Richard Desmond and some of his top executives are to meet with the leadership of Ukip on Tuesday, as the Express Newspapers owner draws closer to throwing the weight of his titles behind the party before the general election.
It is understood the meeting will be attended by Paul Ashford, group editorial director of the Daily Express, Sunday Express, Daily Star and Daily Star Sunday, as well as a number of senior editorial staff from the newspapers.
It is believed that the Ukip leader, Nigel Farage, will attend the meeting, although this has not been confirmed.
Farage has previously been to Northern & Shell’s offices for lunch with Desmond, and been given a tour of the buildings.
The meeting is viewed as the latest move by Desmond to try to get the editors of his titles on board with supporting Ukip in the run-up to the general election in May next year. The Daily Express is already pro-Ukip, while the Sunday Express supports the Tories.
One source said that the rumour is that Desmond has been offered a peerage by Ukip – if the party wins enough support for more than one MP, they would have the right to nominate peers.
“Desmond thinks backing Ukip will be good for the papers commercially,” said one insider. “The word is that Farage has offered him a peerage if it all works out, and this, even more than money and the respect of London’s Jewish community, is what he craves now.”
In October, Desmond brought on board Lord Stevens, the Ukip peer and former chairman of Express Newspapers, as deputy chairman.
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