As Alex Wickham approaches the end of his time as Playbook editor, one gets the sense that his SW1 diplomacy skills are beginning to fade. This morning Patrick Maguire – editor of The Times Red Box – received a glowing endorsement for his rival morning newsletter from Matt Chorley, including the less-than-subtle dig that it’s “unencumbered by being too close to No10.”
If you're not reading @patrickkmaguire's Red Box every morning, you're missing out.
— Matt Chorley (@MattChorley) May 20, 2022
Concise, smart, funny, unencumbered by being too close to No10.
It's so good, the FT have launched a carbon copy of it
Latest one: https://t.co/HFpSffgx7D
Subscribe https://t.co/9X3raNDYWa pic.twitter.com/IbNZNyeD27
A dig Wiki couldn’t take lying down…
another tweet! You’re obsessed. Certainly makes a difference from all your texts begging to go into my runners and riders. Is that cos you’re desperate for a different job or to still appear relevant?
— Alex Wickham (@alexwickham) May 20, 2022
Chorley walked straight into Wiki’s trap, however, denying ever asking to be included in a runners and rider’s list. Thankfully Alex had the receipts…
thanks and all the best pic.twitter.com/6S1jbrXctn
— Alex Wickham (@alexwickham) May 20, 2022
Guido’s surprised to see Matt Chorley severing ties with Politico in this way – as co-conspirators will be aware he was considered a prime front runner to replace Wiki, as per Guido’s runners and riders list. Alas it wasn’t to be…
After two years writing Politico’s London Playbook email, Alex Wickham is set to leave for Bloomberg in the summer. He will have a correspondent-at-large role there, focusing on British and global politics. This will no doubt be a welcome change for him to go back to writing his own stories rather than ripping off everyone else’s work for a living. The Playbook job is a killer – the late nights cutting and pasting are not something one can do forever. Big money Bloomberg is said to be set on expanding its UK operation with some punchy hires…
This will kick off a big Lobby merry-go-round over the summer with political editor and senior reporter jobs going at the Telegraph and Guardian as well as the Sun on Sunday and Sky News after David Wooding went to the Sunday Express and Kate McCann went to TalkTV. Hope for Ben Riley-Smith yet…
As the picture above shows, the late nights and early starts required by Playbook will age you. Nevertheless, Guido understands interviews for the Playbook job are underway with some top lobby names already approached. Some runners and riders – Ben Riley-Smith, Hugo Gye, Patrick Maguire (which would add to the Politico takeover of Times talent), Katy Balls, Seb Payne, James Heale, Kate Proctor, Matt Chorley and Christian Calgie. Hacks with limited Tory contacts should forget it…
Guido’s April Fools’ Joke this year was an email subscriber exclusive; parodying Playbook, many Westminster insiders confessed their brief confusion on receiving a short digest of the news in their inbox fifteen minutes earlier than Playbook normally hits. Highlights included an update on Tom Harwood’s leaving do and an all too accurate parody of the day’s media round.
Guido’s glad to report the joke was taken in the lighthearted way it was intended by Politico’s Alex Wickham, though he’s sure the Playbook team will be delighted to hear that while our version of his epistle got warm feedback from most in the SW1 bubble, it backfired in that it caused the largest number of confused Guidogram unsubscribers in a single day ever. To the 186 unsubscribers this morning, you’re welcome to return as a subscriber to tomorrow’s news, today. To those of you who missed the email this morning, you can read it here…
Defending the indefensible…
