deputy leader
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 ...
tried to distract the
Prime Minister A prime minister or chief of cabinet is the head of the cabinet and the leader of the ministers in the executive branch of government, often in a parliamentary or semi-presidential system. A prime minister is not the head of state, but r ...
,
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 ...
, by crossing and uncrossing her legs. The article was widely condemned, with Johnson describing it as "sexist tripe". The Speaker of the House of Commons,
Sir Lindsay Hoyle Sir Lindsay Harvey Hoyle (born 10 June 1957) is a British politician who has served as Speaker of the House of Commons since 2019 and as Member of Parliament (MP) for Chorley since 1997. Before his election as speaker, he was a member of the ...
, called the story "misogynistic and offensive" and requested a meeting with the ''Mail on Sunday'''s editor, David Dillon. In response to the invitation, 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 ...
published a front page headline which read: "No Mister Speaker: In the name of a free press, The Mail respectfully declines the Commons Speaker's summons...". 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 ...
received 5,500 complaints about the article. It reported and investigated possible breaches of clauses 1 (accuracy), 3 (harassment) and 12 (discrimination) of the Editors' Code of Practice.


Sections

* ''You Magazine'': this female magazine (featured in ''The Mail on Sunday'') includes fashion, advices on beauties, health and relationships, food recipes and interiors pages. It has a weekly readership of 5.3 million.Advertising for the Daily Mail
* ''Event'': this magazine includes articles on the arts, books and culture and carries reviews of media and entertainment, and interviews with sector personalities. * ''Sport on Sunday'': a separate 24-page section edited by Alison Kervin. It features coverage of the
Premier League The Premier League is a professional association football league in England and the highest level of the English football league system. Contested by 20 clubs, it operates on a system of promotion and relegation with the English Football Lea ...
and
Football League The English Football League (EFL) is a league of professional association football, football clubs from England and Wales. Founded in 1888 as the Football League, it is the oldest football league in Association football around the world, the w ...
games on Sunday and international football games, motor racing and many other sports. Columnists include Stuart Broad and Glenn Hoddle. * ''Financial Mail on Sunday'': now part of the main paper, this section includes the Financial Mail Enterprise, focusing on small businesses. * ''Mail on Sunday 2'': This pullout includes reviews, featuring articles on the arts, books and culture and it consists of reviews of media and entertainment, and interviews with sector personalities, property, travel and health. * Cartoons including '' The Gambols''.


Editors

:1982:
Bernard Shrimsley Bernard Shrimsley (13 January 1931 – 9 June 2016) was a British journalist and newspaper editor. Early life and career The son of John, a tailor’s pattern cutter, and his wife Alice, a homemaker, Shrimsley (previously Shremski) was born in ...
:1982: David English :1982:
Stewart Steven Stewart Gustav Steven (born Stefan Gustaf Cohen; 30 September 1935 – 19 January 2004) was a British newspaper editor and journalist who grew circulation but whose career was marked by three major errors. Biography Born in Hamburg to Jewis ...
:1992: Jonathan Holborow :1998: Peter Wright :2012:
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 ...
:2018:
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 ...
:2021: David Dillon


See also

* '' Irish Mail on Sunday''


References


External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Mail on Sunday Daily Mail and General Trust 1982 establishments in the United Kingdom Conservative media in the United Kingdom National newspapers published in the United Kingdom Newspapers established in 1982 Sunday newspapers published in the United Kingdom