Patrick Wintour:

“The apotheosis of May-ism. Her ministers unable to agree what it means to set a date for when they expect to stop kicking a can down the road.”

Compare and contrast Rachel Sylvester’s drive-by shooting of Boris two weeks ago – branding him an “international joke”, a “wally”, an “irrelevance” – with today’s piece coming to BoJo’s defence: “It is legitimate for the foreign secretary, who has been criticised for his lack of seriousness, to express his opinion on the biggest diplomatic dilemma facing the country in a generation”. What could possibly have caused such a sudden change of mind? Surely nothing to do with the fact that Rachel’s husband, Patrick Wintour of the Guardian, is off to New York to interview Boris…

Last month Guido brought you the news that Guardian political editor Patrick Wintour is stepping down. It seems new editor Kath Viner is looking for someone a bit more digital-friendly.

“Understanding of social media” is “a strong advantage” says the job advert, going on to stress the successful candidate will have to “embrace social media as part of the Guardian’s commitment to open journalism and engagement of our audience”. Not only that, they will be “willing to embrace different media and non-text ways of telling stories“. You don’t even need to have inky fingers to apply, experience on a “national website” will do.

That said, “experience in front of camera” is described as “desirable“, which is good news for telegenic chief political correspondent Nick Watt. The deadline for applications is two weeks today. Anyone with a Twitter account or blog can apply here. No, they can’t afford Guido…

UPDATE: Kath Viner emails Guardian staff:

“After an extraordinary 27 years working in the lobby for the Guardian and the Observer, the last nine of them as political editor for the Guardian, Patrick Wintour has decided it’s time to move on. Patrick will become diplomatic editor, reporting to the international desk in London. I’d like to thank him for all his incredible hard work over such a long period. Julian Borger becomes world affairs editor, and will move to Washington DC next year.”

Whispers emanating from both the Lobby and the Guardian newsroom suggest Patrick Wintour’s tenure as political editor could soon be over. The rumour doing the rounds is that his telegenic deputy, Nick Watt, has caught the eye of new editor Kath Viner. There is however some discontent among Guardianistas that politically centrist Watt is not as Corbynista-friendly as they would like. Watt will only tell Guido:

“There will be a full, open, transparent process. You should apply!”

Wintour is sixty and has had a career spanning almost 40 years, nine as Guardian Pol Ed. Wintour is not commenting on the matter. Will he retire to a lingering Michael White style comment role, or is there one last big pay cheque lined up? Buzzfeed are hiring…

It sounds like Guardian Pol Ed Patrick Wintour enjoyed flying with the PM back from Asia. The Speccie have the inside story from 35,000 feet:

“Wintour – who appeared to be enjoying the champagne on offer – decided the time had come for him to be a trolley dolly and assisted an air hostess by taking the other end of the trolley.

To the surprise of ministers on the plane, he made his way down the aisle putting ice and lemon in the cups, and getting drinks out of the drawers on his side of the trolley, repeatedly shouting ‘this is so easy’.”

Must have been the jet lag…

For those in search of the #EdStone I have the first clue. It is in a garage in South London under lock adnd key. More follows.

— Patrick Wintour (@patrickwintour) May 13, 2015

There is a Big Yellow Storage place in Kennington…