Mail on Sunday editor Geordie Greig to replace Paul Dacre at the Daily Mail

Two papers backed opposite sides during the EU referendum

Geordie Greig is currently editor of the Mail on Sunday (Getty)

Geordie Greig, the editor of The Mail of Sunday, is to replace Paul Dacre as the editor of the Daily Mail.

Mr Greig, who is also a former editor of the Evening Standard and Tatler, will take over when Mr Dacre steps down in November, Daily Mail and General Trust chairman Lord Rothermere announced.

Mr Dacre's departure was confirmed on Wednesday after 26 years in charge at the paper.

Ted Verity, currently deputy editor at the Daily Mail, will be the new editor of The Mail on Sunday.

Lord Rothermere said: "Geordie has been an outstanding editor of The Mail on Sunday, and I am delighted that he will continue the high-quality journalism that Paul has made a hallmark of the Daily Mail for more than 25 years.

"I am also delighted that Ted Verity, who has been an exceptional deputy editor at the Daily Mail, is to become editor of The Mail on Sunday."

In contrast to Mr Dacre, whose paper has taken a vociferously pro-Brexit stance, The Mail on Sunday, under Mr Greig, campaigned strongly in favour of remain during the EU referendum in 2016.

Born in London, 57-year-old Mr Greig was educated at Eton and Oxford before beginning his career in the local press.

He joined the Daily Mail before moving to The Sunday Times in 1987, becoming its American correspondent and moving to New York in 1991.

He returned to London and to The Sunday Times in 1995 before being appointed editor of Tatler four years later.

Mr Greig will be tasked with filling the shoes of one of the most influential figures in the history of Fleet Street when Mr Dacre moves into the role of chairman at Associated Newspapers, which owns the Mail.

The 69-year-old had been at the helm of the newspaper since 1992, boosting its circulation by more than 800,000 in a time of shrinking print readerships.

As well as backing the successful leave campaign during the EU referendum, the paper won praise under Mr Dacre for its fight for justice in the Stephen Lawrence murder case, as well as drawing attention to issues surrounding single-use plastics.

However, it also found itself dogged by controversy on numerous occasions, attracting detractors for its stance on immigration, gender politics and gay rights.

It came under fire for leading on the front page headline “Enemies of the people”, when High Court judges ruled parliamentary approval must be sought to trigger Article 50 and begin Britain’s exit from the EU.

Mr Dacre was also criticised in 2013 after running an article on Ralph Miliband, the late father of then-Labour leader Ed Miliband, entitled “The Man Who Hated Britain”.