Geordie Greig

George Carron Greig (born 1960), known as Geordie Greig, is an English journalist and editor of the Daily Mail. He was editor in 2020 when it eclipsed The Sun to become the best-selling newspaper in the UK.[1]

Geordie Greig
Born	George Carron Greig 16 December 1960 Lambeth, London, England
Education	Eton College
Alma mater	St Peter's College, Oxford
Occupation	Journalist
Title	Editor of the Daily Mail
Spouse(s)	Kathryn Terry ​ (m. 1995)​
Parent(s)	Sir Carron Greig Monica Stourton

Early life and career

Born 16 December 1960 in Lambeth, London,[2][3] Greig is the son of Sir Carron Greig and Monica Stourton, granddaughter of the 24th Lord Mowbray, Segrave and Stourton. Members of his father's family have been royal courtiers for three generations — including his twin sister Laura, who was a lady-in-waiting to Diana, Princess of Wales.[4] He attended Eton College and St Peter's College, Oxford.[3]

Greig began his career as a reporter for the South East London and Kentish Mercury newspaper, before joining the Daily Mail and then Sunday Today. He moved to The Sunday Times in 1987,[5] becoming arts correspondent in 1989 and then its American correspondent based in New York in 1991. Greig returned to London in 1995 to become The Sunday Times Literary Editor and was then appointed editor of Tatler magazine in 1999.[6]

Editor

He was appointed editor of the London Evening Standard in February 2009.[7] During his time as editor the Dispossessed Campaign was launched tackling poverty, illiteracy and unemployment. The campaign led to a Dispossessed Fund which has raised over £9 million for grassroots groups addressing poverty and has helped more than 100,000 people, including the homeless and unemployed.

In 2010 he was appointed Editorial Director of The Independent, The Independent on Sunday and i (Independent Print Ltd) and the Evening Standard.

In March 2012, Greig became editor of The Mail on Sunday while remaining a director of Independent Print Ltd and The London Evening Standard.

He succeeded Paul Dacre as editor of the Daily Mail in September 2018.[8]

Greig supported the UK remaining in the EU in the June 2016 referendum as editor of The Mail on Sunday.[9] He then shifted his stance to supporting Theresa May's withdrawal agreement. Greig was considered to have steered the Daily Mail in a pro-Remain direction, which has been criticised by his predecessor, Paul Dacre, who said "Support for Brexit is in the DNA of both the Daily Mail and, more pertinently, its readers. Any move to reverse this would be editorial and commercial suicide."[10] The Guardian said that Dacre's general criticism of Greig showed "the deep personal and ideological divisions at the top of the newspaper".

In October 2019, Greig said that he hoped the Daily Mail would overtake The Sun as Britain's best-selling newspaper.[11] The Daily Mail's profits were reported as stable in 2019, while other tabloids "suffered". Greig observed: "We do defy gravity... Murdoch always used to say there would be two groups standing in the end. Maybe that's going to be right."[12] In June 2020, The Guardian reported that the Daily Mail had overtaken The Sun as the UK's best-selling paper that May. Greig hailed it as a "historic moment" for the newspaper.[1]

Other interests

In addition to his editorial duties, Greig has literary interests, for instance writing the foreword for the Forward Book of Poetry (1999).[13] His 2011 book, The Kingmaker is about his grandfather, Louis Greig, a war hero and rugby international, who became mentor, physician and friend to the young and hesitant Prince Albert, the future King George VI. His influence helped to guide the prince from a stammering, shy schoolboy to become the monarch who saw Britain through the Second World War.[14]

Greig has also written about the life of Lucian Freud. According to his publishers Jonathan Cape:

As one of a few close friends who regularly had breakfast with the painter during the last years of his life Breakfast with Lucian tells an insider's account ... Greig, who has studied his subject's work at length, unravels the tangled thread of a life lived on Freud's own uncompromising terms. Based on private conversations ... and informed by interviews with friends, lovers, and some of the artist's children who have never before spoken publicly about their relationships with the painter ... The book was published in autumn 2013.[15]

In 2005, The Observer newspaper termed Greig "Britain's most connected man".[16]

Personal life

On 25 November 1995 he married Kathryn Terry, who is originally from Texas; the couple have three children, a son, Jasper, and twin daughters, Monica and Octavia.[17] Greig and his family live in Notting Hill, London.[18]

References

1. Sweney, Mark (20 June 2020). "Daily Mail eclipses the Sun to become UK's top-selling paper". The Guardian. Retrieved 20 June 2020.
2. "Results for England & Wales Births 1837-2006". Findmypast.
3. Burke's Peerage 2003, page 1657
4. Burke's Peerage 106th edition p. 2025
5. Polly Vernon (1 May 2005). "The entertaining Mr Sloane". The Observer. Retrieved 31 March 2012.
6. "Class act". The Guardian. 11 October 1999. Retrieved 31 March 2012.
7. Luft, Oliver (2 February 2009). "Geordie Greig confirmed as London Evening Standard editor". The Guardian. Retrieved 31 March 2012.
8. Waterson, Jim (6 September 2018). "'A friend to Middle Britain': Geordie Greig begins reign as Daily Mail editor". The Guardian. Retrieved 6 September 2018.
9. Gerard, Liz (23 November 2018). "Mail changes direction: So who are the saboteurs now?". The New European. Retrieved 22 January 2020.
10. Sabbagh, Dan (12 August 2018). "New Daily Mail editor: we want the least damaging Brexit". The Guardian. Retrieved 20 January 2020.
11. O'Dwyer, Michael (4 October 2019). "Daily Mail editor Geordie Greig seeks to overtake The Sun". The Telegraph. Retrieved 20 January 2020.
12. Mance, Henry (4 October 2019). "Geordie Greig: 'Provocation is a good thing'". Financial Times. Retrieved 22 January 2020.
13. "The Forward Book of Poetry 1999 by Geordie Greig". LibraryThing. Retrieved 7 June 2018.
14. "The King Maker by Geordie Greig - review". Evening Standard. London. Retrieved 7 June 2018.
15. Breakfast with Lucian - Geordie Greig. Macmillan. Retrieved 7 June 2018.
16. Turvill, William (12 June 2013). "Britain's best connected man? Mail on Sunday editor Geordie Greig on Hugh Grant, Paul Dacre and the Johnsons". Press Gazette. Retrieved 7 June 2018.
17. "Kerrville Funeral Home". kerrvillefuneralhometx.com. Retrieved 3 January 2019.
18. "The Tatler List | The People Who Really Matter". Tatler. Archived from the original on 5 February 2016.