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Who's in and who's out

Gideon Spanier, Evening Standard
07.05.08

The 1000: London's Most Influential People

The energy of London is nowhere more reflected than in the shifting balance of power among its thoughtmakers, trendsetters and leaders. Every week, Gideon Spanier looks at who's in and who's out.

AT THE TOP

IN: RUNNING LONDON
BORIS JOHNSON, 43 MAYOR
Pulled off an impressive election victory. Last summer he was dismissed as a lightweight but he turned things around with a serious and largely gaffe-free campaign. No one doubts it will be a challenge for the Henley MP and former Spectator editor to get to grips with the administration of London - and the media scrutiny will be intense for a man who can't help but attract attention. Johnson, a keen student of history, will know that many mayors of capital cities elsewhere have gone on to run their country.

OUT: RUNNING LONDON
KEN LIVINGSTONE, 62 FORMER MAYOR
One of the toughest and canniest politicians, Livingstone has dominated London politics for almost 30 years and will go down in history as the man who established the mayoralty - and helped win the Olympics. It will be almost as much of a shock for Londoners as the former mayor to get used to life without him in charge. But those who saw Livingstone on the campaign trail sensed that he had lost some of his hunger to win. Now Ken, with two young children at home, may write his memoirs.

MAKING MOVES

RETAIL
NICK ROBERTSON, 40 ASOS BOSS
The online entrepreneur, who sells celebrity inspired clobber, unveiled booming profits despite other high street stores struggling. Analysts are tipping As Seen On Screen as the "Amazon of the fashion world". But it has not been an easy ride. Robertson brought the company back from the brink when half of its stock was destroyed by fire in 2005. A Chelsea fan, he has a strong retail pedigree - his great-grandfather was Austin Reed.

TV & RADIO
DAWN AIREY, 47 FIVE CHIEF EXECUTIVE
Airey stunned the TV world by quitting her job on the board of ITV after only eight months to become chief executive and chairman of rival Five. The former BSkyB executive used to work at Five where she talked of the three Fs, "football, films and f***ing". She will have a long period of gardening leave, so will spend the summer with her partner and their one-year-old daughter. But expect Airey to keep networking.

WATCH THIS SPACE

ART & DESIGN
BANKSY, 30s ARTIST
The graffiti master has raised his game by bringing together a posse of fellow artists to illustrate the walls of a tunnel in Waterloo for May Day bank holiday weekend. Banksy has continued to build his reputation shrewdly by refusing to divulge his identity. His works now command close to £1 million.

UP AND COMING

NEW MEDIA MATT JONES, 35, MATT BIDDULPH, 31 DOPPLR.COM
Founders of the social networking website spread their tentacles by partnering with upscale travel website Mr & Mrs Smith. The two technology experts used to work at the BBC. The idea is that trusted friends who use Dopplr will recommend sites and experiences to each other. Jones and Biddulph already have a global outlook, shuttling between offices in London and Helsinki.

Contributions: Rosamund Urwin, Mark Prigg

VISIT WWW.STANDARD.CO.UK/INFLUENTIALS FOR THE FULL LIST AND SUGGEST YOUR OWN ENTRIES

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