The continued vacancy at the top of left-leaning political weekly the New Statesman is causing much scratching of heads. When Fraser Nelson’s departure from the Spectator was announced last September, his replacement – Michael Gove – was announced the very same day. But it is now over three months since Jason Cowley stepped down at the Statesman, and at the time of writing there is still no successor in place.
Cowley’s well-liked and capable deputy Tom Gatti is filling the role as acting editor, but many of the obvious candidates to take the job permanently are rumoured to have ruled themselves out of the running. Foremost among those is Cowley’s longtime deputy Helen Lewis, now firmly installed with the Atlantic and Private Eye, and understood to have no interest in a return.
Stephen Bush, Lewis Goodall and Tom McTague were all mentioned as contenders at various stages of the process, but none seem to have claimed the role. The unusual gulf is leading the rumour mill to publicly turn over more names – the Economist’s Bagehot columnist Duncan Robinson and writer Phil Tinline have both been mentioned. But if there is a consensus, it’s that the silence is becoming unnerving. Surely they can find someone for what should be one of the better gigs in the media?
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