George Osborne to be new editor of the Evening Standard, only right that a Chancellor responsible for creating so many new jobs should take a few of them.

Good job it’s already gone free, ‘cos they’d have lost a ton of sales otherwise.

He has no journalistic background but was a very senior politician. By that logic, I could go straight into a job as a junior minister.

They were jokingly suggesting a cabinet post for Laura Kuenssberg the other day on the basis that she had spotted the manifesto betrayal on National Insurance that neither the PM nor Chancellor had, so why not?

I’m an accountant, so naturally i think I should have a crack at being Defence Secretary.

Well he’s got plenty of jobs and he’s pledged to remain an MP so it’s not as if he’s at a lose end. Therefore the obvious conclusion is that he’s secured the position of editor of the Standard purely for political power and influence.

Mind you the only way they can get Londoners to read the Standard in sufficient enough numbers is by giving it away free, so it might prove a lot of effort for not much political reward.

Although I’m sure Tories living in the London doughnut ring will appreciate a Eton-educated posh git editing the Standard, so it might hold some sway in the inner-Tory fratricide battles.

it goes both ways fortunately

inner-Tory fratricide battles

Damn! Is that on pay-per-view ?

Beats the crap out of Hunger Games on the DVD

Actually after giving it some thought I reckon being editor of the Standard will give Osborne more clout than at first it might appear.

He will be able to drop stories which embarrass the government, or at least relegate them to an obscure page deep within the paper (because it’s free many, if not most, Standard readers flick through it often just scanning).

Conversely he will be able to place other stories, perhaps ones attacking certain politicians, in very prominent places such as the front page. Even if people don’t pick up their free copies they can still read the headlines on the front page, something which the editor is responsible for.

OK the Standard is only a regional newspaper but London has a population which is 50% greater than that of Scotland. I can’t imagine many politicians, including Tory ones, wanting to rub Osborne up the wrong way after he starts his new job.

I am of course assuming that because Osborne is a politician he is likely to be politically motivated.

It sounds as if Osborne might have got himself a right result here. I’m not sure what it’s going to do to the credibility of the Standard though.