Broadcaster Derek Jameson dies following heart attack

Derek Jameson Credit: Press Association

Veteran broadcaster Derek Jameson has died. His wife Ellen confirmed that the 82-year-old, who edited three national newspapers, had a heart attack at his home.

Derek Jameson edited the Daily Express, the Daily Star and the News of the World and was also managing editor of the Daily Mirror, and a presenter on BBC Radio 2.

  • Mr Jameson was born in poverty in London's East End where, without parents, he grew up in a home

  • He began work in Fleet Street as a messenger boy at the age of 14 and rose through the ranks to edit some of Britain's biggest newspapers

  • He developed a reputation as a builder of circulation and, asked to launch the Daily Star - the first new national tabloid for 75 years, he took it to more than a million copies within a year

Derek Jameson as the new News of the World newspaper editor in 1981 Credit: Press Association
Derek Jameson in 1987 with chat show host Michael Parkinson, gymnast Hayley Price and Sports Council vice-chairman, athlete Sebastian Coe Credit: Press Association

The BBC turned him into a celebrity with television series such as Do They Mean Us? and his popular breakfast show on Radio 2.

He went on to present a chat show for six years with his wife, establishing the largest late night radio audience in Europe.

Much of his fame rested on his gravelly Cockney voice, which he regarded as unique because it contained elements of Manchester, where he worked for eight years, and wartime days as an evacuee in Hertfordshire.

Mr Jameson leaves Ellen, his third wife, and four adult children.

Derek Jameson pictured in 1987 with Daily Mail columnist Nigel Dempster and Philippa Kennedy of the Daily Express Credit: Press Association