Daily Mirror editor-in-chief Alison Phillips stepping down

Alison Phillips, the editor-in-chief for The Mirror newspaper, is to step down from her role at the end of January, having done it since 2018.

She said she was proud to be part of a team which showed that "great journalism can be done with kindness".

Phillips will be replaced on an interim basis by Caroline Waterston, editor-in-chief of Reach plc's national magazines and supplements.

Reach plc owns publications including The Mirror and Manchester Evening News.

Its chief executive Jim Mullen praised Phillips' "dedication".

The move comes amid plans to cut 450 full-time jobs, or 10% of Reach's workforce , externalin 2024.

Reach, which employs about 4,500 people, said in July that the cost of printing newspapers had risen by 60% due to high energy prices.

During Phillips' tenure, the newspaper broke the story, along with The Guardian, about the row over Dominic Cummings controversially travelling in 2020 to Barnard Castle during lockdown in the Covid pandemic, and claiming he had been trying to test his vision.

The Mirror also published the first Partygate exclusives, including video showing a party at the Conservative HQ showing staffers drinking and dancing during the Covid pandemic in December 2020. In 2023 it revealed journalist and broadcaster Fiona Phillips said she had been diagnosed with Alzheimer's.

Phillips' departure comes amid wider challenges for the Mirror and Reach.

In December 2023, Prince Harry won 15 claims in his case accusing Mirror Group Newspapers of unlawfully gathering information for stories published about him.

He had alleged that about 140 articles published between 1996 and 2010 contained information gathered using unlawful methods, and 33 were selected to be considered in the court case.

In response a Mirror Group Newspapers spokeswoman said it welcomed the judgement which gave the business "clarity to move forward from events that took place many years ago".

"Where historical wrongdoing took place, we apologise unreservedly, have taken full responsibility and paid appropriate compensation," she said.