Former kitchen porter appointed editor of The Sun

Tony Gallagher, the deputy editor of the Daily Mail, has been appointed editor-in-chief of The Sun, Britain's biggest selling daily newspaper. The 51-year-old, who becomes the first person to edit a broadsheet newspaper and a tabloid, hit the headlines in 2014 when he took a job as a kitchen junior after he left the Daily Telegraph.

Only weeks after being brutally ejected from the editor's chair at the right-wing paper, Gallagher began work at Moro – a fashionable restaurant in Islington, north London – slightly lower down the career ladder than he had been accustomed to.

When a newspaper contacted the restaurant, a staff member confirmed Gallagher was carting trays of vegetables to the kitchen and helping prepare North African and Spanish dishes. His short stint in the kitchen soon came to end when he was recalled to the Daily Mail, where he was previously head of news.

Gallagher, who helmed the Daily Telegraph's mega-expose of the MPs' expenses scandal in 2009, is highly respected as the consummate journalist with "ink in his veins". He also has a fearsome reputation for no-nonsense management style.

"It is my great pleasure and honour to be taking charge at the Sun," he said. "It's a job I couldn't possibly turn down and I'm looking forward to working closely with Rebekah, David and the rest of the team at The Sun. I can't wait to get started."