Paul Connew

Posted: July 9, 2026

FORMER Sunday Mirror editor PAUL CONNEW died on July 3 [2026]. He was 79. Paul’s funeral will take place on August 13 at 1.30pm at Hemel Hempstead Crematorium, Bedmond Road, Hemel Hempstead HP3 8LL. And all are welcome to raise a glass to Paul afterwards at The Holly Bush, Potters Crouch Lane, St Albans AL2 3NN. Family flowers only please. If you wish, donations in Paul’s memory may be made to Bowel Cancer UK (https://donate.bowelcanceruk.org.uk/)

From the Coventry Evening Telegraph, he joined the Mirror bureau in Birmingham at 21. He launched the Mirror’s first bureau in Los Angeles, and then became US bureau Chief. He was deputy editor of the News of the World before returning to the Mirror to become deputy editor of the Sunday Mirror, and then editor. Paul was a fierce defender of Fleet Street and the media, and a proud judge for many years of the British Press Awards.

His daughter Joanna Findlay said on Facebook: “We are devastated to share the news that our wonderful Dad, partner and Gramps  Paul Connew passed away this morning. Those who knew him are aware what an amazingly intelligent, funny, witty and wonderful man he was. He loved his work, dog Coco and most importantly his family. He was immensely proud of each and every one of his children and grandchildren.”

London Press Club Chair Doug Wills said: “He was the ultimate news man. I was full of admiration of him for this. He was a terrific supporter of the London Press Club attending all of our events, and chairing 2024’s annual debate. We will miss him – and his questions at every forum – terribly.”

Michael Williams, chair of the Cudlipp Awards Committee and deputy chair of the Codgers Dining Club, said: “I was proud to have worked with Paul over a long period of time, from regional papers in the West Midlands in the early 1970s to Murdoch’s Wapping heyday in the late eighties and early nineties. He was a wonderful colleague, with a wicked sense of humour, as well as being one of the best newsmen I have known.”