Seumas Milne exits the Guardian for good

When Seumas Milne first announced that he was joining Labour as Jeremy Corbyn’s director of communications in 2015, it was made clear that he would not be exiting the Guardian for good. Instead — in an arrangement that raised eyebrows in Westminster — Milne would merely work for Corbyn while taking leave from his role as the paper’s associate editor.

Since then, there has been much talk about Milne’s wish to return to the Grauniad. However, subsequent discussions on the topic failed to come to fruition over concerns from officials that a return as associate editor could cause issues with regards to the paper’s editorial line.

Now Milne has decided to quit the paper for good. Milne is leaving the Guardian to work permanently for the Labour leader. In an email to staff, Kath Viner praised her former comrade for his ‘brilliant’ journalism (which includes a column stating that ‘the only surprise’ about 7/7 ‘was that the attacks were so long coming’):

‘I’m writing to let you know that, following a period of unpaid leave from Guardian News & Media, Seumas Milne has decided to continue in his role as the Labour party’s strategy and communications director, and is leaving the staff of the Guardian.