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The Guardian - UK
The Guardian - UK
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Jane Martinson

Why own a newspaper in 2023? Ask the very rich men trying to buy the Telegraph

Aidan Barclay David Barclay Jane Martinson Lloyds Barclays the Conservative Party
Daily Telegraph newspaper front page headline on Brexit Day, 2020.
‘The auction of a newspaper regarded as the house journal of the Conservative party a year before a general election is important.’ Photograph: Kathy deWitt/Alamy

So much has changed in the generation since the Telegraph newspapers and the Spectator magazine were last put up for sale in 2004, including how much money they make. Yet one constant remains: the desire of very rich men to own them.

At least a dozen bidders have emerged as potential buyers in an auction meant to kick off this week, while the most recent owners have just come up with an audacious plan to win back control from Lloyds bank. This desire says a lot more about power than profit, and even more about modern Britain.

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