Kate Garvey
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This article is part of the Revolving Door project of Spinwatch. |
Kate Garvey is a former special adviser to the Labour Party[1] now employed at PR firm Freud Communications.
Contents
Background
From 1997 to 2005, Garvey was a special adviser to Tony Blair working as diary secretary. In Blair's memoirs published in 2010, he remarked that Garvey "ran the diary with a grip of iron and was quite prepared to squeeze the balls very hard indeed of anyone who interfered".[2] In 2001, Garvey temporarily resigned her Downing Street position to work for Labour on the election campaign.[3]
Garvey is one of those special advisers who apparently "left the policy loop to pursue other interests":[4] she left the post in early 2005, having reportedly "decided to go travelling".[5] However, later that year Garvey joined public relations firm Freud Communications as head of public and social affairs, where she reportedly "takes care of the Freud-Blair relationship".[6]
2006, AEG, Freud Communications and the Dome supercasino
In 2006, American billionaire Philip Anschutz's AEG commenced construction work at the Dome casino, prior to the company securing a gambling licence or a go-ahead from the Casino Advisory Panel. It had earlier emerged that the then Deputy Prime Minister John Prescott failed to declare a two-day visit in 2005 to Mr Anschutz's Colorado ranch. Additional concerns were raised about Garvey's role at Freud Communications, the PR firm employed to represent AEG. The Daily Mail reported that:
- Questions were also raised last night about the role of Kate Garvey, Tony Blair's former special adviser, who left Downing Street nine months ago for a job at Freud Communications - the PR company which is representing AEG. Ms Garvey is the head of public and social affairs at the company and a board member.
- [Conservative special adviser Nick Fletcher] said that Ms Garvey's role added to the impression that 'the selection process is not entirely above board'... The Freud spokesman added that Ms Garvey had not been involved with the AEG account and had not discussed the company at board level.[7]
Contact, Resources, Notes
Notes
- ↑ Info-Dynamics Research, "Where are they now? The 1997/1998 Special Advisers to the Labour Government", GMB: April 2006 Briefing, p13, accessed 12.09.10
- ↑ Linda Kelsey, "Tony Blair: A pretty sexy kind of guy ", The Telegraph, 03.09.10, accessed 15.09.10
- ↑ Benedict Brogan, "Babes on the Bus who keep the campaign journalists at bay" The Telegraph, 01.06.01, accessed 15.09.10
- ↑ Info-Dynamics Research, "Where are they now? The 1997/1998 Special Advisers to the Labour Government", GMB: April 2006 Briefing, p13, accessed 12.09.10
- ↑ Alice Thompson, "Party time for bright young Tories", The Telegraph, 13.05.05, accessed 15.09.10
- ↑ John Harris, "Inside the court of London's golden couple", The Guardian, 13.11.08, accessed 15.09.10
- ↑ Linda Kelsey, "Tony Blair: A pretty sexy kind of guy", The Daily Mail, 02.09.06, accessed 15.09.10
