Survivors of the Hillsborough disaster and families of the victims have called on Keir Starmer to rethink plans to appoint a former Sun editor to a top government communications role.
David Dinsmore, who edited the tabloid between 2013 and 2015 before becoming chief operating officer of its parent company, News UK, is set to take up the newly created position of permanent secretary for communications. The role was established after the prime minister raised concerns last year about the government’s messaging.
Senior Labour figures are also reportedly uneasy about the appointment, which has not yet been officially confirmed.
In a letter to Starmer, Hillsborough families and others affected by “scandal and state-endorsed abuse” argue that Dinsmore is “clearly unfit for public office” due to his long association with the Sun, pointing to the paper’s coverage of the disaster—for which it has since apologized.
“After Hillsborough, while grieving families and survivors were suffering unimaginable pain, the Sun published cruel lies about the behavior of fans. False and graphic claims portrayed the dead and survivors as barbaric, irresponsible, and inhuman,” the letter states.
The signatories warn that the Sun “has not changed,” noting its refusal to join independent press regulation and its continued targeting of ordinary people and marginalized groups.
“For these reasons, we are deeply troubled by David Dinsmore’s proposed appointment,” the letter adds.
Charlotte Hennessy, who lost her father, Jimmy, at Hillsborough when she was six, said: “Dinsmore claimed the Sun’s only mistake over Hillsborough was the headline—not the lies or the smears. If Keir Starmer truly wants change, he should deliver the Hillsborough law he promised and reconsider appointing someone so unsuitable for public office.”
The letter also highlights that Dinsmore was convicted in 2016 for breaching privacy laws after the Sun published a pixelated image of the victim in the Adam Johnson sexual abuse case. The judge accepted that Dinsmore did not knowingly break the law but ordered him to pay £1,300 in costs and offer £1,000 compensation to the victim.
Additionally, the letter notes that as a News UK executive, Dinsmore was involved in the company’s denials of illegal activity by the Sun in the 2000s. The paper has since admitted that private investigators working for it engaged in unlawful practices between 1996 and 2011.
Steve Rotheram, Labour mayor of the Liverpool city region, also criticized the appointment this week, calling it “deeply insensitive” given the pain caused by the Sun’s coverage of Hillsborough.
“I support the government’s goal of rebuilding trust in politics, but appointments like this risk undermining that effort. Trust can’t be restored by drawing from the same networks that helped destroy it,” he said.
Dinsmore began his career at the Scottish Sun in 1990, later becoming its editor in 2006. He has held several senior roles at the paper, including managing editor, and helped launch its Sunday edition.
A Cabinet Office spokesperson said no appointment had been finalized and declined to comment on Dinsmore. News UK also declined to comment.Here’s a clearer and more natural version of your text:
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