UK Government Special Advisers 2014 Conservatives

Back to UK Government Special Advisers 2010-Present

Number 10 Policy Unit

• Ed Llewellyn - Chief of staff: he was appointed in 2005 following David Cameron's victory in the Conservative leadership election. Llewellyn was hired to be Cameron's personal Chief of Staff in his capacity as Leader of the Opposition. Llewellyn continued in this role until 2010. When Cameron became Prime Minister he appointed Llewellyn to the post of the Downing Street Chief of Staff.

• Catherine Fall - Deputy chief of staff: she worked with George Osborne at the Conservative Research Department. Fall also acted as Cameron's advisor for his first election campaign in 2001 in the parliamentary constituency of Witney. She also worked as a director of the think-tank The Atlantic Partnership before becoming Cameron's private office secretary.

• Oliver Dowden - Deputy chief of staff: previously worked for the Conservative Research Department. He left the Tories in 2007 however, to work for the PR company Hill & Knowlton but returned to the party to work alongside Andy Coulson in early 2009. He was appointed as deputy chief of staff in 2012.

• Craig Oliver - Director of communications: Oliver was appointed this role in 2011 to replace Andy Coulson as top media adviser. Previous jobs include working at the BBC where he was controller of English at BBC Global News as well as working at Channel 5 as their programme editor.

• Graeme Wilson - Political press secretary: Wilson was appointed in August 2013. He previously worked as deputy political editor of The Sun.

• Alan Sendorek - Head of press: was appointed in January 2011. Previously he worked at Tory HQ as head of media. Previous roles also include senior press officer to shadow education secretary Michael Gove (MP) and press officer to the shadow education team and therefore shadow home secretary to David Davis (MP).

• Michael Salter - Head of broadcasting: a role which he started in May 2010. Salter is also Chairman of Pride in London

• Ameet Gill - Head of strategic communications: Gill started woking for Cameron in 2006. Prior to joining Cameron's team, he was a researcher for the historian Niall Ferguson, assisting him with some of his documentaries.

• Liz Sugg - Head of events and visits: was appointed in 2010. Sugg also worked in managing media for the Conservative European MPs, as well as at Sky News She later worked for Kenneth Clarke.

• Gabby Bertin - Director of external relations: She worked as a press aide for Conservative Party leader David Cameron and was appointed as director of external relations in August 2013.

• Claire Foges - Speechwriter: Claire was appointed as speechwriter to David Cameron in August 2013.

• Jo Johnson - Head of policy unit: Johnson has been head of the Downing Street Policy Unit since April 2013. He was also appointed Minister of State in July 2014 and has been the Member of Parliament for Orpington since the general election in May 2010.

• Christopher Lockwood - Deputy head of policy unit: appointed in April 2013. He is the former the US editor of The Economist

• Antonia Williams - Deputy head of policy unit: She was appointed in May 2012 having previous experience in the Department for Work and Pensions. Antonia also previously worked at KPMG and PwC.

• Max Chambers - Policy unit: joined Cameron's team in July 2014. Previously, Chambers worked for Policy Exchange as Senior Research Fellow. He has also worked in Parliament for the Shadow Justice and Home Affairs teams.

• Daniel Korski - Technology: appointed in June 2013. Korski is a former strategic adviser and spokesman for Catherine Ashton, High Representative of the Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy for the European Union. He has also worked for Andrew Mitchell, the former Conservative Chief Whip.

• Nick Seddon - Health: appointed health advisor to UK Prime Minister David Cameron in May 2013. Previously Seddon was deputy director of Reform, and he was also head of communications for Circle, the first private healthcare company to run an NHS hospital, Hinchingbrooke.

• Tara Singh - Energy and Environment: appointed in May 2013. Singh joined the Number 10 Policy Unit having previously worked for four years from 2009 as a public affairs manager for British Gas owner Centrica plc on British Gas and Centrica Energy issues.

• Andrew Dunlop - Scotland: appointed as David Cameron's adviser on Scotland in 2012. Mr Dunlop is also a Conservative councillor in West Sussex. Dunlop was also a former adviser to Margaret Thatcher.

• Ramsay Jones - Scotland: appointed as special adviser on Scotland in January 2012. Prior to this, Jones was the director of media for the Scottish Conservatives.

• Laura Trott - Education: appointed in February 2012. She has previously held the role of Chief of Staff to Minister for the Cabinet Office and Paymaster General Francis Maude.

• Conrad Bailey: appointed in July 2014, he previously former head of conflict department at the Foreign and Commonwealth Office. As well as this, Bailey served as acting command secretary at the Ministry of Defence.

• Emily Ackroyd: appointed as senior policy adviser for Welfare, Employment and Pensions in February 2014. She is a civil servant who previously worked in the Department for Work and Pensions and as Deputy Director for Social Justice.

Deputy Prime Minister's Office

• James Sorene - Head of communications and spokesman: Since January 2011. Prior to this, he was deputy director of communications and head of news at the Department of Health.

• Jonny Oates - Chief of staff: Oates was appointed in 2009. Previously he was the director of policy and communications at the Liberal Democrats and is a former director of PR and lobbying company Bell Pottinger Communications.

• Tim Colbourne - Deputy chief of staff

• Hollie Voyce - Head of office

• Ryan Coetzee - Director of strategy: joined in 2012. Coetzee was the Democratic Alliance’s chief strategist in 1999 in South Africa, he was also special adviser to Helen Zille, the party’s leader, in 2009.

