Charles Vere Wintour,
CBE (18 May 1917–4 November 1999) was a
British newspaper editor.
Wintour wrote articles for the
Radio Times while he was at
Oundle School, and won a prize awarded by the
Daily Mail. He completed his education at
Peterhouse,
University of Cambridge, where studied English and History and briefly edited
Granta with
Eric Hobsbawm.
[Michael Leapman, "", The Independent, 5 November 1999]After university, Wintour took a job in advertising, but left at the start of
World War II to join the
Royal Norfolk Regiment. During the war, he was awarded the military
MBE, the
Croix de Guerre and the
Bronze Star.
In 1946, Wintour became a leader writer for the
Evening Standard. He was soon promoted to political editor, then moved to the
Sunday Express as assistant editor. He returned to the
Standard as deputy editor, during which period he convinced
Lord Beaverbrook to launch the
Evening Standard Awards for
theatre.
Wintour became managing editor of the
Daily Express in 1958, then in 1959 moved back to the
Standard as editor.
[Brian MacArthur, "Wintour, Charles Vere", Oxford Dictionary of National Biography] During this period, he had five children, of whom two:
Anna and
Patrick later became prominent journalists.
[Peter Preston, "", The Guardian, 5 November 1999]As editor, Wintour introduced a
gossip column, "Londoner's Diary", and hired columnists with wide-ranging views, from
Michael Foot to
Randolph Churchill. Although circulation fell under Wintour's editorship, he was well regarded, and was considered for the post of editor of
The Times in 1967.
Wintour remained editor until 1976, when he became managing director of the
Daily Express, supervising its transition from
broadsheet to
tabloid.
He took part in the negotiations to merge the
Standard with the
Evening News, championing the case for keeping the staff and approach of the
Standard. As a result, the proposed merger was called off. The Express Group was sold to
Trafalgar House, and new owner
Victor Matthews appointed Wintour editor of the
Standard again in 1978. In 1979, Wintour joined the
Press Council, serving for two years. In 1980, the
Standard and the
News were finally merged. While the name of the
Standard was ultimately retained, Wintour was replaced by former
News editor
Louis Kirby.
In 1981, Wintour launched the
Sunday Express Magazine with new wife
Audrey Slaughter, and in 1984 they launched
Working Woman magazine. In 1985, Wintour became editor of the
Press Gazette, and he gave advice on the launch of
Today,
The Independent and the new
Daily News,
in addition to
TV-am.
Wintour retired in 1989 and spent his later years supporting the
Liberal Democrats and chairing the regional
National Art Collections Fund