Which UK Newspapers Back Which Party?

Rupert Murdoch / News UK — Circulation ~950,000

The Sun’s endorsement of Keir Starmer in July 2024 was the paper’s first Labour backing since Tony Blair’s landslide in 1997. Historically, the Sun has been reliably Conservative, most famously claiming in 1992: “It’s The Sun Wot Won It.”

The 2024 endorsement was tepid — the paper praised Starmer personally while warning Labour against left-wing overreach. It reflected the paper’s calculation that a large Conservative defeat was inevitable and that early positioning with the incoming government was commercially prudent.

Rupert Murdoch / News UK — Circulation ~350,000

The Times occupies a centrist but broadly right-of-centre position on economic policy, backing free markets, fiscal discipline, and NATO. In 2024 it declined to endorse either major party, calling the election a “dismal choice.” It has a history of endorsing Conservatives but backed Blair in 1997.

Under its current editorial line the paper is broadly sympathetic to economic liberalism and critical of both Labour’s tax plans and the Conservative Party’s populist drift toward Reform territory.

Guardian Media Group — Circulation ~105,000 (print) + digital

The Guardian is the UK’s most consistently left-of-centre national broadsheet. It endorsed Labour in 2024 while also expressing sympathy for the Green Party surge. The paper tends to prioritise climate, social justice, and public services in its coverage and editorials.

Polling of its readers shows overwhelming Labour and Lib Dem affiliation, with significant Green support. The paper backed Remain strongly in 2016 and has maintained a broadly progressive editorial line throughout the Brexit era.

Ownership contested (RedBird/IMI bid) — Circulation ~330,000

The Daily Telegraph is the flagship of British centre-right press. Long nicknamed the “Torygraph,” it has endorsed the Conservative Party at every general election in the modern era. It backed Remain in 2016 only narrowly and shifted to full-throated Brexit support thereafter.

In 2024 the paper still backed the Conservatives despite widespread disillusionment with the Sunak government, prioritising its longstanding institutional alignment over electoral pragmatism. The paper is closely read by Conservative MPs and party members.

DMG Media / Lord Rothermere — Circulation ~820,000

The Daily Mail is the UK’s highest-circulation print newspaper. Its editorial line combines social conservatism with economic nationalism. In 2024 it backed the Conservatives but its immigration coverage has been sympathetic to Reform UK’s positioning, and its comment pages have given significant platform to Reform-aligned voices.

The Mail was a vociferous Eurosceptic and backed Leave in 2016. Under Paul Dacre’s long editorship (1992–2018) it helped define British centre-right populism. Its current editor maintains a similar ideological direction with a slightly more digital focus.

Reach PLC — Circulation ~285,000

The Daily Mirror is the only major UK national tabloid with a consistent Labour endorsement history. Founded as a working-class paper in 1903, it has backed Labour at every general election since 1945 with virtually no exceptions. In 2024 it backed Starmer enthusiastically.

The Mirror’s readership skews older, working-class, and strongly Labour. Its coverage emphasises NHS, welfare, and cost of living above all other issues. It represents the closest thing British journalism has to a partisan Labour newspaper in the continental European tradition.

Reach PLC — Circulation ~245,000

The Daily Express was the UK’s loudest Eurosceptic tabloid long before Brexit was on the ballot. Under Richard Desmond’s ownership it backed UKIP in 2015 and ran years of anti-EU front pages. Now owned by Reach, it retains a right-wing, anti-immigration editorial stance closely aligned with Reform UK sentiment.

In 2024 it backed the Conservatives but its coverage has been increasingly sympathetic to Reform UK’s immigration and sovereignty messaging. Comment writers aligned with Farage regularly appear on its pages.