Form book 10

It's amazing what a cap and gown can do for you.  BBC news chief Helen Boaden, pictured yesterday receiving an honorary degree from the University of Brighton, is now favourite with two bookmakers to be the next Director General. William Hill have cut her odds from 4/1 to 5/4, and Caroline Thomson has drifted out from 5/2 to 4/1.

No risky message from Helen to the graduands; she praised "Brighton’s unique mix of incandescently blue skies, bohemian glamour and glorious surrounding countryside". She said they needed to be resilient but optimistic in the face of economic problems: "The future has not been cancelled."

There are, however, still hurdles for Helen. Somebody's still winding up Guido Fawkes and The Telegraph about Newsnight and Jimmy Savile; Local Radio and Inside Out need a gracious volte-face from Helen; and there are a serious number of jobs to go in the year ahead in News in London. A well-wisher (not me) has also suggested she needs to watch the hair - "occasionally, a bit Shirley Williams".