The Johnson-Lebedev Letters: A Back-Channel to Vladimir Putin?

“I am proud to call him a friend”, said Boris Johnson of Evgeny Lebedev back in 2011, adding that “this great city of ours would be a lot poorer without him”.

The Prime Minister’s close relationship with Lebedev has long been a curious one.

It began shortly after the young Russian bought the then struggling Evening Standard for just £1 in 2009. The newspaper had already fiercely backed his first campaign for London Mayor and Johnson was keen to build an even stronger relationship with its new, young and deep-pocketed owner.

Lebedev was certainly a willing courtier.

Until that point, he had mostly lived in the shadow of his father, the charismatic oligarch and former KGB agent Alexander Lebedev. However, his purchase of the Evening Standard and the Independent newspapers instantly made him a significant player in the British establishment and one who Johnson was keen to get to know.

Correspondence I obtained under the Freedom of Information Act, reveals that the two men met frequently for meetings, lunches, dinners and parties during this time.

In one letter sent by Johnson to Lebedev in 2010, he thanked Evgeny for what he said was an “excellent lunch” together, before setting out an “aide memoire” of their conversation. After again detailing his proposals for the city, Johnson added that “clearly all of these things require publicity and we would be thrilled if we could interest the Evening Standard or the Independent“.

Johnson was certainly successful in gaining that interest. The Evening Standard became even closer to Johnson and the Conservatives under Lebedev’s ownership, despite London voters progressively moving away from the party.

The Standard strongly backed Johnson for re-election in London, and then continued to back him as he re-entered national politics.

Lebedev would later make Johnson’s Conservative colleague George Osborne the Evening Standard’s editor. When Osborne – whose own links to the now sanctioned Russian oligarch Oleg Deripaska had previously caused controversy – left the daily title, Lebedev replaced him with Emily Sheffield, David Cameron’s sister-in-law.

Even the Independent, which had traditionally been a left-leaning newspaper, was drawn in, backing Johnson’s party in the 2015 General Election – to the anger of many of its readers and staff. 

Unhappy sources at the paper told me that the Independent endorsement had been down to a “personal diktat” by Lebedev who had become “closely involved in the editorial line” during the election.