Under his editorship, The Observer's editorial view supported the invasion of Iraq, a stance that Alton, speaking to Stephen Sackur on the BBC's HARDtalk[5] (22 August 2008) has since admitted may have been incorrect.
He resigned on 24 October 2007 after "a bitter falling-out with senior figures at the title's sister paper, The Guardian", and left The Observer at the end of 2007.
He oversaw a rise in circulation during his editorship and introduced the award-winning Observer Sports, Food, and Music Monthlies.
[10] Alton resigned from The Independent in April 2010 when the paper reverted to its former editor, Simon Kelner.
[13] Some members of the website had campaigned against the newspaper after it was revealed that the News of the World employees had hacked mobile phone voicemail messages, including those of murdered teenager Milly Dowler and, allegedly, victims of the 7 July 2005 London bombings.