The Daily Mirror has been crowned Daily Newspaper of the Year after landing a hat-trick of prestigious gongs at the London Press Club Awards.
We beat competition from across the UK media to claim the top prize for our agenda-setting coverage at the annual awards, judged by a panel of experts led by LBC’s Nick Ferrari.
Judges praised our coverage of the 'Partygate' scandal, our ground-breaking series on disability in the UK which was edited and written exclusively by people with disabilities, and our cost-of-living coverage - including work to expose soaring executive pay.
The Mirror's Partygate coverage also received the Hugh Cudlipp award.
Named after former Mirror Group chairman Hugh Cudlipp, the prize celebrates the country’s best investigative and campaigning journalism.
In addition, the Mirror’s former Political Editor Pippa Crerar was named Journalist of the Year.
When Crerar first revealed Boris Johnson had broken his own lockdown rules by hosting parties with staff and MPs at No.10, she was met with obfuscation and lies by No 10.
It was only thanks to Crerar’s tenacious reporting that the truth was finally exposed.
Partygate resulted in Johnson becoming the first serving Prime Minister to be issued with a police fine and played a pivotal role in his subsequent departure from office.
Winners were announced at a lunch on Wednesday at Stationers’ Hall, central London.
Guest speaker Michael Gove, a former journalist and Levelling Up Secretary, said a strong and free press is the "best ideal of democracy".
In a speech, he said: "What keeps democracy alive, what ensures that this country works and is a country of which we can be proud, is the tradition of free speech, and a free press, and free inquiry.”
He also stressed the value of local media and expressed concern about the "erosion" of circulation figures over recent years.
"Local newspapers, local media, including local radio, reflect the communities that they serve superbly well,” he added.
"As Secretary of State for Levelling Up, one of the things I think is vitally important that we do in Government is everything we can to support local voices”.
He said it was important that local communities "have a voice, that those in power locally are checked and scrutinised".
Mirror Editor Alison Phillips said: “We’re delighted the Mirror has led the way on telling the truth about the scandal of partying and the lies behind it by those in power.
“We have held those in power to account through the cost of living crisis and we are particularly proud of the work we have done in giving a platform to people with disabilities to report on the issue which affect them.”