UK Government Special Advisers 2016 Conservatives

List of special advisers (83 in total) in post as at December 2016, under the Conservative government formed in July 2016 by prime minister Theresa May.

Number 10 Policy Unit

Prime minister: Theresa May

• Fiona Hill - PM's closest adviser, co-chief of staff: served May in the home office, previously worked at Sky and Lexington Communications. Salary: £140,000.
• Nick Timothy - Co-chief of staff: served May in the home office, previously deputy director of the Conservative Research Department. Salary: £140,000.
• Chris Wilkins - Director of strategy: former aide to Lynton Crosby and then Nicky Morgan. Salary: £120,000.
• Joanna Penn - Deputy chief of staff: previously worked in the Conservative Campaign Headquarters and then in the home office. Salary: £100,000
• James McLoughlin - Adviser on business relations: former head of policy at the Institute of Directors, son of Patrick McLoughlin. Salary: £72,000.
• Sheridan Westlake - Policy adviser: former aide to Eric Pickles and deputy director of research for the Conservative Party. Salary: £72,000.
• Tim Smith - Head of political press: former aide to Patrick McLoughlin, previously worked at Portland Communications. Salary: £53-63,000.
• John Godfrey - Director of policy: previously worked at Legal and General, aide in the home office in the 1980s. Salary: £130,000.
• Douglas McNeill - Economic adviser: former aide to George Osborne, previously worked in Conservative Research Department and several City banks. Salary: £93,450.
• Neil O'Brien - Policy adviser: former aide to George Osborne, previously director of Policy Exchange and Open Europe. Salary: £93,450.
• Alex Burghart - Policy unit lead on social justice: former director of the Centre for Social Justice think tank. Salary: £80,000.
• Katie Perrior - Director of communications: former director of the Stockholm Network and founder of InHouse PR. Salary: £125,000.
• Richard Chew - Political adviser: former aide to David Cameron. Salary: up to £52,999.
• Georgia Berry - Policy unit lead on energy and climate change: former senior executive at Centrica. Salary: 80,000.
• Nick Hargrave - Political adviser: former speechwriter to David Cameron, previously worked at Portland Communications. Salary: £69,995.
• Jessica Cunliffe - Speech writer: former local newspaper journalist and aide to Baroness Warsi. Salary: £68,000.
• Lizzie Loudon - Press secretary: former media adviser to Iain Duncan Smith, communications strategist for Vote Leave. Salary: £85,000.
• Tom Swarbrick - Head of broadcast: former chief correspondent at LBC Radio. Salary: £85,000.
• Denzil Davidson - EU adviser: previously an aide to William Hague and Philip Hammond, and worked for the Conservative Research Department. Salary: £93,000.
• Chris Brannigan - Government relations director: former lieutenant colonel in the Royal Scots Dragoon Guards. Salary: £92,000.
• Will Tanner - Deputy head of policy: former aide to May in the home office, previously a research at the think tank Reform. Salary: £80,000.
• Richard Jackson - Media operations manager: head of operations for the 2015 general election. Salary: £85,000.
• Ben Mascall - Head of strategic communications: previously media adviser at the Ministry of Defence and Department for Transport. Salary: £67,000.
• Stephen Parkinson - Political secretary: Vote Leave campaign director, former aide to May at the home office, previously worked for lobbying firm Quiller Consultants. Salary: N/A.
• Alex Dawson - Political director: aide to May at the home office, former head of the Conservative Research Department. Salary: £81,000.
• Jonathan Hellewell - Communities adviser: former aide to Iain Duncan Smith and David Cameron and private secretary to the Prince of Wales. Salary: £72,000.
• Charlotte Lawson - Third Sector adviser: worked for the think tank Centre for Social Justice, the BBC and the food industry lobby group the Food and Drink Federation. Salary: £72,000.
• Liz Sanderson - Head of features: former journalist with the Mail. Salary: £74,000.
• Edward de Minckwitz - Head of briefing: former aide to David Cameron, worked in the Conservative Research Department. Salary: 65,000.
• Keelan Carr - Scotland adviser: former aide to David Mundell. Salary: £53,000-63,999.
• Jonathan Stock - Salary: £53,000-63,999.
• Elizabeth Hodgkinson - Salary: up to £52,999.
• James Johnson - Strategy adviser. Salary: up to £52,999.

