Who's in and who's out?

TOUGH AT THE TOP

IN
POLITICS: STEPHEN CARTER, 43
Poached from PR firm Brunswick to be Gordon Brown's chief adviser. With no political background, many feel the former ad man at JWT has been hired for his skill at strategy and marketing products. In this case it's selling the Prime Minister to the public. His new "spinmeister" role gives him major influence as the person who gets to brief, and advise, the PM on a one-on-one basis.

OUT
POLITICS: PETER HAIN, 57
Something of a sticky situation for the treacle-faced Cabinet minister as more revelations of undisclosed, and clandestine, donations to his failed deputy leadership campaign emerge. He may get away with it but the damage has been done and reluctantly Gordon Brown will probably be forced to distance himself from an ally.

WOBBLERS

FINANCE: GUY HANDS, 47
TERRA FIRMA, FOUNDER
Growing disaster at EMI, the record company that this arch financier took over for £3.2 billion. The firm's head of music has left and Hands is overseeing a ruthless cull of staff. Unfortunately, this has led to a walk-out by some of EMI's biggest artists - Radiohead and Sir Paul McCartney have gone and Robbie Williams is threatening to follow.

RETAIL: SIR STUART ROSE, 58
MARKS & SPENCER, CHIEF EXECUTIVE
The lustre of a New Year's honour has tarnished after Sir Stuart admitted sales at M&S fell over Christmas. The announcement horrified City commentators who compared the retailer unfavourably with rivals Waitrose and Sainsbury's, which both reported higher sales. We drop him from our top five in Retail.

ON THE UP

ARTS: SIR BRIAN McMASTER, 63
The former Edinburgh International Festival director has published a radical review of arts funding and suggested to Culture Secretary James Purnell that publicly funded arts should be free to all for one week a year. Purnell loves the idea. A cultural renaissance? We shall see.

NEW ON THE LIST

THEATRE: SAM WEST, 41
Dealer's Choice is the actor's first play in the West End as a director and it's heaping up some excellent reviews so he's in a position to call the shots for his next project. The former artistic director of The Crucible in Sheffield and son of actors Prunella Scales and Timothy West was educated at Alleyn's School in Dulwich. He's growing in stature as an articulate campaigner against Arts Council grant cuts too.

GROWING IMPACT

FINANCE: SALLY DEWAR, 39
FINANCIAL SERVICE AUTHORITY, HEAD OF WHOLESALE DIVISION
Has just been appointed to this influential role, making her responsible for all regulated markets. Described as "thoughtful and determined", she's a key figure in the FSA's much-vaunted crackdown on insider trading and sharing of price sensitive information.