Simon Kelner replaced by Chris Blackhurst as Independent editor

Simon Kelner has been replaced as editor of the Independent by Evening Standard city editor and columnist Chris Blackhurst.

Kelner becomes editor-in-chief of the Independent and sister title the Independent on Sunday, but will have no day-to-day involvement in the running of the newspapers.

Kelner was first appointed editor 13 years ago, while the title was still under the control of previous owner Independent News and Media.

He replaced Rosie Boycott, who left with then-deputy editor Blackhurst for the Daily Express, where both took up the same roles.

Kelner was editor until 2008, when he moved on to a stint as managing director of the Independent titles, before returning as editor when Alexander Lebedev bought the company in 2010.

Evegeny Lebedev, Alexander's son, paid tribute to Kelner:

"Simon's contribution to the Independent over the past 13 years has been considerable. Many of the best things that have happened at The Independent have been down to him."

Blackhurst is a former Westminster correspondent and and deputy editor at the Independent, and was deputy editor of the Sunday Times Insight team in the early 1990s.

He was named business journalist of the year at the London Press Club awards in May, with the Evening Standard winning daily newspaper of the year.

Lebedev was quoted in the Guardian last week as having said the Independent was "a bit boring" and should contemplate changing its treatment of certain topics to be "closer to what people want".

According to the Guardian piece he also indicated that Kelner could be about to be replaced, saying "if you want to change the paper, you have to change the person".

Evegeny Lebedev, speaking in the News Statesman this week, said his father was considering suing the Guardian over the report, claiming that the quotes were based on an off-the-record conversation.

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