No, Mehdi, I Haven't Turned on the New Statesman

The New Statesman's senior political editor Mehdi Hasan has written a blogpost titled IAIN DALE & ME. I must admit, I wasn't sure what to expect. It didn't start well.

I have an admission: prior to joining the New Statesman in June, I disliked Iain Dale.

It didn't end well, either.

Iain, you can remain a slave to political opinion. James [Macintyre] and I prefer to lead it.

Well, you've got to laugh, haven't you? This was a reference to their view, expressed by Macintyre yesterday that Labour will win the next election. Apparently, according to Hasan, I expect them to conform to the prevailing wisdom. Actually, that's not the case, but neither have they ever articulated proper reasons for holding that view, beyond a partisan belief.

Hasan also alleges...

Since the Kaminski row, Dale has turned on the New Statesman, and on James Macintyre and me.

Er, not true. I have merely pointed out falsehoods and inaccuracies in their coverage of the Kaminski issue, just as I have with other publications and journalists.

For the record, I liked Mehdi Hasan when I met him and I have also praised James Macintyre's interviews. But I don't resile from the fact that I think their coverage of Westminster coverage is not up to the mark of their predecessor's. And I know I am not alone in that. Virtually everyone I know on the left thinks so too. So they shouldn't be so precious about a bit of harmless and well-intentioned criticism.

Doesn't look like I'll be gracing the New Statesman's pages any time soon, does it? :)

The New Statesman Diary

I've written the Diary in this week's New Statesman. You can read the whole thing HERE, but here's a taster.

It's not just the British economy that has been going back to the Seventies. For Christmas 2007 I was given a machine that lets you convert vinyl recordings into MP3 files. It sat in its box for a year because I feared I wouldn't be able to figure out how to make it work. Last week I finally plucked up the courage and linked it to my laptop. And what do you know? It's easy to operate and I have started putting all my 1,500 singles and 200 LPs on to my iPod. I have discovered records I had forgotten I possessed, and which I last played more than 20 years ago. I still can't find a record that the Liberal Party released for the 1964 election called "The Jo Grimond Song", though. Or a 12-inch acid-house track from 1991 called "Maggie's Last Party", with Lady Thatcher's dulcet tones dubbed over house music - an NS reader offer if ever there was one.

Those of us on the right who broke the habit of a lifetime, as well as our Republican tribal allegiances, and supported Barack Obama are now in a bit of a bind. We want him to prove us right, if only so we can salve our consciences, but we're also keen for the Republicans to find a moderate voice to challenge Obama in 2012. That can't happen while Sarah Palin remains the de facto leader of what is rapidly becoming a narrow right-wing sect rather than a big-tent political party. Like Tony Blair, Obama will go through his first term with no serious opposition. Let's hope he achieves more than Blair did.

LabourHome Shows Its True Colours

Alex Hilton is the self styled 'genius' behind LabourHome. Here's his latest barmy idea to make his site more popular - banning Tories from it. Way to go, Alex! The thing is, would anyone actually notice?


Judging from these figures, LabourHome is getting a derisory amount of traffic rival, compared to its Conservative inspiration ConservativeHome. LabourHome was bought by the New Statesman recently, who will be looking for results. If banning Conservatives from the site meets with the approval of Alex Hilton's new paymasters, it is a sad day for political debate on the internet.

What Next for the New Statesman?

Several blogs, led by Red Box, reported last week that Steve Richards had been offered the post of New Statesman editor. I'm told an announcement is imminent. Steve's current perch is chief political commentator for The Independent, a post I imagine he could cheerfully combine with the 'Staggers' editorship. He is one of the nicest political pundits you could hope to meet, and if he does take the post I know he will inspire a great deal of loyalty from those who will be working for him. But he will not be walking into an easy job.

The New Statesman has never quite worked out whether it should be a cheerleader for the Labour Party, a critical friend or a downright enemy. At times it has tried to be all three, and it hasn't really worked. I thought John Kampfner did a terrific job in making it more readable and appealing to people who maybe weren't its natural readers (ie. me!). The redesign was a great success, but despite circulation rising in 2006, it plummeted again in 2007. A lot of money was invested in marketing initiatives, but they failed to reap the long term readership loyalty which had been hoped for. Despite all other current affairs publications putting on circulation last year, the New Statesman experience a downturn.

There was talk of Neal Lawson of Compass being recruited by NS owner Geoffrey Robinson. It would have been a brave decision to recruit a non journalist and someone who is considered highly partisan. Steve Richards would bring professionalism and guile to the job, but one has to ask the question how long Geoffrey Robinson will continue to fund the loss making publication. We keep reading hints that he has lost a lot of money in recent times, presumably linked to his departure from the chairmanship of Coventry City FC. Could a sale of the NS be in the offing?

But what do its readers want from the NS in future? A bit more humour of the non 'right on' variety wouldn't go amiss. Anyone who thinks Mark Thomas is either funny or interesting anymore needs a doctor's note. I asked a friend on the left what he wanted from it. "More fun – which means changing the cast of characters, and getting the best writers from Westminster and beyond to write for it, not the dreary list of leftish/post-modern ‘rainbow coalition’ contributors they have now," he said.

I think Steve Richard's sense of the absurd, his recent conversion to the ways of new media and his ability to attract top class writers will mean he stands a high chance of succeeding. But having written all this, I've probably now put the black spot on him and they'll announce Polly Toynbee as the new editor in five minutes time!

Who Wants to be Editor of the New Statesman?

I was talking to a friend yesterday lunchtime about what's going on at the New Statesman. It's a good few weeks since John Kampfner walked the plank, yet news of his successor comes there none. Could it be that editing the 'Staggers', as it is affectionately known, is not quite such an attractive proposition as it once was? If Private Eye is to be believed, New Statesman proprietor Geoffrey Robinson wants to appoint Neal Lawson as the new editor. If this is true, I predict the end the NS as a serious magazine.

Lawson is the nearest you can get, with the possible exception of Kevin Maguire) to the original Gordon Brown 'arselikhan'. He was a former Brown bag carrier prior to the 1997 election, then went on to form the lobbying company LLM, before starting the Brownite think tank cum pressure group Compass. So far as I know he has never edited anything in his life, let alone been a journalist. Surely the New Statesman deserves better. Peter Wilby, John Lloyd, Ian Hargreaves and John Kampfner must be turning in their editorial graves.

There are plenty of people out there for Robinson to choose from, all of whom would do the New Statesman proud - Mark Seddon, Steve Richards, Jackie Ashley to name but three. The trouble is, I suspect that John Kampfner's departure will have made them all think twice.

Kampfner Tells Robinson to 'Stick It'

So John Kampfner has resigned as editor of the New Statesman. Guardian Online has the story HERE. Reading between the lines it seems perfectly clear that he has had a big fallout with the NS owner, Geoffrey Robinson MP. It's a real shame as the magazine under Kampfner's editorship has experienced something of a revival. The redesign has been popular and circulation has increased. Robinson reckons he should have got more 'bang for his buck' though. Or there is another explanation. Kampfner has been notably lukewarm in his opinion of Robinson's hero Gordon Brown (who he funded to a lavish extent when in opposition). Did Robinson tell him to be more efusive in his praise for the Dear Leader? If so, it looks like Kampfner told him what he could with his 'praise'.

I suspect this is a resignation Geoffrey Robinson will come to regret.