HM Treasury

Chancellor of the exchequer: Philip Hammond

• Graham Hook - Policy adviser: aide to Hammond in the FCO, former senior consultant at lobbying firm Interel. Salary: £70,000.
• Hayden Allan - Media adviser: aide to Hammond in the MOD and FCO, previously worked at Conservative Headquarters. Salary: £81,000.
• Duncan McCourt - Policy adviser: aide to Hammond in the FCO, previously worked at Credit Suisse First Boston and JP Morgan. Salary: £65,000.
• Karen Ward - Special economic adviser: previously chief European economist at HSBC and economist at the Bank of England. Salary: £93,450.
• Poppy Trowbridge - Media adviser: previously worked at Sky and Bloomberg news. Salary: £80,000.

Chief secretary to the treasury: David Gauke

• N/A

Home Office

Secretary of state: Amber Rudd

• Amy Fisher - : Media adviser: previously worked at Google and Policy Exchange, and was director of communications at the Conservative Campaign Headquarters. Salary: £82,000.
• Mo Hussein - Media adviser: former press officer to David Cameron and aide to Rudd in DECC. Salary: £53,000-69,999.
• Simon Glasson - Policy adviser: former aide to George Osborne. Salary: £53,000-63,999.

Foreign and Commonwealth Office

Secretary of state: Boris Johnson

• Ben Gasgoine - Policy adviser: previously worked for lobbying firm Crosby Textor. Salary: £120,000.
• David Frost - Policy adviser: CEO of the Scotch Whisky Association and former British Ambassador to Denmark. Salary: £69,000.
• Liam Parker - Media adviser: former press secretary to Mark Carney of the Bank of England. Salary: £72,000

Ministry of Defence

Secretary of state: Michael Fallon

• Richard Holden - Media adviser: former aide to Baroness Stowell. Salary: up to £52,999.
• James Wild - Policy adviser: former lobbyist for UK firm Hanover Communications. Salary: £68,000

Ministry of Justice

Secretary of state: Liz Truss

• Ruth Porter - Media adviser: aide to Truss at DEFRA, former head of economics and social policy at Policy Exchange and communications director at the Institute of Economic Affairs. Salary: £65,000.
• Tim Pitt - Policy adviser: worked for law firm Slaughter & May. Salary: £53,000-63,999.
• Kirsty Buchanan - Policy adviser. Salary: £53,000-63,999.

Department for Education

Secretary of state: Justine Greening

• Victoria Crawford - Media adviser: formerly worked for Lloyds as government affairs manager. Salary: £74,000.
• Peter Wilson - Media adviser: previously worked for lobbying firm Quiller Consultants and as a journalist for The Times, The Independent, The Telegraph and the BBC. Salary: 68,000.

Department for Exiting the European Union

Secretary of state: David Davis

• Raoul Ruparel - Policy adviser: co-director at Open Europe. Salary: £67,000.
• James Chapman - Media adviser: former political editor at The Daily Mail. Salary: £115,000.

Department for International Trade

Secretary of state: Liam Fox

• Amy Tinley - Salary: £65,000.
• David Goss - Policy adviser: previously worked at the City of London Corporation. Salary: £53,000-63,999.

Department for Business, Energy & Industrial Strategy

Secretary of state: Greg Clark

• Guy Newey - Policy adviser: former aide to Amber Rudd at DECC, previously head of policy at Ovo Energy and head of energy at Policy Exchange. Salary: N/A.
• Jacob Willmer - Media adviser: worked for the pime minister of Somalia and in the Conservative Headquarters. Salary: £53,000-63,999.
• Meg Powell-Chandler - Policy adviser: former aide to David Cameron and worked in the Conservative Research Department. Salary: N/A.
• Glenn Hall - Policy adviser: former partner at corporate law firm Norton Rose Fulbright. Salary: £72,000.

Department of Health

Secretary of state: Jeremy Hunt

• Ed Jones - Policy adviser: previously worked for lobbying firm Hanover Communications and financial services firm Deloitte. Salary: £66,000.
• Paul Harrison - Media adviser Salary: £66,000.
• Christina Robinson - Policy adviser: former head of communications for healthcare provider Circle. Salary: N/A.
• James Friend - Salary: £75,000.

