George Osborne to become editor of London Evening Standard

[T_i_B]

Once upon a time, the London Evening Standard was actually quite a good newspaper, and a trip to London didn't feel complete without buying a copy. But the Evening Standard has been in decline in terms of quality for about 15 years now, became a freesheet in 2009 and I can't see the appointment of an extremely partisan careerist politician doing anything to stop the rot. Quite the opposite in fact.

Lebedev's description of Gideon Osborne as "London through and through" is also very telling, given that he represents a Northern constituency and was the main architect of the "Northern Powerhouse" gumph.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-39304944

Former Chancellor George Osborne is to become editor of the London Evening Standard newspaper, in a surprise move that has angered opposition MPs.

The Tory MP said he was "thrilled" to succeed Sarah Sands, who is leaving to edit the BBC's Today programme.

Mr Osborne, who is to edit the paper four days a week, intends to stay on as MP for Tatton, in Cheshire. But he is facing calls to quit politics altogether, with Jeremy Corbyn calling the appointment a "joke".

The Standard's proprietor, Evgeny Lebedev, said Mr Osborne was "London through and through" and he was confident that the MP was "the right person to build on the fantastic legacy of Sarah Sands".

[T_i_B]

1. Some of the reactions to this from Tw@tter

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[Ghost Dog]

2. Osborne, an editor of substance (Marina Hyde)

What a privilege to be able to welcome George Osborne to the ranks of journalistic colleaguery. The former News of the World cover star and chancellor is the new editor of the London Evening Standard, a role he will combine with his jobs as MP for Tatton and being a £650,000-a-year escort for an investment fund. Osborne has now been a Tory chancellor, an investment banker and a newspaper journalist – a sequence whose next two terms are estate agent and serial sex killer.

Primarily, it is a thrill to see Osborne finally get his break in journalism, over two decades after failing to get on the Times graduate trainee scheme. Bless him for keeping on plugging away – it’s so easy to get discouraged by a setback like that. My advice to young journalists seeking to emulate his success is to consider adding a similar interest point to your own CV. Have you had experience of running an austerity con? Did you probably destroy the union? Pop those alongside your freelance local paper cuttings and see how you get on...

... Announcing the appointment, the Evening Standard’s preposterous proprietor, Evgeny Lebedev, declared: “I am proud to have an editor of such substance.” What substance? Is it crystal meth? ... As for Lebedev, no appointment by him could really be regarded as eyebrow-raising – particularly when you’re as Botoxed as the nine circles of his friendship inferno are. A starfucker of thermonuclear pretensions, Lebedev is marginally more likely to dip-dye his horse’s mane for a W magazine feature than he is to appoint it features editor. But only marginally.

I suppose he shares Osborne’s sense that we are all in things together, and consequently can be found jetting round the world conducting vanity interviews for his papers at the same time as announcing ever more vicious cuts in his various newsrooms. Back home, he serves as a sort of salon host for people whose faces have been so eaten by the mask of fame that they no longer retain any proper friends. Only the insecure or power-addled could fail to detect in Lebedev a ghastly character who has – infuriatingly, for him – yet to break on to even the B-list of recognisable ghastlies as far as the general public is concerned...

https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2017/mar/17/george-osborne-editor-substance-london-evening-standard