Mary Tourtel was created in 1920, at a time when the "Express" was in competition with "The Daily Mail" and its then popular comic strip "Teddy Tail", as well as the strip "Pip, Squeak and Wilfred" in "The Daily Mirror". The then news editor of the "Express", Herbert Tourtel, was approached with the task of producing a new comic strip to rival those of the "Mail" and "Mirror" and immediately thought of his wife Mary, already an established author and artist. Rupert Bear was the result and was first published as a nameless character in a strip titled "Little Lost Bear" on
Daily Express March 2018. The paper's editorial stances have often been seen as aligned to the UK Independence Party (UKIP), Euroscepticism and other right-wing factions including the right-wing of the Conservative Party. On 9 February 2018, Trinity Mirror said it would acquire the Daily Express' parent company, Northern and Shell Media, in a deal worth £126.7m. In addition to its sister paper, Express Newspapers also publishes the red top newspapers the "Daily Star" and "Daily Star Sunday". The "Daily Express" was founded in 1900 by Sir Arthur Pearson, with the first issue appearing on 24 April 1900. Pearson, who had lost his