• Stephen Lotinga - Director of communications: was appointed in 2014. Lotinga was a senior adviser to the Liberal Democrats on public services and health before he worked at lobbying firm Bell Pottinger as an account director following the 2010 General Election. In January 2014 he became managing director of public affairs at another lobbying firm, Edelman.

• Zena Elmahrouki - Chief speech writer

• James Holt - Head of government communications: Holt was appointed deputy director of communications following his return to the Liberal Democrats in 2014.

• James McGrory - Head of political communications: In August 2010, McGrory was moved from the position of justice and home affairs adviser in Downing Street to replace Lena Pietsch as spokesperson for the Deputy Prime Minister.

• Owain Myrddin Edwards - Special adviser (media): Edwards was appointed in February 2014. Previous to this Edwards was head of communications for the Welsh Liberal Democrats in 2012 for two years.

• John Foster - Director of policy innovation and implementation: Previously worked for Tim Farron, now works as a special adviser on the Department of Health and the Department for Work and Pensions.

• Chris Saunders - Chief economic and business adviser

• Matthew Hanney - Parliamentary liaison and constitutional affairs: Matthew has worked for Nick Clegg for over six years as a senior policy adviser.

• Shabnum Mustapha - Special adviser: was appointed in 2012, previous roles include, director at Amnesty International UK in Scotland, vice-convener for the Scottish Liberal Democrats as well as convener for the conference committee for the Scottish Liberal Democrats.

• Monica Allen - Departmental adviser: formerly a researcher to defence minister Nick Harvey, Allen now watches the defence, Foreign and Commonwealth Office and the Department of International Development briefs.

• Emily Frith - Departmental adviser: Frith was appointed in 2014. Previously she was a policy adviser for Driver Youth Trust as well as a research associate for the Prison Reform Trust.

• Alex Dziedzan - Departmental adviser: appointed in 2013. Dziedzan previously was media manager at Nacro. He was also senior account executive for Politics Direct. Other jobs include press and communications officer for Baroness Ludford MEP as well a a research assistant to Nick Clegg.

• Adam Pritchard - Departmental adviser: appointed as a special adviser in July 2013. Pritchard is departmental adviser to the Department for Communities and Local Government, the Department for Environment, Food & Rural Affairs and the Department for Transport.

• Matt Sanders - Departmental adviser: was appointed in July 2013. He covers the Department for Education, where he also advises David Laws, Minister of State for Schools, the Department for Culture, Media and Sport, and the Cabinet Office.

HM Treasury

• Rupert Harrison: Harrison started his career with four years at think tank the Institute for Fiscal Studies before securing a job with Osborne in 2006 as his chief economic adviser.

• Jennifer Donnellan

• Ramesh Chhabra: is spokesman and special adviser to George Osborne. Previously he served for eight years as press aide to Conservative MP David Davis, latterly working for Dominic Grieve.

• Neil O'Brien: appointed as special adviser to Osborne in 2013. Previous roles include director of Policy Exchange and the former director of Open Europe.

• Thea Rogers: appointed as George Osborne's special adviser in 2012 following the departure of Poppy Mitchell-Rose. Rogers is a former BBC political producer.

• Eleanor Shawcross: economic adviser to the Chancellor George Osborne. She worked as a management consultant with Boston Consulting, before working for Boris Johnson during his 2008 mayoral election campaign, holding responsibility for writing large parts of his manifesto. Later in 2008, she was appointed an advisor to then Shadow Chancellor.

• Will De Peyer: is special adviser to Danny Alexander. He has been a Liberal Democrats economics adviser for several years. De Peyer started work for the Lib Dems in 2004, staying until 2007 when he left to take a job in banking. He returned to the party in 2009, advising Vince Cable, Lord Oakeshott and Lord Newby on economic policy.

• John Foster

• Peter Carroll: the founder of FairfuelUK (FFUK), but he left that position in 2013 to take up a new role as special adviser to Danny Alexander.

Department for Culture, Media and Sport

• Nick King: special adviser to Sajid Javid the minister for Department for Culture, Media & Sport. King was originally hired by Britain's culture secretary Maria Miller in 2012.

• Salma Shah: appointed as a special adviser to Sajid Javid Minister for the Department for Culture, Media & Sport in May 2014.

Department for Communities and Local Government

• Sheridan Westlake
• Zoe Thorogood

Foreign and Commonwealth Office

• Graham Hook
• Denzil Davidson
• Hayden Allan

Department of Energy and Climate Change

• Paul Hodgson
• Chris Nicholson
• Lottie Dexter
• Maria Allen

Department for Transport

• Ben Mascall
• Julian Glover
• Simon Burton

Northern Ireland Office

• Jonathan Caine

Home Office

• Nick Timothy
• Stephen Parkinson

Department for Business, Innovation and Skills

• Ashley Lumsden
• Emily Walch

Leader of the House of Commons

• Arminka Helic
• Chloe Dalton
• Chris White

Leader of the House of Lords

• Flora Rose
• Elizabeth Plummer
• Alastair Masser

Scotland Office

• Euan Roddin

Department for Work and Pensions

• Philippa Stroud
• Romilly Dennys
• Lizzie Loudon

Department of Health

• Ed Jones
• Sue Beeby
• Paul Harrison
• Emily Frith

Cabinet Office

• Simone Finn
• Henry Newman
• Martha Varney

Department for International Development

• Simon Bishop
• Victoria Crawford

Ministry of Justice

• Amy Fisher
• Will Gallagher

Department for Education

• Luke Tryl
• Chris Wilkins
• Julian Astle

Notes

Back to UK Government Special Advisers 2010-Present