The Guardian editor Alan Rusbridger said recently that his paper’s
circulation traditionally falls under a Labour government because the
left-wing press prefers to be in opposition. If true, this spells bad
news for the New Statesman which has been clawing its circulation back
over the last two years from a nadir of 17,000.
New editor Peter Wilby isn’t worried though. ’I think our contacts with
New Labour will actually stand us in good stead over the next few
years,’ he says. ’The magazine is close to New Labour, although we
aren’t slavish supporters, and we are going to be able to carry the
debates that matter.
At a recent Downing Street seminar, the majority of the people there
either were writing for us or had written for us. We’ve people who are
well placed in Blair’s and Brown’s camps and we’ll have the discussion
within the party on our pages.’
Wilby hopes this will propel the New Statesman to the position of
leading political weekly journal in the country. His wish is for the New
Statesman to emulate the success of the Spectator in the 1980s and early
1990s.
’The Spectator is just boring now,’ he says. ’The right is bereft of
ideas and just seems to squabble over Europe. The Tory party is boring
and marginalised both by its size and its low standing in the opinion
polls. All the debates that matter are now on the left.’
Wilby isn’t content to let the changing political environment dictate
the New Statesman’s fortunes. There will be the inevitable redesign and
Wilby wants to boost what he calls ’the back section’ - covering arts
and books - which will expand into a section covering far more, from the
internet, food and science to sport and health.
’It’s not a lifestyle section though,’ he says with a shudder. ’There’s
enough of those. This should be a culture section and it should help the
magazine become more accessible.’
The New Statesman, claims Wilby, used to be a narrow, marginalised and
boring title with impenetrable writing that only appealed to the
converted.
His predecessor Ian Hargreaves, says Wilby, made the magazine more
accessible and he wants to build on that. He plans to recruit more
columnists to join the likes of Will Self, Hunter Davies and Michael
Bywater. Wilby’s just picked up Andrew Stephen, the Observer’s man in
Washington, as his own Washington correspondent, nabbed Jason Cowley
from the Times literary features and he’s recruiting an arts editor.
’We now have to persuade those people whose politics are closer to ours
than the weekly journal they are currently reading to return to us,’ he
says, bemoaning the lack of an advertising budget. ’Overall, though I
think the signs are good. The magazine will be more relaxing and more
jolly. As the Spectator becomes the fringe political journal, I think
we’re well placed to become the UK’s leading political weekly.’
HIGHLIGHTS
1989
Home editor, Independent on Sunday
1991
Deputy editor, Independent on Sunday
1995
Editor, Independent on Sunday
1996
Books editor, New Statesman
1998
Editor, New Statesman
