Simon Kelner becomes editor of Independent for the second time

The Independent newspaper today announced the appointment of Simon Kelner as its editor for the second time. The paper's Russian owner, Evgeny Lebedev, said Kelner would return to the editor's chair on a permanent basis following a two-year hiatus. The 53-year-old Kelner succeeds Roger Alton, the former Observer editor, who resigned last month. Other candidates, thought to include Rod Liddle, the former editor of Radio 4's Today programme and Greg Dyke, the former BBC director general, were considered when Lebedev's father, Alexander, a former KGB officer, announced his intention to buy the newspaper in a deal that was formally completed last Friday. Kelner, who changed the Independent into a tabloid in 2003 and last month transformed it into a "viewspaper" with opinion on the front page, will remain editor-in-chief of the Independent on Sunday. He also becomes a director of Independent Print Ltd. "I hope that this will mark a great new era for these remarkable newspapers, which have such a distinguished record of great journalism," Lebedev said today. "It is my intention to help the Independent to prosper under new management and most importantly for it to continue to pursue journalism of distinction and impartiality." Lebedev bought the Independent titles for a nominal sum of £1, with the previous owners, Independent News and Media, paying Independent Print Limited, the company set up by Lebedev to publish the titles, £9.25m over the next 10 months. In exchange, IPL is assuming "all future trading liabilities and obligations". Kelner's appointment was greeted without surprise by staff. They received morale-boosting letters from Lebedev over the weekend, announcing the formal acquisition. In another appointment that seems intended to harness past successes, Andreas Whittam Smith, the paper's founding editor in 1986, was given a place on the board of Independent Print Ltd.