Tim Walker

Mandrake

Divided Loyaltie

As close as Lord Rothermere was to Geordie Greig, his overarching loyalty to the Conservative Party meant that he had no choice but to sack him as Editor of the Daily Mail when he became too strident in his front-page attacks on Boris Johnson during his period as Prime Minister and Tory Leader.

Now, Mandrake hears that the Mail owner is feeling increasingly uneasy with Ted Verity, Greig’s successor, after he published what he regarded as former Conservative MP Nadine Dorries’ blasphemy on his paper’s front page – “the Tory Party is dead” – as she announced her defection to Reform UK.

“Jonathan [Rothermere] has so far resisted Nigel Farage’s entreaties to meet him and, having personally supported remain during the EU Referendum, has been sceptical about what exactly the Reform Leader has to offer the country,” whispers my man in the Mail newsroom.

“Verity is significantly to the right of Jonathan politically and has sometimes had to be brought to heel. Draw your own conclusions from the fact that, the day after the ‘Tory Party is dead’ front page, the status quo was more or less restored with a front page quoting Conservative Leader Kemi Badenoch attacking Labour for descending into ‘civil war’ after Angela Rayner’s resignation.”

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