The Yorkshire Post

History

The paper was founded in 1754, as the Leeds Intelligencer, making it one of Britain's first daily newspapers. The Leeds Intelligencer was a weekly newspaper until it was purchased by a group of Conservatives in 1865 who set up the Yorkshire Conservative Newspaper Company Limited then published daily under the current name.

The first issue of The Yorkshire Post, on 2 July 1866, included the following statement:

The newspaper broke the story of the Edward VIII abdication crisis under the editorship of Arthur Mann. In 1939, The Yorkshire Post absorbed a rival, the Leeds Mercury, which was founded in 1718 and was liberal in comparison to the Leeds Intelligencer from the late 18th century, and under the editorship of Edward Baines and his son (also named Edward Baines). At its peak in the 1950s, The Yorkshire Post sold 120,000 copies a day. This figure had dropped to 40,000 by 2012, and circulation further declined to just 18,534 for the period January to June 2019. As well as publishing regular supplements on sport, rural affairs, culture and motoring it runs an extensive business section with two weekly pull-out supplements.

In 2012, as its parent company Johnston Press sought to cut costs, it was merged with the Yorkshire Evening Post – the local newspaper for the Leeds city region - with the then editor, Peter Charlton, overseeing both titles. The merger saw the formation of combined departments for news, business, sport and features – with correspondents writing for both titles.

In February 2012 Johnston Press announced that printing of the Yorkshire Post and Yorkshire Evening Post in Leeds would be switched to their plant at Dinnington near Sheffield and the Leeds printing facility closed.

In September 2013, it was announced the Wellington Street premises would be demolished. Journalists had already vacated the building. Preliminary demolition began in March 2014, while in April 2014 it was announced the tower would be spared.

In March 2014, 'The' was reintroduced on the name of the paper after 46 years.

The Yorkshire Post achieved wider attention during the 2019 general election campaign, following the publication of a story about a boy being treated on the floor of Leeds General Infirmary which was published by sister title the Yorkshire Evening Post. The papers faced criticism on social media and in correspondence from readers, and editor James Mitchinson wrote an open letter to a reader defending the titles and their journalism.

Editors

Adapted from the official website:

• 1754: Griffith Wright
• 1785: Thomas Wright
• 1805: Griffith Wright Jr
• 1819: William Cooke Stafford
• 1822: Alaric Watts
• 1842: W. T. Bolland
• 1848: Christopher Kemplay
• 1866: John R. K. Ralph
• 1882: Charles Pebody
• 1890: H. J. Palmer
• 1903: J. S. R. Phillips
• 1920: Arthur Mann
• 1939: Linton Andrews
• 1961: Kenneth Young
• 1964: J. Edward Crossley
• 1969: John Edwards
• 1989: Tony Watson
• 2003: Rachael Campey
• 2004: Peter Charlton
• 2013: Jeremy Clifford
• 2015: James Mitchinson

Former journalists

• Keith Waterhouse (1929–2009), author of Billy Liar
• Barbara Taylor Bradford (born 1933), author of A Woman of Substance

References

References

1. (21 August 2025). "Leeds - Yorkshire Post".
2. "Contact us". Yorkshire Post.
3. "We're on the side of truth; we are calling for an end to the general election lies; the deception; the fakery". The Yorkshire Post.
4. (10 September 2013). "Old Yorkshire Post Leeds HQ set for demolition". Yorkshire Post.
5. Caunce, Stephen. (1993). "Leeds City Business". Leeds University Press.
6. Caunce, Stephen. (1993). "Leeds City Business". Leeds University Press.
7. Sweney, Mark. (14 April 2012). "Yorkshire Post publisher scraps editors' posts on regional papers". [[The Guardian]].
8. (2009). "Dictionary of nineteenth-century journalism in Great Britain and Ireland". Academia Press.
9. Linford, Paul. (1 March 2018). "JP dailies post circulation rises as ABC figures unveiled". HoldTheFrontPage.
10. (10 March 2014). "Yorkshire Post Reinstates 'The' After 46-year Absence". Johnston Press.
11. "BBC Radio 4 - The Media Show, Fake news, strong views, Yorkshire and me".
12. "'Do not believe a stranger on social media who disappears into the night' - An open letter from our editor to you". Yorkshire Post.
13. "[https://www.yorkshirepost.co.uk/news/in-the-editor-s-chair-1-2546051 In the editor's chair]", ''[[Yorkshire Post]]'', 2 July 2004
14. Hutchinson, Andrew. (27 February 2020). "Blue plaque honour for acclaimed Leeds-born writer Keith Waterhouse".
15. Maclure, Abbey. (20 November 2021). "Barbara Taylor Bradford: How the best-selling Leeds author launched her extraordinary career at the Yorkshire Evening Post". Yorkshire Evening Post.