Gay journalist Andrew Pierce to join Daily Mail

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Andrew Pierce, the assistant editor of the Daily Telegraph, is to join the Daily Mail as consultant editor.

Pierce, 48, has worked at The Times and the Daily Express after beginning his career in local newspapers.

He has written about being gay before and made a number of broadcast appearances to speak about the expenses scandal after the Daily Telegraph broke the story this summer.

According to Press Gazette, he will take on a “leading writing and reporting role” as well as writing a column.

The paper’s editor Paul Dacre described him as a “brilliant writer and a fearless and remorseless story getter”.

Pierce said: “I’ve had three wonderful years on the Telegraph and am leaving on a high. But I couldn’t turn down the opportunity to work in such an exciting role on a great paper like the Mail.”

He was ranked as the sixth most powerful gay person in British politics by PinkNews.co.uk in 2007, when he was described as “a ball of giggles, gossip, scandal and kinetic energy”.

Pierce will join a number of high-profile columnists at the Daily Mail, including Jan Moir, whose article on gay Boyzone star Stephen Gately earlier this year drew accusations of homophobia.

Moir subsequently blamed a “heavily orchestrated internet campaign” and said it was “mischievous in the extreme” to suggest the article was homophobic.