The son of John, a tailor’s pattern cutter, and his wife Alice, a homemaker, Shrimsley (previously Shremski) was born in London to a Jewish family who had migrated to the UK.
[1][2][3] Educated at Kilburn Grammar School, along with his brother, Anthony, Shrimsley was evacuated to Northampton from London during the war, but had to go the police for a release as their guardians mistreated them.
[2] Appointed as deputy editor of The Sun newspaper in 1969 shortly before its relaunch as a tabloid, Shrimsley was recommended to new owner Rupert Murdoch by Larry Lamb, his immediate superior.
Following the launch in May 1982,[5] The Mail on Sunday's initially projected circulation of 1.25 million,[9] was not reached after ten issues, and Shrimsley was replaced.
[2][11] He advised Sir James Goldsmith's Referendum Party during the 1997 general election, and wrote editorials for the Press Gazette from 1999 until 2002.
The Silly Season, wrote Roy Greenslade in The Guardian, is a "fine piece of satire" about tabloid journalism which contains "considerable wit and verve".