Difference between revisions of "New Labour: Special Advisers"

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*[[Maeve Sherlock]]
 
*[[Maeve Sherlock]]
 
*Dr [[Stewart Wood]]
 
*Dr [[Stewart Wood]]
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Sue Jackson
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Former Labour Party Campaigns Officer and Head of Administration in Tony Blair's Office. A career Labour Party official.
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Margaret Ounsley
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Former Labour councillor in Reading who then worked for the Local Government Association. Former History teacher.
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David Mathieson
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Special Adviser at the Foreign Office until the 2001 election, now Special Adviser to the Leader of the House of Commons. Former solicitor with Clifford Chance. A Party Political Appointee, paid for by the Labour Party.
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Meg Russell
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Special Adviser to the Leader of the House of Commons. Senior Research Fellow at the Constitution Unit of the University College London (also responsible for PR). A former National Women's Officer in the Labour Party and Parliamentary Researcher for Clare Short (in Opposition).
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Greg Power
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Special Adviser to the Leader of the House of Commons. Former Director of the Hansard Society's Parliament and Government Programme and Head of the Parliamentary Unit at Charter 88.
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Matthew Seward
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Special Adviser to the Leader of the House of Lords. Former Home Affairs Policy Officer for the Labour Party. He went to Hull University.
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Deborah Lincoln
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Special Adviser to the Leader of the House of Lords. Formerly Director of Communications at Macmillan Cancer Relief and a former National Women's Officer in the Labour Party.
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Fiona Gordon
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Special Adviser to the Chief Whip, Hilary Armstrong. Former West Midlands Regional Director for the Labour Party.
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Joe McCrea Knowledge Network Project
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Joe McCrea was the former Special Adviser to Frank Dobson from 1997-9 (he also worked for Dobson in opposition for 4 years). He is now the Project Manager of the Knowledge Network Project (KNP) at the Cabinet Office. He is said to have ordered the playing of New Labour's favourite song "Things can only get better" at his wedding reception in 1999! Click on the image for more information.
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Deputy Prime Minister
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Ian McKenzie
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Special Adviser in the Cabinet Office until the 2001 election. Worked as an adviser to Ann Taylor (former Chief Government Whip) in opposition. Former Head of PR at the Southampton Institute (a higher education college). Former President of the University of East Anglia Student's Union.
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Joan Hammell
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Special Adviser at the DETR from 1997-2001. She has worked for John Prescott since 1994. Before that she worked for Neil Kinnock, Ann Taylor and Frank Field.
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Anna Healy
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Worked as Senior Consultant for Strategic Communications at lobbyists GPC (alongside Joy Johnson, former head of Party communications) until the 2001 election, and previously as Press and Strategic Communications Co-ordinator for Carlton Television. Former adviser to Jack Cunningham and Mo Mowlam, before that she worked as Senior Parliamentary Press Officer for the Labour Party for 6 years. Working part-time for John Prescott.
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Paul Hackett
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Special Adviser at the DETR from 1997-2001. Previously worked at the Cranfield School of Management and the TUC (remains a Research Fellow at Cranfield University). He was caught on film in 1998 trying to get the Lobbyist Derek Draper to publicise a report he had written for Cranfield, in return for a favour Draper was asking him. Working part-time for John Prescott.
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Department of Trade and Industry
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Jim Godfrey
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He is a former PR manager for the IPPR (where he worked one day a week for Patricia Hewitt). He worked on Frank Dobson's campaign to be mayor of London and joined the Labour Party's Millbank team as a Senior Press Officer in 2000 and worked on the 2001 election campaign.
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Kitty Usher
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Former Chief Economist at the Britain in Europe group.
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Roger Sharp
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Former Head of Business Liaison for the Labour Party at Millbank. Previously worked at lobbyists GJW Government Relations. A Manchester City fan, he is working for the DTI part-time.
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Forward Strategy Unit
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The Cabinet Office Forward Strategy Unit was set up after the 2001 election to work on policy and strategy projects. It is run by former Special Adviser Geoff Mulgan. There are a number of people working in the Unit as unpaid advisers:
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Dr Arnab Banerji
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Chief Investment Officer at Foreign &Colonial Management Ltd. He is responsible for investment management, policy decision-making and asset allocation. Previously he was Chief of Staff at Citibank Global Asset Management.
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Nick Lovegrove
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Director at McKinsey & Company, co-leader of the Global Media and Entertainment Practice (in charge of 200 consultants around the world), in the past he has advised Gordon Brown on productivity and competitiveness. McKinsey have held seminars on productivity at Downing Street. He is working with the DCMS, looking at the effect of technology on broadcasting.
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Penny Hughes
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Former President of Coca Cola Great Britain and Ireland. Non-Executive Director of Vodaphone, Enodis, Swedish bank SEB and Trinity Mirror.
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Adair Turner
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Vice-Chairman of Merrill Lynch and former Director-General of the CBI. In the past he has worked for BP, Chase Manhattan Bank and McKinsey & Company. He went to Cambridge University, where he was Chairman of the Conservative Association. Joined the SDP in the 1980's. He sat on the Government's Skills Task Force and the DTI's Competitiveness Advisory Group. He is examining the "supply side" of the NHS.
  
