In very curious news, it was announced today that George Osborne, current MP for Tatton and former Chancellor of the Exchequer, will be the new editor of the Evening Standard newspaper, the free London daily with a circulation of 850,000. Due to take on the role in May, when current editor Sarah Sands will step down, the news has been met with a mixture of shock, hilarity and anger. Many have pointed out that having a Tory MP at a newspaper's helm (Osborne has already stated that he doesn't plan to step down as MP) is a significant conflict of interest. Then there's the small question of being qualified for the job (his unsuccessful attempt to have a journalism career is well-documented).
While people in the industry reel at the new hire, we have collated some of the funniest responses to the surprise announcement.
The former Labour leader seemed to think it was pretty funny.
Breaking: I will shortly be announced as editor of Heat magazine....
— Ed Miliband (@Ed_Miliband) March 17, 2017
I mean, they still haven't announced the successor to Alexandra Shulman.
ANDREA LEADSOM FOR EDITOR OF VOGUE
— Eva Wiseman (@EvaWiseman) March 17, 2017
Journalists will be thrilled with being ruled over by someone with no editing experience, right?
That Evening Standard editor's announcement has gone down well in the newsroom today. pic.twitter.com/Z3rS8v6kht
— Giles Marshall (@gilesmarshall) March 17, 2017
Brutal.
I'm betting the job advert for 'Editor of the Evening Standard' was one line: 'must have the confidence of a mediocre white man.' #Osborne
— Laurie Penny (@PennyRed) March 17, 2017
And you thought the new Bake Off presenters were going to be the oddest new hires of the week.
CHANNEL 4: "Our new #GBBO hosts are a huge surprise... Noel Fielding & Sandi Toksvig!!!"
— Greg Jenner (@greg_jenner) March 17, 2017
EVENING STANDARD: "Hold my beer..."#Osborne
Thousands of wannabe journalists with NCTJ qualifications weep into their notepads.
Osborne's journalism career:
— Jim Waterson (@jimwaterson) March 17, 2017
–Didn't get hired by The Times graduate trainee scheme
–Bit of freelance work
–Becomes Evening Standard editor
Fun fact: the Evening Standard is in the same building as the Daily Mail.
From an Evening Standard journalist: pic.twitter.com/lUodyHtnLx
— Jonathan Haynes (@JonathanHaynes) March 17, 2017
Newspapers' revenue has been in steep decline for many years now.
George Osborne will discover he didn't he begin to understand the true meaning of "austerity" until his first day in a newspaper office
— Nick Cohen (@NickCohen4) March 17, 2017
And we'll just leave you with this.
The new editor of the London Evening Standard. pic.twitter.com/L8ZaP4aYvE
— Paul(Atreides)Wood (@SuperRetroid) March 17, 2017
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