Daily Mail is rated Right with Mostly Factual factual reporting by Media Bias Fact Check.
RIGHT BIAS
These media sources are moderately to strongly biased toward conservative causes through story selection and/or political affiliation. They may utilize strong loaded words (wording that attempts to influence an audience by using appeal to emotion or stereotypes), publish misleading reports, and omit information that may damage conservative causes. Some sources in this category may be untrustworthy. See all Right Bias sources.
- Overall, we rate the Daily Mail Right Biased based on consistently conservative and populist-right story selection, social positions, immigration coverage, and editorial framing. We rate it Mostly Factual due to a professional reporting infrastructure and willingness to issue corrections, offset by recurring sensationalism, ideological framing, and several recent accuracy failures.
Detailed Report
Bias Rating: RIGHT (6.4)
Factual Reporting: MOSTLY FACTUAL (4.4)
Country: United Kingdom
MBFC’s Country Freedom Rating: MOSTLY FREE
Media Type: Newspaper
Traffic/Popularity: High Traffic
MBFC Credibility Rating: MEDIUM CREDIBILITY
History
Founded in 1896 by brothers Alfred and Harold Harmsworth, the Daily Mail is a British national newspaper and one of the United Kingdom’s largest news brands. The publication operates across print, web, mobile, video, and social media and covers UK and international news, politics, crime, health, entertainment, lifestyle, and sports.
The Daily Mail is currently led by Ted Verity, who was appointed Editor-in-Chief across all Daily Mail platforms in 2024. The publication is part of DMG Media, which also operates The Mail on Sunday, Metro, The i Paper, and New Scientist.
Read our profile on the United Kingdom government and media.
Funded by / Ownership
The Daily Mail is published by Associated Newspapers Limited, part of Daily Mail and General Trust (DMGT). DMGT is controlled by the Rothermere family and is 100% owned by Rothermere Continuation Limited. Jonathan Harmsworth, 4th Viscount Rothermere, serves as Chairman.
DMGT became privately owned after delisting from the London Stock Exchange in 2022. Revenue comes primarily from digital and print advertising, subscriptions, licensing, commercial partnerships, and other DMGT businesses. The company publicly identifies its leadership, corporate structure, and business holdings.
Analysis / Bias
The Daily Mail maintains a strong right-leaning editorial perspective characterized by social conservatism, skepticism toward immigration, opposition to many progressive cultural policies, criticism of the political left, and historically strong support for Brexit. While traditionally aligned with the Conservative Party, its recent political coverage has become less consistently partisan as Britain’s political right has fragmented.
For example, recent coverage has given significant attention to Nigel Farage and Reform UK and has at times treated Reform as a credible alternative to the Conservatives. In 2025, the Mail prominently reported Farage’s warning that Britain faced “societal collapse,” while in 2026 it attacked the further-right Restore Britain movement with the headline “Restore is the ‘new home for neo-Nazis’”. This suggests the Mail remains firmly on the political right but is increasingly aligned with populist-right themes rather than exclusively supporting the Conservative Party.
The Daily Mail also continues to use highly emotional and sensational framing, particularly on immigration, crime, taxation, and cultural issues. In 2025, it published “One-in-12 people living in London is an illegal immigrant”. IPSO found that the central figure was inaccurate because the calculation used the wrong population base and included groups who could not accurately be classified as illegal migrants. The Daily Mail subsequently removed the online article and published corrections.
Factual standards are stronger than our previous review suggested. The Mail employs a large professional newsroom and frequently relies on government data, wire services, court documents, interviews, and established reporting. However, sensational headlines, ideological story selection, and occasional failures to adequately scrutinize statistics or scientific studies continue to result in significant errors.
Failed Fact Checks
- Daily Mail corrects column on opposition to ULEZ expansion – Misleading (2023, corrected)
- MailOnline corrects column which misrepresented NHS waiting list figures – Incorrect (2024, corrected)
- “One in 12 people living in London is an illegal immigrant” – Inaccurate (2025, corrected)
- Daily Mail corrects article about Covid vaccines and cancer – Incorrect (2025, corrected)
- Daily Mail corrects claim about welfare and income tax – Incorrect (2026, corrected)
Overall, we rate the Daily Mail Right Biased based on consistently conservative and populist-right story selection, social positions, immigration coverage, and editorial framing. We rate it Mostly Factual due to a professional reporting infrastructure and willingness to issue corrections, offset by recurring sensationalism, ideological framing, and several recent accuracy failures. (D. Van Zandt 7/19/2016) Updated (10/19/2026)
Source: https://www.dailymail.com/
Last Updated on October 19, 2026 by Media Bias Fact Check
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Left vs. Right Bias: How we rate the bias of media sources