Portillo … from Politics to Critics Circle???

Forget about who’s on-stage, one of the most unlikeliest theatre appointments we’ve heard in years is happening off-stage. The Evening Standard reports that former Conservative MP Michael Portillo will be the new theatre critic at the New Statesman. The magazine’s one-time critic, Sheridan Morley, was similarly replaced on the Spectator a few years back by Toby Young, who, despite having his book How to Lose Friends and Alienate People adapted into a stage play, admitted to knowing next to nothing about theatre. Portillo's shortage of relevant experience doesn't seem to bother New Statesman editor Peter Wilby, who says the magazine’s audience isn't really interested in theatre. So why bother? Because, says deputy editor Cristina Odone, "Portillo is simply too big a name to turn down." Whoever next? Maybe William Hague could take over from Charles Spencer on the Daily Telegraph, Neil Kinnock from Michael Billington on the Guardian, Ken Livingstone (if he doesn't get re-elected) from Nicholas de Jongh on the Evening Standard, Edwina Currie from Georgina Brown on the Mail on Sunday or Jeffrey Archer from Michael Coveney on the Daily Mail.

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