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Who's in and who's out
Gideon Spanier, Evening Standard28.07.08
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.
NEW ON THE LIST
LAW
MR JUSTICE EADY, 65
JUDGE
Known as "the libel judge", Sir David Eady has emerged as the single most powerful legal authority over the media in Britain, a virtual one-man arbiter of libel and privacy. His ruling in favour of motor racing mogul Max Mosley, who claimed his privacy was invaded by the News of the World, makes it harder for newspapers to investigate people's private lives. The judge knows the press well from his days as a QC when he acted for papers. But the poacher turned gamekeeper.
RUNNING LONDON
ANTHONY BROWNE, 41
MAYORAL POLICY DIRECTOR
Cambridge-educated former broadsheet journalist who went on to run the influential Right-wing think-tank Policy Exchange, a favourite with David Cameron's set. Browne has been recruited by Boris Johnson as his director of policy, butWestminster insiders say City Hall is likely to be a stepping stone to a bigger job for the father-of-two - in Downing Street under a Tory government.
NEW MEDIA
MIKE DANSON, 45
PUBLISHING MOGUL
Businessman who is in the mood to spend after he sold his financial information firm Datamonitor, which he started in his West Hampstead flat in 1990, for £80 million. He is now building himself up again as a major publishing force in new media. Danson bought a 50 per cent stake in the Left-wing New Statesman magazine earlier this year and has just taken control of LabourHome, an independent website that closely follows Labour Party thinking. Expect more purchases soon.
MAKING MOVES
RETAIL
BRIAN MCBRIDE, 52
AMAZON UK MD
McBride, boss of the internet retailer in the UK since January 2006, reports the firm is defying the credit crunch as the web goes mainstream. Amazon's international revenue is up 34 per cent, with sales of computer video games doing particularly well. He may be a Scot and a non-executive director of Celtic football club, but father-of-two McBride is firmly based in the South.
UP AND COMING
FILM
CHRISTOPHER NOLAN, 38
DIRECTOR
London-born Nolan looks certain to crack Hollywood after the stunning box-office success of his new Batman movie The Dark Knight, which he directed and co-wrote with his brother. Nolan comes from a cinematic family (his uncle is an actor) and began using his father's super 8mm camera at the age of seven. He studied at UCL in London and was shortlisted for an Oscar for the screenplay of movie Memento.
SPORT
MONTELL DOUGLAS, 22
SPRINTER
The rising star from Catford recently broke the 27-year-old British 100 metres women's record. Douglas began her career as a high jumper but back problems meant she turned to running. She is heading for the Beijing Olympics next month and must hope to be an even more serious prospect for London 2012.
