UK Government Special Advisers

Special advisers are temporary civil servants, exempted from normal civil service impartiality requirements in order to allow them to give political advice to Ministers. Since 1997 there have been a number of moves to increase their ability to direct permanent civil servants.

Whilst there had been Special Advisers employed by Governments in the past, their numbers increased by a huge amount under Tony Blair, rising to a total of 80 in November 2001. Tony Blair had 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 Jonathan Powell, Downing Street Chief of Staff, were paid more than £120,000.

Although such Advisers 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 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 Miliband, James Purnell and Andy Burnham, all former members of the Downing Street Policy Unit.

See the Resources section for internal links to the relevant pages of the special advisers in each government.

Other Former Special Advisers

Celebrity Special Advisers

• Sir John Birt 'Personal Strategic Adviser to Tony Blair'.
• Jonathon Porritt Adviser on Sustainable Development
• Keith Hellawell 'Drugs Czar'

Others

• Jo Moore Special Adviser at the DTLR until she resigned in February 2002. A former lobbyist for Westminster Strategy (run by former adviser to David Blunkett, Mike Lee). She was Senior Press and Broadcast Officer of the Labour Party from 1993-7. In 1999 Westminster Strategy was given the contract to handle all Islington Council's communications and marketing.
• Anji Hunter Former Director of Government Relations. Blair's former 'Gatekeeper' private secretary, she ran his office from 1986 to November 2001. She went to the exclusive St Leonards Girls School. She has known Tony Blair since their schooldays and they became friends at Oxford University. She is nicknamed the 'Destroyer'. She left Downing Street to take up a job as Director of Communications at BP on a salary of £200,000. Sally Morgan has taken over the job.
• David Miliband Now MP for South Shields. Former Head of the No 10 Policy Unit. He is a former Labour Party policy director (before 1997 election), Secretary of the Social Justice Commission and member of the IPPR. Brother of Ed Miliband, Special Adviser to Gordon Brown at the Treasury. He was paid £70,000 in 2000. He went to Oxford University and MIT. While he was at No.10, no Government Green or White Paper was published until he cleared it.
• James Purnell Now MP for Stalybridge and Hyde. Former Islington Councillor and Chair of Islington's Housing Committee. Special Adviser with responsibility for Broadcasting at No.10 from 1997-2001. Used to work at the IPPR, worked with Tony Blair in Opposition and then worked for John Birt at the BBC policy and planning department. He went to the same school in Guildford as Tim Allan, then Oxford University. His sister, Katie Purnell, was secretary to the infamous lobbyist Derek Draper at Prima Europe.
• Lance Price Former BBC political journalist (he worked there for 20 years). As a journalist on the Birmingham Evening Mail he gained a reputation for 'Rottweiler tendencies'. He was employed as Alastair Campbell's Deputy but was transferred to the Labour Party's Millbank HQ as an employee of the Labour Party in June 2000. Friend of Peter Mandelson. He went to Oxford University, where he was known as a Tory.
• Pat McFadden Tony Blair's Deputy Chief of Staff at No.10, he was employed as a Special Adviser (he specialised in constitutional reform) but was transferred to the Labour Party's Millbank HQ as an employee of the Labour Party in June 2000. Former adviser to John Smith and Donald Dewar. Employed on a temporary basis in the Coalition Information Centre in Islamabad for the war in Afghanistan.
• Tim Allan
• Colin Byrne
• Mike Craven
• David Hill Former Labour Party Director of Communications from 1991-97. He left to become a Director of Good Relations (part of the Bell Pottinger PR group), whose clients include Monsanto, the GM food company, Tesco and Corus. He was back at Millbank as a senior Press Spokesman, on loan from Bell Pottinger for the 2001 election campaign. Married to No.10 Special Adviser Hilary Coffman.
• Roz Preston Worked for Tony Blair when he was shadow Home Secretary, and then with Fiona Millar in the Social Unit until the 2001 election. Married to John Preston, millionaire record industry boss and former Chairman of the BPI and BMG Entertainment International.
• (John) Philip Murphy Special Adviser on Media Strategy until the 2001 election. Former Director of Communications and Assistant General Secretary of the Labour Party. Former Communications Director of the Arts Council (run by Gerry Robinson), where he was paid £70,000. As a journalist he worked for the Newcastle Journal, the Yorkshire Post and the Press Association (as Political Editor). He went to Oxford University.
• Bob Bartram Special Adviser in Downing Street until the 2001 election.
• Lesley Smith Left the Labour Party Communications team after the 1997 election. Now the Director of Communications at Dixons. She took leave of absence to travel on the 2001 election campaign bus, organising rallies and other major events.
• Simon Virley Policy Directorate Listed as Special Adviser at No. 10 after the 2001 election. Former member of the Treasury's Economic Briefing and Analysis Team. He went to Oxford University. Former Personal Private Secretary to Tony Blair.
• Dr Brian Hackland Policy Directorate Special Adviser at No. 10 for several months after the 2001 election. Former Head of the Air and Environment Quality Division at the Dept of the Environment (before 1997) and Private secretary to the Tory Environment Minister David Curry. After 1997 he was Special Environment Adviser to Tony Blair. He has returned to the DEFRA.
• Mike Emmerich Policy Directorate Listed as Special Adviser at No. 10 after the 2001 election. Former Policy Adviser in the Treasury's Productivity Team and the Enterprise and Growth Unit. A pro-PFI speaker at conferences. Member of the Regeneration Through Work project of the Centre for Local Economic Strategies, proposing policies which link Welfare to Work with urban regeneration schemes