 
==Former Advisers==
 
==Former Advisers==

Revision as of 22:07, 20 February 2007

Special Advisers are employed by UK government departments outside the normal civil service hierarchy. Whilst there have been Special Advisers employed by Governments in the past, their numbers have increased by a huge amount under Tony Blair, rising to a total of 80 in November 2001. Tony Blair has 29, mainly in the new Downing Street Policy Directorate and his Strategic Communications Unit.

The bill for these Advisers was £4.4 million in 2001, making the average salary nearly £60,000. The total salary bill for Tony Blair's private office was £10.8 million in 1999. The pay of most Advisers is kept secret, but it is known that both Alastair Campbell, Blair's Press Secretary and Jonathon Powell, Downing Street Chief of Staff, are paid more than £120,000.

Although Advisers like Alastair Campbell hold a huge amount of power, none of them are elected and very few of their jobs are advertised - they are all political appointees.

Many former advisers to the Labour Party have moved on to very well-paid jobs with lobbying and PR companies. Tim Allan, a former Downing Street Adviser, became Director of Corporate Communications for Rupert Murdoch's BSkyB. Anji Hunter, Tony Blair's former 'Gatekeeper' private secretary, took over as Director of Communications at BP on a salary of £200,000.

Like the majority of the Labour Government, most of the Special Advisers have been to Oxford or Cambridge Universities. Several Advisers have been friends with senior Labour Party figures for many years, others are partners of millionaires or bosses and all come from a self-perpetuating middle class elite that thrives on patronage, using it to by-pass the grubby world of democracy and slip into positions of power and influence. When the 2001 election was called, most of the Government's Special Advisers resigned, mainly to work in the election campaign. Most returned to their jobs, although some lost their patron Minister in the June 2001 reshuffle and moved into the private sector. For full details, check out the new Former Advisers section.

Some advisers have now moved on to safe Labour seats, vacated by long-standing MPs who were given peerages to get them out of the way, including David Milliband, James Purnell and Andy Burnham, all former members of the Downing Street Policy Unit.

Advisers

Treasury Council of Economic Advisers

Sue Jackson Former Labour Party Campaigns Officer and Head of Administration in Tony Blair's Office. A career Labour Party official.


Margaret Ounsley Former Labour councillor in Reading who then worked for the Local Government Association. Former History teacher.


David Mathieson Special Adviser at the Foreign Office until the 2001 election, now Special Adviser to the Leader of the House of Commons. Former solicitor with Clifford Chance. A Party Political Appointee, paid for by the Labour Party.


Meg Russell Special Adviser to the Leader of the House of Commons. Senior Research Fellow at the Constitution Unit of the University College London (also responsible for PR). A former National Women's Officer in the Labour Party and Parliamentary Researcher for Clare Short (in Opposition).


Greg Power Special Adviser to the Leader of the House of Commons. Former Director of the Hansard Society's Parliament and Government Programme and Head of the Parliamentary Unit at Charter 88.


