Dale Vince Plans a London-Wide Paper Built From Westminster Extra
Dale Vince plans to launch a London-wide news operation as part of a rescue of the group behind the Camden New Journal, Islington Tribune and Westminster Extra.
The proposal centres on expanding the Westminster Extra to cover London-wide issues, according to The Guardian. The rescue package has not been formally finalised. Vince said he would invest "whatever it takes" to support the loss-making group, meaning the papers spend more than they earn.
Vince is a multimillionaire entrepreneur and Labour donor, according to Sky News. He said he is not backing the titles for business reasons. He said he is motivated by rightwing bias in UK media.
The group employs 18 people, according to recent financial records. Vince said he would consider writing comment pieces for the London titles. He has launched an online publication called Babelfish.
The plan would add a new print-led presence to a London market that has thinned. The Evening Standard shut down its daily newspaper in 2024 and was replaced with a weekly edition renamed the London Standard. Separately, Jim Waterson founded the London Centric news site, which has more than 5,000 paying subscribers.
Vince's intervention came two years after his bid for the Observer. The Camden New Journal published its own announcement about the investment in the paper and its sister titles, headlined 'Rescue mission to save your voice!', according to Camden New Journal.
The broader context here is whether a small local operation can grow to city scale and last. A borough-based group built around three free titles and a small staff would need reporting capacity, distribution and revenue to sustain city-wide coverage. The Westminster Extra route offers an existing masthead, or established title, to build from rather than a start from zero. For specialists watching ownership and plurality, meaning how many independent owners and voices exist, the questions will be editorial independence, governance once funding is formalised, and whether subscriber and advertising models used by digital entrants can translate to print. Vince has framed the effort as intervention, not investment. The structure, once finalised, will determine how that distinction holds.
