Career
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Verity began his journalism career at the Stoke Evening Sentinel , and in 1990 joined Associated Newspapers. [1]
He began as a reporter, going on to run the showbusiness desk at the Daily Mail . [1] He had a stint as the Daily Mail's royal correspondent. [2] He moved to a role at Femail before moving to an executive function at MailOnline. [1]
In 2004 he moved to Ireland to take on a role at the Irish Mail , becoming editor-in-chief, overseeing the launch of the Irish Daily Mail and the conversion of Ireland on Sunday to the Irish Mail on Sunday in 2006. [1]
In 2008 he returned to London to become executive editor at The Mail on Sunday , serving as fourth in command and described as a "Dacre golden boy". [1]
In June 2018, it was announced that Verity would succeed Geordie Greig, who would in turn succeed Paul Dacre as editor of the Daily Mail in November 2018. [3] He edited his first edition of The Mail on Sunday on 9 September 2018, slightly earlier than initially expected. [4]
In November 2020 Verity wrote a letter in The Guardian defending his title's coverage of Marcus Rashford, specifically a story which referred to the player's ownership of buy-to-let properties. [5]
That same month, Private Eye reported that Verity's title had obtained images of Carrie Symonds "garbed in Roman attire with chums at a university ball". Symonds reportedly applied pressure on senior press figures to have the photos withdrawn from publication, but the photographs were only moved from the front page to a less prominent position after a direct intervention to Verity was made by the Prime Minister. [6]
In 2021 the Daily Mail lost in a high court claim made by the Duchess of Sussex alleging misuse of private information in five articles that reported the contents of a letter written by her father, Thomas Markle. It was reported that Verity had taken the side of editor-in-chief Paul Dacre, in contrast to the views of then Daily Mail editor Geordie Greig who had told the paper's proprietor Lord Rothermere to settle the claim. [7] The New European reported at the time that relations between Verity and Greig were "strained", [7] though the Mail is now appealing the case. [8]
On 17 November 2021, Greig was "ousted" [9] as editor and replaced by Verity, who began a new seven-day role as editor of Mail newspapers, with responsibility for the Daily Mail, The Mail on Sunday and You magazine. [10]
On 17 December 2021, David Dillon was confirmed as editor of The Mail on Sunday. [11]
In 2023, the New Statesman named Verity as the eighteenth most powerful right-wing political figure in the UK in 2023. [12]
