London Daily

Focus on the big picture.
Monday, Jul 21, 2025

The Sun always backs the winner: can the Murdoch papers warm to Keir Starmer?

The Sun always backs the winner: can the Murdoch papers warm to Keir Starmer?

Former DPP Starmer tried to send head of News UK Rebekah Brooks to prison for phone hacking 10 years ago
Ten years ago Keir Starmer attempted to send Rebekah Brooks to prison for phone hacking.

Now Starmer could cause another headache for the boss of Rupert Murdoch’s British media empire. She has to work out how her Tory-backing newspapers – which include the Sun and the Times – handle the growing popularity of the man who is favourite to become the next prime minister.

One question being asked by journalists at News UK’s newspapers is whether the history between Brooks and Starmer will have any impact – and whether those tensions can be squared with the growing desire for a Labour government among the consumers of its outlets.

“News UK operates a bit like the Chinese Communist party – with a long memory and a very long plan,” said Tom Baldwin, a former Times political journalist who served as Labour’s director of communications under Ed Miliband. “The Times has got a problem. A plurality of its readers would want Keir Starmer to be prime minister at the moment, but it doesn’t have a columnist who is speaking to the Labour party.”

Brooks was ultimately found not guilty of all charges at her Old Bailey trial and returned to her old job as chief executive of News UK. But Starmer – then the director of public prosecutions, overseeing criminal prosecutions in England and Wales – stood by his belief that it had been right to prosecute Brooks: “She put her case and she answered it and we must respect that fully. But the deeper question is, is anybody above the law? This has answered that.”

There is also longstanding bitterness among some older journalists at the Sun towards Starmer, after he restarted the Operation Elveden prosecutions over payments to public officials for stories. Of the 29 cases against journalists – many at News UK outlets – there was only one where the conviction stood.

Despite this history, there are signs that a subtle rapprochement may be on the cards, exacerbated by dismal Conservative poll ratings. Although there is no sign a formal change is coming, one Times journalist suggested tectonic plates were shifting ahead of the next general election: “No decision has been made but minds are opening.”

This is backed by internal market research, briefly posted on a staff intranet before being deleted, showing growing support for Starmer among the Times’s well-off readership. The outlet’s audience has been substantially pro-remain since the EU referendum, loathing Boris Johnson and Liz Truss, but does have more support for Rishi Sunak. Working out what to do with the Sun, where readers are more solidly supportive of Brexit, is more challenging.

Baldwin said the impact of Murdoch’s media endorsements had probably always been overstated, especially with the waning influence of newspapers, but few doubt the decision ultimately comes from the top: “At the Times there is usually a kind of veil cast over it, so it doesn’t look like it’s proprietorial interest. Great play is made of having a meeting with the political writers about what to do – although everyone assumes the decision has been made.”

Murdoch’s newspapers have often been flexible when it comes to political endorsements and reflecting the views of their audiences. News UK likes to back political winners and supported Labour at general elections between 1997 and 2005, after Blair made a dash to Australia to win the approval of Murdoch.

While Starmer said during his leadership campaign that he wouldn’t talk to the Sun, he has since written an editorial for the outlet. There is pressure from within Labour for more interaction with the newspaper, partly to reach its readers – and partly to show a symbolic break with the Jeremy Corbyn era. This is despite the Sun facing new allegations that phone hacking took place while Brooks was editor. News Group Newspapers has always maintained that phone hacking did not take place at the Sun.

News UK declined to comment on the political direction of its papers. However, shortly after the Guardian made inquiries, the Times ran an editorial assessing Starmer’s leadership. It praised his overall direction but said Labour was surging mainly due to the “government’s mistakes rather than its own qualities” – and criticised his positions on transgender issues, press regulation and rail strikes.

