Stay up to date with notifications from The Independent

Notifications can be managed in browser preferences.

The Daily Telegraph’s editor just mass emailed its subscribers telling them to vote Tory

Newspaper describes intervention as 'unprecedented step'

Jon Stone
Thursday 07 May 2015 09:17 EDT
Comments
The Telegraph is Britain’s biggest-selling broadsheet newspaper
The Telegraph is Britain’s biggest-selling broadsheet newspaper (Getty)

Your support helps us to tell the story

From reproductive rights to climate change to Big Tech, The Independent is on the ground when the story is developing. Whether it's investigating the financials of Elon Musk's pro-Trump PAC or producing our latest documentary, 'The A Word', which shines a light on the American women fighting for reproductive rights, we know how important it is to parse out the facts from the messaging.

At such a critical moment in US history, we need reporters on the ground. Your donation allows us to keep sending journalists to speak to both sides of the story.

The Independent is trusted by Americans across the entire political spectrum. And unlike many other quality news outlets, we choose not to lock Americans out of our reporting and analysis with paywalls. We believe quality journalism should be available to everyone, paid for by those who can afford it.

Your support makes all the difference.

The editor of the Daily Telegraph newspaper has sent a mass email to readers on its database and told them to vote for the Conservative party.

Chris Evans took the “unprecedented step” of writing to everyone on its email database who had ticked “agree to receive marketing messages by email from Telegraph Media Group”.

“Do we continue under the Conservatives with the open, enterprise-led economic approach that has underpinned our prosperity for nearly 40 years?” the email read.

“Or do we revert to an old-style, ‘government-knows-best’ culture championed by the most leftwing Labour leader for a generation?”

The letter ends: “The Daily Telegraph urges its readers to vote Conservative.”

The newspaper has endorsed the Conservative election and released a front page this morning with the heading “Don’t do something you’ll regret”.

Another story on the front page carried quotes from a major Ukip donor asking conservatives considering a Ukip vote to reconsider.

The email was set out overnight and polls were not open at the time.

In an interview published yesterday Labour election guru David Axelrod said criticism by the Conservative-supporting press had actually boosted Ed Miliband’s status in the polls.

“I think you need to tolerate that noise. In certain ways it’s worked to Miliband’s advantage,” he told US website Politico. “When he emerged in the campaign and performed well, he completely surpassed the expectations that were set for him.

“He wasn’t the cartoon that the conservative media had depicted him as. He took four years of beatings from the conservative media that lowered the bar which he then cleared smartly.”

Mr Miliband’s personal ratings have risen significantly since the start of the election campaign, which also marked the intensification of personal attacks against him in some newspapers.

The Independent reported last month that media mogul Rupert Murdoch had berated journalists at The Sun newspaper for not doing enough to stop Labour winning the general election.

Join our commenting forum

Join thought-provoking conversations, follow other Independent readers and see their replies

Comments

Thank you for registering

Please refresh the page or navigate to another page on the site to be automatically logged inPlease refresh your browser to be logged in