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February 13, 2008

Kampfner departs New Statesman ‘with immediate effect’

By Press Gazette

New Statesman editor John Kampfner has stepped down with immediate effect.

His departure, a day before the release of six monthly magazine ABCs figures for consumer magazines, was not to do with editorial policy according to New Statesman chairman, Geoffrey Robinson.

Deputy editor Sue Matthias will be acting editor until an appointment is made.

In a statement issued by the magazine, Robinson said: ‘The New Statesman would emphasise that the departure of the editor has nothing at all to do with editorial policy and the new editor when appointed will enjoy the same total editorial independence as have John and previous editors.

‘On a personal level I would like to thank John for his efforts on behalf of the magazine and to wish him well for the future.”

In the statement Kampfner, who took over the editorship from Peter Wilby in May 2005, said: ‘This has been a memorable period for the New Statesman and I am pleased to have played my part. I would like to pay tribute to a remarkable editorial staff, which contains some of the most talented and assiduous journalists in the UK.

‘It has been a privilege to work with them and to have shared the same ambitions with them for the magazine. I am confident that in the right circumstances, the New Statesman will prosper in the future”.

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In his time with the New Statesman, Kampfner has overseen the magazine’s redesign in June 2006, which won a number of awards and boosted the title’s circulation to a 25-year high.

In its last ABCs, the title had an ABC figure of 29,041, up 13.9 per cent year on year following the relaunch but down period on period from its high of 30,036 for the six months ending December 2006.

Kampfner was the magazine’s political editor before being made editor in 2005. He has previously worked as a foreign correspondent for the Daily Telegraph and been chief political correspondent of the FT.

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