Former Prime Minister Boris Johnson is reportedly being considered for the role of global editor-in-chief at The Daily Telegraph.
The approach has been made by Johnson’s former chancellor, Nadhim Zahawi, who is spearheading a bid to buy The Telegraph and The Spectator, both of which are up for sale following a blocked Abu Dhabi-backed takeover, according to a report by Sky News.
Zahawi has reportedly floated the idea of Johnson taking on an executive role to the prospective financiers who are helping him lead a £600m bid.
A source close to Johnson said that the idea was “floating around”, though no formal agreement has been reached.
Johnson previously served as a Brussels correspondent and later as a columnist at the right-leaning title and is said to still hold the publication in high regard. He also edited The Spectator from 1999 to 2005 and stepped down after accepting a job from the then Tory leader David Cameron.
Both Johnson and Zahawi have declined to comment.
It comes as the Telegraph Media Group (TMG), which owns The Daily and Sunday Telegraph papers and The Spectator magazine, is in the middle of a bidding war.
TMG was put up for sale last year after Lloyds Banking Group seized it from the Barclay family, who defaulted on a loan of over £1bn.
Redbird IMI, the Abu-Dhabi backed investment fund helmed by US media titan Jeff Zucker, swooped on the Telegraph Media Group in December last year. But in March, the UK government thwarted Redbird IMI’s attempt to buy the titles, forcing the consortium to halt its takeover.
The papers were then put back up for auction, which recently drew at least seven first-round bidders.
Zahawi’s bid is described as “fully financed”, but specifics about his financial backers and the likelihood of success remain unclear.
Hedge fund magnate and GB News shareholder Sir Paul Marshall is the leading bidder to buy The Spectator, via his investment firm Old Queen Street Ventures, and could close the deal before the month is over, according to reports.