George Osborne to become editor of London Evening Standard

George OsborneImage copyright
Stefan Rousseau

Former Chancellor George Osborne has been appointed editor of the London Evening Standard newspaper.

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

The BBC’s media editor Amol Rajan said Mr Osborne, who is to edit the paper four days a week, intended to stay on as MP for Tatton, in Cheshire.

But Mr Osborne is facing calls to quit politics altogether, with Jeremy Corbyn calling the appointment a “joke”.

Labour MP John Mann said Mr Osborne – who was sacked as chancellor by Theresa May in July – was “pretending” to be an MP and becoming a full-time newspaper editor on top of being an MP “devalued Parliament”.

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PA

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George Osborne speaks to Standard journalists

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”.

“I am proud to have an editor of such substance, who reinforces The Standard’s standing and influence in London and whose political viewpoint – socially liberal and economically pragmatic – closely matches that of many of our readers,” tweeted Mr Lebedev.

‘Surprise’

The newspaper said its schedule would enable Mr Osborne to “continue to fulfil his other commitments, including as an MP; giving him the time to vote and contribute in Parliament in the afternoon after the paper has gone to print, and be in his constituency”.

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The Standard is owned by Evgeny Lebedev

Mr Osborne, who earlier addressed Standard journalists in the paper’s news room, said it was a “great honour” to be asked to take charge of one of the UK’s most influential newspapers.

He sought to play down concerns about his political neutrality, saying he would be “fearless” in speaking up for Londoner’s interests.

“Growing up as a Londoner, I’ve always known that the Evening Standard is an institution that plays a huge part in the life of the city and its people,” he said.

“I am proud to be a Conservative MP, but as editor and leader of a team of dedicated and independent journalists, our only interest will be to give a voice to all Londoners.

“We will judge what the government, London’s politicians and the political parties do against this simple test: is it good for our readers and good for London? If it is, we’ll support them; if it isn’t we’ll be quick to say so.”

Rajan, a former editor of The Independent, which is also owned by Mr Lebedev, said the appointment was a “fantastic coup” for the newspaper but would “take a considerable amount of people by surprise”.


Analysis: By BBC Media Editor Amol Rajan

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AFP

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The Evening Standard became a free title in 2010

The Standard is an afternoon paper, which means that the daily edition is sent to the printers at 11:00 GMT. Osborne will get into the office around 05:00 GMT, work until midday, and then balance his other duties thereafter.

But aside from persuading constituents he is still available to them, he faces a huge challenge in keeping the Standard profitable.

Read Amol’s full blog


Patti Goddard, president of the Tatton Conservative Association, said it fully supported the former chancellor on his “exciting” career move, insisting it would not affect his reputation as a “hard-working” constituency MP.

Mr Osborne has been congratulated by London Mayor Sadiq Khan, who said he would be covering the “world’s greatest city”. But Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn tweeted: “It’s taking multitasking to an extreme level – what a joke.”

And Labour MP Paul Flynn criticised what he said was the “revolving door” between government and the private sector.

He said efforts by the Advisory Committee on Business Appointments watchdog to stop former ministers from moving seamlessly into “lucrative” roles in other fields had proved “futile”. Mr Osborne has said he will seek guidance from the watchdog before taking up the new role.

Former Tatton MP Martin Bell said his first reaction to the announcement was that it “sounds like fake news to me”, suggesting on BBC Radio 5 Live that the politician would have to be “superman” to combine his various roles.

Former Labour leader Ed Miliband joked on Twitter that he would “shortly be announced as editor of Heat magazine”.

Since leaving frontline politics, the former chancellor has become a visiting fellow at a US university and an adviser to US fund manager BlackRock, for which he is being paid £650,000 for four days work a month.

Mr Osborne, who has been an MP since 2001 and was chancellor for six years will address staff at the newspaper later on Friday. It has a circulation of 850,000 to 900,000 copies a day, having become a free title in 2010.

Mr Osborne had ambitions to be a journalist as a young man. He failed to get a place on The Times’ trainee scheme after graduating from Oxford University – at which he edited its Isis magazine – and was briefly a freelance reporter on the Daily Telegraph’s diary column.

George Osborne to become editor of London Evening Standard}