The Daily Telegraph

Lore & Background

The Daily Telegraph and Courier was founded by Colonel Arthur B. The paper cost 2d and was four pages long. Sleigh was unable to pay Levy, who took over the newspaper, appointing his son Edward Levy-Lawson, Lord Burnham, and Thornton Leigh Hunt to edit it. Lord Burnham relaunched the paper as The Daily Telegraph with the slogan 'the largest, best, and cheapest newspaper in the world'. In 1937, the newspaper absorbed The Morning Post. During the Second World War, The Daily Telegraph covertly helped recruit code-breakers for Bletchley Park; the ability to solve its crossword in under 12 minutes was considered a recruitment test. In 1939, it published Clare Hollingworth's scoop that Germany was to invade Poland, described as 'the scoop of the century'. In 2009, the paper broke the parliamentary expenses scandal, leading to high-profile resignations and earning it the 2009 British Newspaper of the Year award. In 2013, The Daily Telegraph and The Sunday Telegraph were merged, though the latter retains its own editor.

Reader's Guide

Its scoops have had major national and international impact, from Clare Hollingworth's 1939 report of the German invasion of Poland to the 2009 parliamentary expenses scandal that forced political resignations. The paper's 2016 undercover investigation of England football manager Sam Allardyce and the 2023 Lockdown Files further demonstrate its investigative reach. The Telegraph remains a newspaper of record in the UK, with a long history of influencing public discourse and political events.

Did You Know?

• The Daily Telegraph's first edition cost 2d and was four pages long.
• During the Second World War, solving The Daily Telegraph's crossword in under 12 minutes was used as a recruitment test for Bletchley Park code-breakers.