Department for Work and Pensions

Secretary of state: Damian Green

• Lottie Dexter - Media adviser: former aide to Matthew Hancock, previously communications manager at think tank Centre for Social Justice. Salary: £53,000-63,999.
• Flora Rose - Policy adviser: former aide to Iain Duncan Smith and Tina Stowell, previously manager at finance firm CDC Group plc. Salary: £53,000-63,999.

Department for Transport

Secretary of state: Chris Grayling

• Simon Jones - Policy adviser: previously associate director at Lexington Communications and manager at Aviva. Salary: £67,000.
• Emma Boon - Media adviser: former aide to Liz Truss, previously worked for the think tank Taxpayers' Alliance and the Brunswick Group. Salary: £53,000-63,999

Department for Communities and Local Government

Secretary of state: Sajid Javid

• Nick King - Policy adviser: former aide to Maria Miller, previously worked for lobbying firms Hanover Communications and Heathcroft Communications. Salary: £72,000.
• Salma Shah - Media adviser: previously a broadcast journalist at the BBC, and worked at Freelance PR, managing communications for Business in the Community's Olympic legacy project, and in the Conservative Party's press office. Salary: £66,000.
• Carrie Symonds - Media adviser: former aide to Zac Goldsmith and John Whittingdale, previously worked for lobbying firm Lansons Communications. Salary: £66,000.

Office of the Leader of the House of Commons

Secretary of state: David Lidington

• Fraser Raleigh - Salary: up to £52,999.

Office of the Leader of the House of Lords

Secretary of state: Natalie Evans

• Tom Pretty - Salary: up to £52,999.
• Annabelle Eyre - Political adviser: former solicitor for Darby's Solicitors LLP, Boyes Turner, and BL Claims Solicitors and aide to Iain Duncan Smith. Salary: £69,000.
• Katharine Howell - Political adviser: previously worked for the New Schools Network, the London Chamber of Commerce and the Conservative Research Department. Salary: up to £52,999.

Scotland Office

Secretary of state: David Mundell

• Mary Macleod - Policy adviser: former MP. Salary: N/A.
• Jennifer Donnellan- Policy adviser: former aide to George Osborne. Salary: £53,000-69,999.

Wales Office

Secretary of state: Alun Cairns

• Geraint Evans - Salary: £53,000-69,999.
• Sophie Traherne - Salary: £53,000-69,999.

Northern Ireland Office

Secretary of state: James Brokenshire

• Peter Cardwell - Media adviser: previously worked for BBC and ITV. Salary: £53,000-63,999.
• Jonathan Caine - Policy adviser: former aide to Theresa Villiers and Owen Paterson, previously worked for lobbying firm Bell Pottinger Public Affairs. Salary: £74,000.

Department for Environment, Food & Rural Affairs

Secretary of state: Andrea Leadsom

• Guy Robinson - Policy adviser: previously worked for lobbying firm Crosby Textor. Salary: £53,000-63,999.
• Lee Cain - Media adviser: head of broadcast for 'Vote Leave' and former journalist for The Daily Mail. Salary: £53,000-63,999.

Department for International Development

Secretary of state: Priti Patel

• Jo Corlett - Policy adviser: former aide to Grant Shapps. Salary: £53,000-63,999.
• Rob Oxley - Media adviser: head of media for Vote Leave. Salary: £53,000-63,999.
• Richard Parr - Policy adviser: former aide to David Cameron. Salary: £53,000-63,999.

Department for Culture, Media & Sport

Secretary of state: Karen Bradley

• Craig Woodhouse - Media adviser: previously chief political correspondent at The Sun. Salary: £53,000 - 63,999.
• Aidan Corley - Salary: up to £52,999.

Cabinet Office

Paymaster general: Ben Gummer

• Rupert Yorke - Salary: £53,000-63,999.

Whips Office

Chief whip: Gavin Williamson

• Simon Burton - Political adviser: former aide to Patrick McLoughlin. Salary: £53,000-63,999.
• Rupert Oldham-Reid - Political adviser: previously worked for the think tank Centre for Social Justice. Salary: up to £52,999.

Chairman of the Conservative Party and Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster

Patrick McLoughlin

• Paul Holmes - part time political adviser. Salary: up to £52,999.

External Resources

• Government release of special advisers in post 21st December 2016 [1].