• David North Policy Directorate A civil servant who worked for the Downing Street Policy Unit before the 2001 election. Listed as Special Adviser at No. 10 after the election.
• Clare Sumner Policy Directorate Listed as Special Adviser at No. 10 after the 2001 election. Private Secretary to Tony Blair. Helps him prepare for his weekly Prime Minister's Questions in the Commons.
• Geoff Mulgan Later, Head of PIU and Forward Strategy Unit Former No 10 Policy Unit member, he was given the senior civil service post of Head of the Performance and Innovation Unit at the Cabinet Office in September 2000. He is Founder and former Director of the DEMOS think-tank and remains Chairman of their Advisory Board. Former policy adviser to Gordon Brown. Got a first at Oxford University.
• Nigel Warner Special Adviser in the Cabinet Office until the 2001 election, then went to work for Mike Craven's Lexington Communications lobbying company. A former researcher for Paul Boateng, he has worked for Mo Mowlam since 1992, most recently at the Northern Ireland Office. He has a master's degree from the London Schoool of Economics.
• Michael Tatham Foreign Policy Adviser Listed as Special Adviser at No. 10 after the 2001 election. Had an article on the "chattering classes" published in the infamous right wing magazine The Salisbury Review ("the Quarterly Journal of Conservative Thought") in Autumn 2000.
• Anna Wechsberg Foreign Policy Adviser Listed as Special Adviser at No. 10 after the 2001 election. Former Private Secretary to Tony Blair with responsibility for Foreign Affairs. Before that she was a member of the International Economic Policy Department in the DFID. In 1996 she acted as a Director of the Executive Board of the International Monetary Fund (IMF).
• Andrew Lappin Worked as an adviser on Defence for David Clark in opposition and followed him as Special Adviser in the Cabinet Office from 1997-2001 (he stayed on to work for Mo Mowlam when she got the job). He went to Oxford University.
• Jo Gibbons A former Millbank Press Officer, who worked on the World Cup 2006 bid after the 1997 election before becoming Special Adviser to Baroness Jay up to the 2001 election. Part of Blair's election campaign team, she has left to join Edelman PR, an American lobbyists, on a salary of £80,000.
• Clare Cozens Special Adviser in the Cabinet Office until the 2001 election. A barrister, she worked as a civil servant in the Treasury Solicitor's Department under the Tories for two years, before becoming an adviser to the Labour Party in 1992. She studied law at Oxford University.
• Andy Burnham Now MP for Leigh Special Adviser at the DCMS from 1997-2001. Worked for Tessa Jowell in Opposition, then for a health think-tank. Former adminstrator of the Football Task Force. He went to Cambridge University.
• Joe Irvin Special Adviser at the DETR from 1997-2001. John Prescott's Chief of Staff in Opposition and before that he was Head of Research at the TGWU for 10 years. Married to Diana Holland, National Women's Secretary at the TGWU.
• David Wilson Special Adviser to Hilary Armstrong at the DETR until the 2001 election, then went to work for Mike Craven's Lexington Communications lobbying company.
• Adrian Long Special Adviser at the DETR until the 2001 election. Former Producer of BBC's On The Record (he worked at the BBC from 1993-99). General Secretary of the National Union of Students from 1985-7. Spent 5 years as a full-time official of the GMB.
• Conor Ryan Special Adviser at the DfEE until the 2001 election. Worked for David Blunkett in Opposition for 4 years. Former ILEA Press Officer
• Tom Engel Special Adviser at the DfEE until the 2001 election. Worked as a researcher for David Blunkett in Opposition. Prior to Special Adviser job, worked as a Lobbyist for Westminster Strategy for 2 years. Westminster Strategy, run by Mike Lee (an adviser to Blunkett in Opposition), has several clients in the Education sector.
• Andrew Maugham Special Adviser at the DSS until the 2001 election. Used to work at the Bank of England. Has worked for the Labour Party since 1991. Former Adviser to Alastair Darling when he was at the Treasury.
• Elsbeth Johnson Special Adviser at the DSS until the 2001 election. Former President of the Cambridge University Union Society (the posh debating club). Worked for Alastair Darling in Opposition, then became a Merchant Banker with Barclays Capital. Former Special Adviser to Donald Dewar. She is a specialist in PFI projects.
• Jack Thurston Special Adviser at the former Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food until the 2001 election.
• David Clark Special Adviser at the Foreign Office until the 2001 election. He worked for Robin Cook for the previous 8 years. He has also worked for John Reid and John Robertson. Former adviser on European Policy and Security.
• Dee Sullivan Special Adviser (on Media) at the DFID until the 2001 election. Former Media Relations Chief at the TUC. Assisted Tony Blair during the 1997 election campaign.
• Paul Andrew Former member of the DfEE Strategy and Communications Unit and former Special Adviser at the Treasury until the 2001 election.

Resources

Special Advisers in each government

• UK Government Special Advisers 2010 Conservative/Liberal Democrat Coalition
• UK Government Special Advisers 2009 Labour
• UK Government Special Advisers 2002 Labour
• UK Government Special Advisers 1997 Labour

External resources

• 2006 GMB report: Where are they now? The 1997/1998 Special Advisers to the Labour Government
• Special advisers - House of Commons Library research note SN/PC/03813, Oonagh Gay, Last updated 16 April 2009.
• Code of Conduct for Special Advisors, Cabinet Office, accessed 21 July 2009.
• Special Advisers - What are they?, civilservant.org.uk, accessed 21 July 2009.
• Wikipedia Special Advisers in the United Kingdom
• Written Ministerial Statement, List of Special Advisors, Prime Minister, 10-June-2010