Williams, who has been in charge of the newspaper for the past three years, will edit the Scottish edition of the
Daily Mail, in a move that looks likely to anger Express owner Richard Desmond.
Peter Hill, editor of the Daily Star, will take over from Williams with immediate effect. He has a successful five years at the Daily Star and was last year named editor of the year in the What The Papers Say awards.
Reports suggest that Williams resigned over pressure from management to make further job cuts at the title. More than 150 journalists were laid off when Desmond bought the Express Newspapers Group back in November 2000.
A spokesman for Express Newspapers insisted Desmond was “disappointed” to see his editor depart and denied reports of a disagreement over job cuts. He said: “Chris Williams has been a superb editor and has worked to stem a 20-year decline in circulation.”
He added: “We are delighted to confirm Peter’s place as the new editor of the Daily Express and we are looking forward to his commitment to that newspaper. He has been an outstanding editor of the Daily Star, making it the fastest growing newspaper in Great Britain over the last two years.”
