View all newsletters
Sign up for our free email newsletters

Fighting for quality news media in the digital age.

  1. Archive content
April 27, 2006updated 22 Nov 2022 7:06pm

Utley move to Mail is not just for the money

By Press Gazette

By Dominic Ponsford

Star Daily Telegraph columnist Tom Utley has told Press Gazette that his impending move to the Daily Mail isn’t just about the money.

Utley, 52, is leaving the Telegraph after a decade. He is third-generation Telegraph and his father, TE Utley, spent 20 years there where, according to the Encyclopaedia of the British Press, he "gained a reputation as ‘the most distinguished Conservative journalist of his generation’".

Utley has followed in his footsteps as a leader writer. And his Friday columns have a libertarian right flavour, are often humorous and touch on domesticity, modern life, politics and his fondness for drinking and smoking.

In September, Utley gave an indication of his Telegraph salary in a column — a move which may have prompted Mail editor Paul Dacre’s recent offer.

Writing about news that the average GP earned £100,000, he said: "I would be very surprised to be told that more than 300 journalists in the entire country were paid more than £100,000 a year — and I assure you that I am not among them."

But he could well be in that category now. He told Press Gazette: "Of course I am very sad to be leaving The Daily Telegraph after so many years, but Paul Dacre’s flattering offer — not just money, but all-round welcoming — was not to be turned down."

Content from our partners
MHP Group's 30 To Watch awards for young journalists open for entries
How PA Media is helping newspapers make the digital transition
Publishing on the open web is broken, how generative AI could help fix it

Utley began his career on the Tavistock Times, going on to work on the East Anglian Daily Times, Liverpool Echo, Financial Times, Sunday Express and Sunday Telegraph.

He said: "I have served, I think, 14 editors — to the satisfaction, I hope, of most. I’m not conscious of having adapted my writing style to suit different audiences over the years — but I guess that we all do that subconsciously.

"Paul Dacre has told me, very kindly, that he doesn’t want me to change the tone of my writing a bit."

Utley revealed that in addition to his strong Telegraph family connections, he also has a dynastic link to the Daily Mail — his maternal grandfather, Dermot Morrah, started his career there in the 1920s.

Utley is to write leaders and a weekly column for the Mail and has yet to finalise a leaving date.

His departure from the Telegraph follows Telegraph Group’s poaching of Mail political columnist Simon Heffer in September to become a twice-weekly columnist and associate editor.

Email pged@pressgazette.co.uk to point out mistakes, provide story tips or send in a letter for publication on our "Letters Page" blog

Select and enter your email address Weekly insight into the big strategic issues affecting the future of the news industry. Essential reading for media leaders every Thursday. Your morning brew of news about the world of news from Press Gazette and elsewhere in the media. Sent at around 10am UK time. Our weekly does of strategic insight about the future of news media aimed at US readers. A fortnightly update from the front-line of news and advertising. Aimed at marketers and those involved in the advertising industry.
  • Business owner/co-owner
  • CEO
  • COO
  • CFO
  • CTO
  • Chairperson
  • Non-Exec Director
  • Other C-Suite
  • Managing Director
  • President/Partner
  • Senior Executive/SVP or Corporate VP or equivalent
  • Director or equivalent
  • Group or Senior Manager
  • Head of Department/Function
  • Manager
  • Non-manager
  • Retired
  • Other
Visit our privacy Policy for more information about our services, how New Statesman Media Group may use, process and share your personal data, including information on your rights in respect of your personal data and how you can unsubscribe from future marketing communications.
Thank you

Thanks for subscribing.

Websites in our network