Thomas Docherty
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This article is part of the Nuclear Spin project of Spinwatch. |
In early 2005, Thomas Docherty was part of an "all-PR" shortlist to become Labour candidate for the constituency of Copeland, which includes BNFL's Sellafield plant. The constituency was previously held by Jack Cunningham, a longstanding advocate of nuclear power. The other people on the shortlist were:
- Jamie Reed, at the time a BNFL press officer
- Stuart Bruce of Bruce Marshall Associates and
- Tim Walker, a Bell Pottinger board director and former special adviser to Cunningham.[1]
Reed was selected, and held the seat for Labour. Reporting the story shortly after the election, PR Week wryly observed: "What this can mean for the re-elected Labour government's commitment to pump billions into a raft of new nuclear power stations, we couldn't possibly say."[2]
However another of the PR men on the shortlist, Stuart Bruce, seemed quite clear about the significance of Reed's electoral success. A few days after the election, he wrote: "One of the challenges facing Jamie will be to help push the government into an essential replacement programme for our nuclear power stations. Good luck."[3]
Civil nuclearindustry Scottish Cross-Party Group role
Docherty used to represent the UKAEA on the Scottish Parliament's Civil Nuclear Industry CPG, according to the CPG's website.[4] After the Scottish Sunday Herald started researching the links between the CPG and lobbyists, Docherty's name was removed from the site.[5][6]
References
- ↑ PR Week, "Labour Candidate Emerges, and Wins", May 20, 2005; the full article can only be acccessed with a subscription
- ↑ Ibid.
- ↑ Stuart Bruce's then website
- ↑ Civil Nuclear Industry Scottish CPC Website, cached on Sourcewatch website.
- ↑ Paul Hutcheon, "Sleaze Probe into Nuclear Lobbying at Holyrood", Sunday Herald, January 22, 2006
- ↑ Civil Nuclear Industry CPG website.
This article uses material from the SourceWatch article on Thomas Docherty
