[citation needed] In its early years, the Hull Daily Mail's editorial stance was declared as both defensive and aggressive conservatism, though with regard to local news and affars, the newspaper's reporting would not be influenced by national Conservative Party policy.

[8][5]: 10–15 The Hull Daily Mail, then simply known as the Daily Mail, would endure competition with other newspapers established on Whitefriargate in the 1910s, including the Eastern Morning News, Hull Evening News and the weekly Hull News all operating from an office on the north side of the street, while the Daily Mail and a number of its own weekly titles continued to publish in competition on the south side of the street.

[5]: 24–31  Tabloid format would be adopted in 1986, followed by the formal rebranding to the Hull Daily Mail, and the newspaper vacated the Jameson Street 'Mail Buildings' for a new complex on the junction of Spring Bank and Beverley Road, known as 'Blundell's Corner', in 1989.

[9] As part of a Trinity Mirror restructure, Neil Hodgkinson, editor of the Hull Daily Mail, was promoted to editor-in-chief in February 2016 for Humber and Lincolnshire regions, overseeing the Grimsby Telegraph, Scunthorpe Telegraph and Lincolnshire Echo as well as the Mail.

[10] The Hull Daily Mail changed its banner head on its website to 'Hull Live' after the company was taken over by Trinity Mirror in 2017.

Printed on distinctive green newsprint, it was available an hour after the end of the afternoon matches of the city's football and Rugby League teams, and newsagents would stay open specifically to sell and distribute it.