George Osborne beats Boris to come top in the Evening Standard's The 1000 power list

 
Power list: George Osborne has come out top
Gideon Spanier17 October 2014

George Osborne was today named the most influential person in London as the Chancellor topped the Evening Standard’s The 1000 power list, with Mayor Boris Johnson in second place.

Our panel of editors, critics and journalists which compiled the annual roster of the 1000 most influential people in London said Mr Osborne has led the economic recovery and backed the capital as a global hub for financial and creative industries.

Amal Clooney, the barrister wife of actor George Clooney who is advising the Greek government on trying to win back the Elgin Marbles, and Victoria Beckham, the fashion designer and United Nations goodwill ambassador, are also among the top 20 most influential Londoners. Mr Osborne’s rise was underlined by a YouGov poll of 1,002 adults for the Evening Standard which showed 42 per cent of Londoners believe he is the best Chancellor of the Exchequer “from London’s point of view”.

The eighth annual edition of The 1000 has a special focus on the capital’s contribution to science, medicine and global humanitarianism and is published in association with The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, Wellcome Trust and the Francis Crick Institute.

Microsoft co-founder Bill Gates and wife Melinda, whose foundation has made grants worth more than $30 billion to tackle poverty, disease and hunger around the world, said: “We are proud to support the London Evening Standard’s The 1000 this year because there is a direct link from the brilliance and leadership captured in this list of inspiring people to our optimism about the future. Britain sets the global standard for caring about people beyond its borders, not least through its commitment to international development aid.”

The top 20 includes two Nobel Prize winners, Malala Yousafzai, the Pakistani-born schoolgirl who has kept up her brave fight for women’s education rights since moving to England, and Francis Crick Institute chief executive Sir Paul Nurse, the geneticist who has led pioneering research into cancer.

Evening Standard editor Sarah Sands said: “Now is the time for the Evening Standard to celebrate London’s wealth of scientific talent and ambition. This global capital is a great force for good in science and medicine. It is wonderful that London looks out and shoulders its international responsibilities.”

Demis Hassabis, Deep Mind Technologies founder is placed at No3

She singled out those helping to lead the fight against Ebola such as Jeremy Farrar, director of Wellcome Trust, and William Pooley, the nurse who was struck down by the disease in Sierra Leone.

Prince Harry is in the top 20 because of his increased charitable work and his role as organiser of last month’s Invictus Games for injured military personnel.

The Evening Standard panel decided Mr Osborne is London’s most influential person because of his willingness to invest in the capital despite pressure for the Treasury to spend the money in other parts of Britain.

The Chancellor has funded one third of the £16 billion east-west Crossrail route, protected the City from some of the toughest Brussels regulation and wooed creative businesses such as Star Wars producer Lucasfilm’s new Soho visual effects studio.

Mr Osborne has also backed the Francis Crick Institute, opening in St Pancras late next year. Wellcome Trust, the world’s second highest-spending charitable foundation, is one of six partners in the Francis Crick Institute.

The panel said Boris Johnson still wields huge influence but felt he now has one eye on life beyond City Hall as he seeks a return to Parliament.

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