Evgeny Lebedev has appointed a chief of staff, who turns out, intriguingly to be former Labour special adviser, Matt Cooke, who worked for Pat McFadden at the department of business before the election. Anybody looking for clues as to Lebedev's political orientations might also bear in mind that the new man behind the scenes also ran Oona King's unsuccesful bid to become Labour's London mayoral candidate a couple of years ago, although he has hardly been brought into to boss the Boris-friendly Sarah Sands about. Cooke is also a Labour councillor up in north London (you're getting the idea) and chairs the body that runs Alexandra Palace too. However, those in the know insist that Lebedev's new man didn't get the job as a result of some political connections; he was recommended to the bearded proprietor and the two simply got on. But that's too dull for Monkey really...
