‘Less experience than a messenger boy!' Osborne under fire as new Evening Standard editor
GEORGE Osborne’s appointment as the new editor of the Evening Standard has been met with heavy criticism, as top journalists lead the attacks on his credentials.
Osborne's new role slated: Less experience than a messenger boy
Former Evening Standard editor Simon Jenkins and Mail on Sunday columnist Rachel Johnson both told BBC’s Newsnight programme they would be outraged if they were overlooked for the editor position in favour of a former politician with no journalism experience.
Mr Jenkins said he would be “very annoyed”, while Ms Johnson added: “If I’d known a few weeks ago that somebody with less experience than the messenger boy on the Brighton Evening Argus was going to take the helm of one of the largest circulation newspapers in the country, I’d have been in there like a rat up a drainpipe!”
It strikes me that he feels he has more power running a newspaper than he does as a backbencher
Both journalists admitted concerns over how the former Chancellor will balance his time between the six jobs he now holds.
After news of his appointment broke, Mr Osborne claimed: “I will speak for London and Londoners through this paper as its editor, and we will judge whatever their Government does, whatever the Mayor does, against that simple test: is it good for London?”
However, with his Tatton constituency located 130 miles away from London, both Mr Jenkins and Ms Johnson admitted they didn’t know how long Osborne would be able to balance the roles.
Ms Johnson asked: “Which is his day job? Is it editing the Standard, or is it being a loyal Tory backbencher? I suggest that it’s probably going to be the former - his constituency in Tatton is being redrawn anyway… it interests me that he’s not decided to dump the voters of Tatton anyway.
“It strikes me that he feels he has more power running a newspaper… than he does as a backbencher where all signs of dissent are stifled by the autocracy of the Tory right. Dissent is no longer permitted in Parliament, dissent is luckily still permitted in the press.”
Meanwhile, Mr Jenkins appeared concerned that the nature of the two jobs represented a conflict of interest.
He said: “I’m assuming he’ll be an editor-in-chief and someone else will run the paper but you cannot run a paper half a day. It’s difficult to slam off your friends in the morning and go and talk to them in the afternoon.”
Concerns were also raised about how Mr Osborne plans to sustain his role as Chairman of the Northern Powerhouse Partnership while he is supposed to be representing the people of London.
Newsnight viewers took to social media to express their dismay at Mr Osborne’s latest job.
One wrote: “Wasn't George Osborne booed at London Olympics? Yet the Evening Standard think he's the guy to edit their paper?”
Another tweeted: “I think that Mr Osborne really should question whether he wants to carry on as an MP. Is his heart still in politics?”