Matthew Seward Special Adviser to the Leader of the House of Lords. Former Home Affairs Policy Officer for the Labour Party. He went to Hull University.


Deborah Lincoln Special Adviser to the Leader of the House of Lords. Formerly Director of Communications at Macmillan Cancer Relief and a former National Women's Officer in the Labour Party.


Fiona Gordon Special Adviser to the Chief Whip, Hilary Armstrong. Former West Midlands Regional Director for the Labour Party.


Joe McCrea Knowledge Network Project Joe McCrea was the former Special Adviser to Frank Dobson from 1997-9 (he also worked for Dobson in opposition for 4 years). He is now the Project Manager of the Knowledge Network Project (KNP) at the Cabinet Office. He is said to have ordered the playing of New Labour's favourite song "Things can only get better" at his wedding reception in 1999! Click on the image for more information.

Deputy Prime Minister

Ian McKenzie Special Adviser in the Cabinet Office until the 2001 election. Worked as an adviser to Ann Taylor (former Chief Government Whip) in opposition. Former Head of PR at the Southampton Institute (a higher education college). Former President of the University of East Anglia Student's Union.


Joan Hammell Special Adviser at the DETR from 1997-2001. She has worked for John Prescott since 1994. Before that she worked for Neil Kinnock, Ann Taylor and Frank Field.


Anna Healy Worked as Senior Consultant for Strategic Communications at lobbyists GPC (alongside Joy Johnson, former head of Party communications) until the 2001 election, and previously as Press and Strategic Communications Co-ordinator for Carlton Television. Former adviser to Jack Cunningham and Mo Mowlam, before that she worked as Senior Parliamentary Press Officer for the Labour Party for 6 years. Working part-time for John Prescott.


Paul Hackett Special Adviser at the DETR from 1997-2001. Previously worked at the Cranfield School of Management and the TUC (remains a Research Fellow at Cranfield University). He was caught on film in 1998 trying to get the Lobbyist Derek Draper to publicise a report he had written for Cranfield, in return for a favour Draper was asking him. Working part-time for John Prescott.

Department of Trade and Industry

Jim Godfrey He is a former PR manager for the IPPR (where he worked one day a week for Patricia Hewitt). He worked on Frank Dobson's campaign to be mayor of London and joined the Labour Party's Millbank team as a Senior Press Officer in 2000 and worked on the 2001 election campaign.


Kitty Usher Former Chief Economist at the Britain in Europe group.


Roger Sharp Former Head of Business Liaison for the Labour Party at Millbank. Previously worked at lobbyists GJW Government Relations. A Manchester City fan, he is working for the DTI part-time.

Forward Strategy Unit The Cabinet Office Forward Strategy Unit was set up after the 2001 election to work on policy and strategy projects. It is run by former Special Adviser Geoff Mulgan. There are a number of people working in the Unit as unpaid advisers:


Dr Arnab Banerji Chief Investment Officer at Foreign &Colonial Management Ltd. He is responsible for investment management, policy decision-making and asset allocation. Previously he was Chief of Staff at Citibank Global Asset Management.


Nick Lovegrove Director at McKinsey & Company, co-leader of the Global Media and Entertainment Practice (in charge of 200 consultants around the world), in the past he has advised Gordon Brown on productivity and competitiveness. McKinsey have held seminars on productivity at Downing Street. He is working with the DCMS, looking at the effect of technology on broadcasting.


Penny Hughes Former President of Coca Cola Great Britain and Ireland. Non-Executive Director of Vodaphone, Enodis, Swedish bank SEB and Trinity Mirror.


Adair Turner Vice-Chairman of Merrill Lynch and former Director-General of the CBI. In the past he has worked for BP, Chase Manhattan Bank and McKinsey & Company. He went to Cambridge University, where he was Chairman of the Conservative Association. Joined the SDP in the 1980's. He sat on the Government's Skills Task Force and the DTI's Competitiveness Advisory Group. He is examining the "supply side" of the NHS.

Former Advisers

Resources

Info-Dynamics Research Where are they now? The 1997/1998 Special Advisers to the Labour Government April 2006 Briefing for GMB.

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