Yet there is growing confidence in Labour circles that the party will not face the same level of hostile media coverage that Corbyn endured. As one senior party official, reflecting on the Sun’s record of endorsing the victorious side in every election since 1979, put it: “Is the Sun not going to back a winner for the first time ever?”
Newsletter

Related Articles

0:00
0:00
Close
Man Dies After Being Pulled Into MRI Machine Due to Metal Chain in New York Clinic
NVIDIA Achieves $4 Trillion Valuation Amid AI Demand
US Revokes Visas of Brazilian Corrupted Judges Amid Fake Bolsonaro Investigation
U.S. Congress Approves Rescissions Act Cutting Federal Funding for NPR and PBS
North Korea Restricts Foreign Tourist Access to New Seaside Resort
Brazil's Supreme Court Imposes Radical Restrictions on Former President Bolsonaro
Centrist Criticism of von der Leyen Resurfaces as she Survives EU Confidence Vote
Judge Criticizes DOJ Over Secrecy in Dropping Charges Against Gang Leader
Apple Closes $16.5 Billion Tax Dispute With Ireland
Von der Leyen Faces Setback Over €2 Trillion EU Budget Proposal
UK and Germany Collaborate on Global Military Equipment Sales
Trump Plans Over 10% Tariffs on African and Caribbean Nations
Flying Taxi CEO Reclaims Billionaire Status After Stock Surge
Epstein Files Deepen Republican Party Divide
Zuckerberg Faces $8 Billion Privacy Lawsuit From Meta Shareholders
FIFA Pressured to Rethink World Cup Calendar Due to Climate Change
SpaceX Nears $400 Billion Valuation With New Share Sale
Microsoft, US Lab to Use AI for Faster Nuclear Plant Licensing
Trump Walks Back Talk of Firing Fed Chair Jerome Powell
Zelensky Reshuffles Cabinet to Win Support at Home and in Washington
"Can You Hit Moscow?" Trump Asked Zelensky To Make Putin "Feel The Pain"
Irish Tech Worker Detained 100 days by US Authorities for Overstaying Visa
Dimon Warns on Fed Independence as Trump Administration Eyes Powell’s Succession
Church of England Removes 1991 Sexuality Guidelines from Clergy Selection
Superman Franchise Achieves Success with Latest Release
Hungary's Viktor Orban Rejects Agreements on Illegal Migration
Jeff Bezos Considers Purchasing Condé Nast as a Wedding Gift
Ghislaine Maxwell Says She’s Ready to Testify Before Congress on Epstein’s Criminal Empire
Bal des Pompiers: A Celebration of Community and Firefighter Culture in France
FBI Chief Kash Patel Denies Resignation Speculations Amid Epstein List Controversy
Air India Pilot’s Mental Health Records Under Scrutiny
Google Secures Windsurf AI Coding Team in $2.4 Billion Licence Deal
Jamie Dimon Warns Europe Is Losing Global Competitiveness and Flags Market Complacency
South African Police Minister Suspended Amid Organised Crime Allegations
Nvidia CEO Claims Chinese Military Reluctance to Use US AI Technology
Hong Kong Advances Digital Asset Strategy to Address Economic Challenges
Australia Rules Out Pre‑commitment of Troops, Reinforces Defence Posture Amid US‑China Tensions
Martha Wells Says Humanity Still Far from True Artificial Intelligence
Nvidia Becomes World’s First Four‑Trillion‑Dollar Company Amid AI Boom
U.S. Resumes Deportations to Third Countries After Supreme Court Ruling
Excavation Begins at Site of Mass Grave for Children at Former Irish Institution
Iranian President Reportedly Injured During Israeli Strike on Secret Facility
EU Delays Retaliatory Tariffs Amid New U.S. Threats on Imports
Trump Defends Attorney General Pam Bondi Amid Epstein Memo Backlash
Renault Shares Drop as CEO Luca de Meo Announces Departure Amid Reports of Move to Kering
Senior Aides for King Charles and Prince Harry Hold Secret Peace Summit
Anti‑Semitism ‘Normalised’ in Middle‑Class Britain, Says Commission Co‑Chair
King Charles Meets David Beckham at Chelsea Flower Show
If the Department is Really About Justice: Ghislaine Maxwell Should Be Freed Now
NYC Candidate Zohran Mamdani’s ‘Antifada’ Remarks Spark National Debate on Political Language and Economic Policy
×