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Who's in and who's out
Gideon Spanier, Evening Standard8 Sep 2008
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
BUSINESS
PAUL POLMAN, 52
CHIEF EXECUTIVE UNILEVER
Poached from rival Nestlé to be boss of one of Britain's biggest consumer firms, Polman, who takes over from Patrick Cescau, will be responsible for brands such as Dove soap and Ben & Jerry's ice cream. He speaks five languages and runs marathons. Unilever's shares rose six per cent on his appointment.
ROLE MODEL
SPORT
PHILLIPS IDOWU, 29
TRIPLE JUMPER
Britain's leading male track-and-field star just missed out on gold in Beijing but his influence is growing. Forget his crazy red hair, it's Idowu's comments about the lack of financial support for athletes (he had to leap the stadium fence to train for free as a boy) that is forcing sports bosses to take notice. Idowu is young enough to go for gold again in 2012.
UNDER PRESSURE
RUNNING LONDON
SIR IAN BLAIR, 55
METROPOLITAN POLICE COMMISSIONER
"The report of my death is an exaggeration," says the head of Scotland Yard - but all the signs from Whitehall are that his days are numbered. Trouble continues to stalk Sir Ian, including the unresolved inquiry into the shooting of Brazilian Jean Charles de Menezes, a series of race discrimination cases, and allegations of cronyism.
MAKING MOVES
FILM
KEIRA KNIGHTLEY, 23
ACTRESS
Knightley's star-power shows no signs of waning. This year, she's played Dylan Thomas's lover in The Edge of Love and now the title role in The Duchess. The most intriguing prospect is Cordelia in a mooted movie version of King Lear. She's arguably Britain's biggest young actress in Hollywood. Studios rate her after the box-office success of Pirates of the Caribbean.
WOBBLING
POLITICS
STEPHEN CARTER, 44
PRIME MINISTER'S PRINCIPAL ADVISER
Recruited by Gordon Brown in January to improve the running of Number 10, Carter's efforts have not worked and there is talk that he may move sideways - or out. He would not be short of job offers. He was boss of advertising agency JWT at the age of 30 and also ran media regulator Ofcom, cable TV firm NTL and PR outfit Brunswick.
UP AND COMING
RUNNING LONDON
ISABEL DEDRING, 37
MAYORAL ADVISER ON ENVIRONMENT
Used to advise Ken Livingstone on climate change and has been director of policy at Transport for London for four years. Dedring is a high-powered former lawyer who studied at Harvard, worked for McKinsey and speaks German, Russian and French. She has an important role because Mayor Boris Johnson has made environment a key issue.
