Boris Johnson resigns as Spectator editor

16 December 2005

Boris Johnson has stepped down as editor of The Spectator after accepting a job from new Tory leader David Cameron, a move which has long been rumoured to be in the pipeline.

Johnson, who became Cameron's higher education spokesman on Friday, said in a statement that the chance to return to the Tory team was "fantastic" and he would "need time and thought to do it properly".

He was sacked as shadow arts minister by Michael Howard last year for lying over his affair with columnist Petronella Wyatt.

He added: "I want to pay tribute to everyone at the magazine who has helped with its current success. For the last six and a half years we have had more fun than seems altogether proper. "When Conrad Black gave me the editorship in the summer of 1999, he said he wanted the magazine to be more talked about. I believe we have discharged that obligation beyond his wildest dreams. "We have won all sorts of prizes. We have broken all sorts of stories."

Johnson's position will be covered by his deputy, Stuart Reid, until a replacement is found. Rumours of who could fill the editor role have been circulating for weeks, with Waitrose Food Illustrated editor William Sitwell, Tatler editor Geordie Grieg and Fraser Nelson, political editor of The Scotman, all said to be in the picture.

Spectator CEO Andrew Neil said: "Boris has been a wonderful and magnificent editor of The Spectator and we are sorry to lose him; in many ways he will be irreplaceable. But we wish him every success in his political career.

"Boris leaves the magazine in better shape than it has ever been in its long and glorious history, both editorially and financially. "Sales will hit a record 70,000 this December and the magazine has recorded another healthy profit in 2005. The editorial breadth and quality under his editorship has been unrivalled.

"Though he is stepping down as editor I am delighted that Boris will continue to have a close association with The Spectator, including a new column for us in the New Year. "As we begin the search for his replacement, I am also delighted that the magazine will be in the reliable and competent hands of Stuart Reid."