Paul Waugh has put the cat among the pigeons today with his news that Bob Roberts will be hiring a Deputy Director of Communications at the Labour Party, with a lobby figure in the running:
“As for those in the running, there have been worries among some in the Shadow Cabinet that some journos tipped for the post are a tad too close to Gordon Brown’s former aides for comfort. It hasn’t gone unnoticed that one Lobby journo in particular has been Tweeting stuff of late that suggests just that…”
Who could Waugh be talking about? A cursory glance at Damian McBride’s Twitter feed shows that his most recent interactions have been with Paddy O’Flynn, Matthew d’Ancona and Patrick Hennessy. Given O’Flynn is seeking to become and a UKIP MEP and d’Ancona is Cameroon through-and-through, Guido is confident about ruling those two out. Hennessy on the other hand?
I've blogged on @DPMcBride – the first key Brownite to go public http://t.co/t3WDkpovdk
— Patrick Hennessy (@PatJHennessy) March 28, 2013
The Sindy’s Jane Merrick also talks to the old Brownite regularly, but Guido reckons her husband Toby Helm would be a better fit for the job. It’s not as if he’s adverse to doing Labour’s dirty work already and it would be a promotion in terms of influence from the dying Observer. James Kirkup is another McBride fan, though Guido is not sure he’s a Labour man. James Lyons is surely having too much fun winding up Cameron from the Mirror to make it official, while it would be too big a pay cut for Kevin Maguire. He’s hardly a fan of Miliband either…
Vincent Moss from the Sunday Mirror would not be a crazy hire, though to Guido there is only one name that sticks out from the crowd to fix Ed’s media problems. Cometh the hour, cometh the Hodges…