Former chancellor faces calls to stand down as MP after being named as editor of London Evening Standard.
Former Chancellor George Osborne is to become editor of the London Evening Standard newspaper, in a surprise move that has angered Labour MPs.
The Tory MP said he was “thrilled” to succeed Sarah Sands, who is leaving to edit the BBC’s Today programme.
Mr Osborne, who is to edit the paper four days a week, intends to stay on as MP for Tatton, in Cheshire.
But he is facing calls to quit politics altogether, with Jeremy Corbyn calling the appointment a “joke”.
The Labour leader said he wanted an immediate by-election in Tatton, the seat Mr Osborne has represented since 2001 and is due to be abolished at the next election.
“The appointment makes a mockery of the independence of the media,” Mr Corbyn said. “It takes multitasking to a new level and is an insult to the electors he is supposed to serve. ”
The Standard’s proprietor, Evgeny Lebedev, said Mr Osborne was “London through and through” and he was confident that the MP was “the right person to build on the fantastic legacy of Sarah Sands”.
“I am proud to have an editor of such substance, who reinforces The Standard’s standing and influence in London and whose political viewpoint – socially liberal and economically pragmatic – closely matches that of many of our readers,” tweeted Mr Lebedev.
The newspaper said Mr Osborne would work as editor an “average of four days a week” and its schedule would enable him to “continue to fulfil his other commitments, including as an MP; giving him the time to vote and contribute in Parliament in the afternoon after the paper has gone to print, and be in his constituency”.
Mr Osborne, who earlier addressed Standard journalists in the paper’s news room, said it was a “great honour” to be asked to take charge of one of the UK’s most influential newspapers.
He sought to play down concerns about his political neutrality, saying he would be “independent” and “fearless” in speaking up for Londoners’ interests.
“Growing up as a Londoner, I’ve always known that the Evening Standard is an institution that plays a huge part in the life of the city and its people,” he said.
“I am proud to be a Conservative MP, but as editor and leader of a team of dedicated and independent journalists, our only interest will be to give a voice to all Londoners.
“We will judge what the government, London’s politicians and the political parties do against this simple test: is it good for our readers and good for London? If it is, we’ll support them; if it isn’t we’ll be quick to say so. ”
He told the newspaper’s journalists “I’ve got to learn from you because I may have run the country but I haven’t actually run a newspaper. I know there’s a lot for me to learn. ”
Amol Rajan, the BBC’s media editor who is a former editor of The Independent, which is also owned by Mr Lebedev, said the appointment was a “fantastic coup” for the newspaper but would “take a considerable amount of people by surprise”.
The Standard is an afternoon paper, which means that the daily edition is sent to the printers at 11:00 GMT. Osborne will get into the office around 05:00 GMT, work until midday, and then balance his other duties thereafter.
But aside from persuading constituents he is still available to them, he faces a huge challenge in keeping the Standard profitable.
Read Amol’s full blog
Patti Goddard, president of the Tatton Conservative Association, said it fully supported the former chancellor on his “exciting” career move, insisting it would not affect his reputation as a “hard-working” constituency MP.
Mr Osborne has been congratulated by London Mayor Sadiq Khan, who said he would be covering the “world’s greatest city”.
But Labour’s John Mann said Mr Osborne was already “invisible” in Parliament and accepting a new job “devalued Parliament”, while fellow Labour MP Paul Flynn criticised what he said was the “revolving door” between government and the private sector.
He said efforts by the Advisory Committee on Business Appointments watchdog to stop former ministers from moving seamlessly into “lucrative” roles in other fields had proved “futile”. Mr Osborne has said he will seek guidance from the watchdog before taking up the new role.
Robert Barrington, director of campaign group Transparency International, said it was an “astonishing conflict of interest” that damaged democracy and “smacks of greed and the accumulation of power”.
Former Tatton MP Martin Bell said his first reaction to the announcement was that it “sounds like fake news to me”, suggesting on BBC Radio 5 Live that the politician would have to be “superman” to combine his various roles.
Former Labour leader Ed Miliband joked on Twitter that he would “shortly be announced as editor of Heat magazine” while Lib Dem leader Tim Farron suggested his next job would be as editor of the adult comic Viz.
Since leaving frontline politics, the former chancellor has become a visiting fellow at a US university and an adviser to US fund manager BlackRock, for which he is being paid £650,000 for four days work a month.
Mr Osborne, who was chancellor for six years, had ambitions to be a journalist as a young man.
He failed to get a place on The Times’ trainee scheme after graduating from Oxford University – at which he edited its Isis magazine – and was briefly a freelance reporter on the Daily Telegraph’s diary column.
Defending his new job, he told BBC News “there are plenty of examples of MPs who’ve edited newspapers and magazines over the years”.
