Evening Standard editor Emily Sheffield waded into the row over Boris Johnson’s flat refurbishment this week. Sheffield – a regular visitor to Downing Street in the Cameron era, when her brother-in-law was prime minister – insisted the No. 11 flat ‘is no skip’ as some have implied.
As well as having the opportunity to check out the interiors firsthand, Sheffield also appears to have made some important connections along the way, judging by the familiar faces now adorning the pages of her newspaper. Sheffield, who once inadvertently posted a picture of David Cameron online in 2013, replaced George Osborne in the role as editor last year. Osborne, of course, is a man whose last journalistic experience was a rejection for the Times traineeship in 1993 – a lesson to all eager youngsters.
This week, another former Osborne apparatchik and Old Etonian was welcomed aboard
In his role as Standard editor, Osborne was reunited with former adviser turned columnist Rohan Silva. Osborne used the pages of the self-proclaimed ‘voice of London’ to address a few rifts dating from the Cameron era – turning the paper’s ire on Theresa May, who fired him after replacing Cameron. But is it under Osborne’s successor that the real Cameron fightback is now beginning? Mr S thinks a number of intriguing new hires suggests so.
As well as Rohan Silva’s infrequent contributions, Sheffield recently announced the appointment of former Tory minister and Old Etonian George Bridges as a consultant, praising his ‘brilliant brain’ and adding: ‘I really enjoy debating the topics of the day with George’. This will be Bridges’ first newspaper role.
This week, another former Osborne apparatchik and Old Etonian was welcomed aboard, with the onetime chancellor’s old chief of staff Rupert Harrison announcing that he will be writing ‘occasional columns’ for the struggling paper.
Who will be next? With his lobbying career coming to an end, could David Cameron himself be tempted by a new gig?
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