Alasdair McGowan

This article is part of the Revolving Door project of Spinwatch.

Alasdair McGowan is a former special adviser to the Labour Secretaries of State for Defence George Robertson and Geoff Hoon and the current Head of Public Affairs at eBay.

Background

Glasgow-born McGowan was educated at Lenzie Academy, near Glasgow, before attending University College, Oxford where he achieved a Masters degree in Philosophy, Politics and Economics (PPE). He later attended Washington and Lee University in the United States.

In 1992, McGowan worked with [[Martin O'Neill] MP on Labour's shadow energy brief, moving to work with George Robertson MP in 1993 on Labour's shadow defence brief. In 1997, he was appointed special adviser to the Labour Secretaries of State for Defence George Robertson and later Geoff Hoon. From 2000 to 2005, McGowan was based in the No. 10 political office, becoming senior policy adviser under Tony Blair in 2001.

2009, eBay and EU "populist lobbying"

McGowan became Head of Public Affairs at eBay in 2005. In November 2009, McGowan's "top priority" was to persuade the European Commission to alter EU competition law (with particular regard to "vertical restraints" legislation) such that it would be made more difficult for brands to block the sale of their products online, and on eBay specifically. In September 2009, McGowan's petition with 750,000 signatures was presented to the EU by Labour MEP for London Mary Honeyball, a "fan of eBay" and "the company's most vocal MEP advocate". Public Affairs News reports that:

As well as Lord Mandelson's fifedom, McGowan is also a regular visitor to the Department for Culture, Media & Sport (DCMS) to discuss issues such as the online resale of tickets, and the Home Office, where issues include tackling cyber-crime...

Overall, Downing Street gave him a "pretty good grounding" for what he does today, McGowan says with more than a little suggestion of understatement. "You learn about policy, government and communications," McGowan explains. "It leaves you with an understanding of how government works and thinks. Government relations professionals who focus on access get it wrong - what really counts is the strength of your arguments. You always have to think in terms of the public-policy impact rather than narrow commercial impact.