In pictures: the editors of the Independent

The three founders of the Independent: Andreas Whittam Smith, who became its first editor; Stephen Glover, foreign editor and later founding editor of the Independent on Sunday; and Matthew Symonds, deputy editor. Photograph: Jane Bown/guardian.co.uk

Whittam Smith on 6 October 1986, holding the next morning's launch issue of the Independent hot off the press. The plastic cup contains champagne Photograph: Herbie Knott/Rex Features

The next year, Whittam Smith took on a second job, as chief executive of the Independent's parent company, Newspaper Publishing. He was shifted to chairman in 1994, after a consortium led by Mirror Group gained a majority stake in the firm, and ceased to be editor later that year. Photograph: Times Newspapers Ltd/guardian.co.uk

Ian Hargreaves, who succeeeded Whittam Smith as editor in 1994. This was also the year that the Independent left its original City Road base, moving in with the Mirror in Canary Wharf. He remained in the role until 1996 Photograph: Louisa Buller/guardian.co.uk

Charles Wilson, managing director of Mirror Group, then took over as acting editor in January 1996. When the Independent was founded, he had been its fiercest rival, as editor of the Times Photograph: Gemma Levine/guardian.co.uk

Andrew Marr, who as political correspondent shared the byline of the lead story in the Independent's first issue, succeeeded to the editor's chair in May 1996. He undertook an adventurous but ultimately unsuccessful revamp, and was sacked in 1998 after refusing to make another round of job cuts. Photograph: guardian.co.uk

Marr was replaced with another flamboyant figure, Rosie Boycott, who had made a splash editing the Indpendent on Sunday with a campaign for the legalisation of cannabis. In March, Tony O'Reilly's Independent News & Media gained control of the paper from Mirror Group, and reinstalled Marr as joint editor. In April, Boycott left to edit the Express... Photograph: Frank Baron/guardian.co.uk

...but that May, the merry-go-round came to a stop, with the appointment of Simon Kelner. He was another Independent original - deputy sports editor at the paper's launch - and stayed in the job for a decade, during which he successfully took the Independent tabloid. He's now editor in chief Photograph: Graham Turner/guardian.co.uk

Kelner's successor, and the Independent's current editor, Roger Alton, formerly of the Observer Photograph: Martin Godwin/Guardian

...although the roster wouldn't be complete without the paper's colourful guest editors. This issue, from 2006, was edited by Bono Photograph: Shaun Fellows/News Team International - NTI

Columnist and former Today programme editor Rod Liddle is tipped as a possible next editor if Alexander Lebedev wins control of the paper Photograph: John Lawrence / Rex Features/Rex Features