A damaging impasse at the Express between Richard Desmond and editor Rosie Boycott has been overcome with the departure of Boycott and her deputy Chris Blackhurst.

The paper's associate editor, Chris Williams, has been appointed as Boycott's successor.

There are reports that Boycott, who left the Express with a reported £200,000 payout, has been approached by Labour with a view to becoming a working peer after the next election.