Mimi Yates
with Matthew MacLeod, Daily Mail
Mimi Yates is an investigative multimedia journalist working at the intersection of social media and public-interest reporting. She specialises in social-first investigations that bring rigorous, empathetic journalism to audiences beyond traditional news spaces. At the Daily Mail, she has led original reporting for one of the world’s largest social news audiences, focusing on underreported stories shaping modern Britain, particularly those centred on inequality, young people and lives often hidden in plain sight. Most recently, her work has formed part of Underground UK, a cross-platform investigative series launched with producer Matthew MacLeod – built for social media and extended across digital and print. Alongside her investigations, she fronts The Report, a breaking news explainer format that makes major stories accessible to millions of viewers.
Her shortlisted pieces were:
- The homeless people delivering your food
- Revealed: Why many of the riders who deliver your gourmet takeaway are homeless and forced to eat their dinner in a soup kitchen
- Delivering but homeless
Mimi Yates is a brilliant young journalist. Her shortlisted reporting exposed exactly how the takeaway meals that are in our homes almost ad infinitum are actually being delivered by people who are being horrendously exploited, and that the reality of homelessness is not just a lack of accommodation and support, it is also a broader story of economic exploitation. Mimi tells the story in a direct and human way. If you are fighting for space on the pages of the Daily Mail you are competing against some of the best journalists in the country, so for a young journalist to have a story of real social relevance blasting its way onto the front pages of the Daily Mail is a great achievement. A name to watch for the future.
– Michael Gove, Chair of Judges,
The Orwell Prize for Reporting Homelessness 2026
