Tributes paid to a giant of journalism after Express legend Martin Townsend dies

Touching tributes have been paid to "a giant" of Fleet Street after former Sunday Express Editor Martin Townsend died from cancer aged 65.

The award-winning author and campaigner had battled pancreatic cancer for 18 months before passing away at the Chelsea and Westminster Hospital in London on Friday.

Last night his wife Jane O'Gorman said: "He fought a good fight. He fought every step of the way.

"He never gave up and did not know it was the end until the end."

He was best known for his time at the helm of the Sunday Express, where he served as Editor for 17 years from 2001 to 2018.

During this time he spearheaded exclusives including breaking the news of Prince Harry's romance with actress Meghan Markle and an award-winning campaign for better treatment and understanding of mental health.

He also played a key part in freeing staff reporter Yvonne Ridley after she was captured by the Taliban in Afghanistan.

And he appeared in an episode of TV drama Hustle as the editor of the Sunday Express.

During his illustrious 40-year career in journalism he became the youngest columnist in Fleet Street at Today newspaper in 1985, aged 25, which was where he met his wife Jane, a newspaper agony aunt.

As the Editor of OK! magazine in the late nineties he secured the world exclusives of the David and Victoria Beckham and the Michael Douglas and Catherine Zeta Jones wedding pictures.

Away from Fleet Street he wrote the acclaimed book The Father I Had, a candid account of growing up with a father suffering from bipolar disorder, before becoming a partner of PR firm Pagefield.

GB News presenter Camilla Tominey, who worked for Mr Townsend as Sunday Express Royal Editor and then its Political Editor, said: "Journalism has lost a giant and a gentleman. I have lost a dear friend and mentor, to whom I owe so much.

"Those who knew Martin Townsend will remember him as a creative genius, a maverick editor, and an unparalleled scoop-getter. He also wrote like a dream.

"He cared deeply about his readers and always had the courage of his convictions. He championed better mental health before it was fashionable and wrote an incredible book about his late father, which won a Mind award."

Express Editor-in-Chief Geoff Maynard said: "A giant of the industry, a wonderfully talented journalist, a thoroughly nice human being and of course an Express legend has gone.

"We send our very best wishes to his family at this sad time."

Mr Townsend also leaves behind sons Benedict, 31, Oliver, 29 and daughter Cordelia, 26.