The betting markets were thrown into chaos yesterday afternoon as Jon Sopel announced he was quitting the BBC to launch a new Global podcast with Emily Maitlis. Sopel had been in the lead ever since Vicky Young formally ruled herself out as a contender back in January – despite Guido’s top advice that a punt on Alex Forsyth would be a good move.
Forsyth has now taken a big lead in the race, with a 27% chance of nabbing the job versus Faisal Islam’s 9%. Amol Rajan and Sam Coates trail way behind on 4.4% and 1.3% respectively. Guido wonders if a surprise outsider could be on the cards? Applications closed on the 10th – can’t be long to wait now…