Following Guido’s scoop last night that Lord Mark McInnes has been made CEO of the Conservative Party, more changes are expected in the CCHQ lineup in the coming days and weeks as Kemi looks to boost her top team. Guido is told more bigwigs and heavyweights are lined up to join Badenoch’s praetorian guard…
There is strong speculation this morning that Badenoch could make further changes as she seeks to reset the party’s campaigning HQ. Rachel Maclean remains Strategy Director, but running the operational programme of CCHQ is now in McInnes’s in tray. Some sources say Kemi may also engage in a very limited shakeup of her frontbench team – previously there had been a moratorium on any shadow reshuffle until the general election – albeit perhaps only by bringing in old hands in the direction of CCHQ. Francis Maude’s name is being raised, alongside other grandees…
There is said to be a realisation inside Kemi’s top team that progress is not being made fast enough and that the leader herself “has come to the conclusion that she needs the right team in place.” Though any new appointments could imply a change of political direction. More on that later. Guido will bring you more first as it happens…
Guido hears it’s trouble in paradise at 4 Matthew Parker Street ahead of the local elections (and a by-election). Just over a month to polling day…
Last month, Tory staff were informed there would be another round of redundancies. Volunteers were asked to step forward first, with the cull framed as part of a “re-organisation” focused on campaigning. Insiders say the cuts have hit hard, particularly in the campaign department, where nearly a third of the staff are either on their way out or have already left…
Some were offered the option to stay on until May to help with the local elections, but many chose to pack up their desks early. Among the rumored casualties include people in roles such as:
A peeved source rants:
“The upcoming local elections were already an uphill battle – recovering and reeling still from the mess of the General Election campaign last year. To compound matters, the recent redundancies of many senior and experienced staff will mean many areas are under resourced and under staffed in some of the most important local elections we’ve seen for the Conservative Party.”
Kemi’s own team will be pleased – they set the ambition for major job cuts and streamlining at CCHQ and are certainly getting on with it. That’s a delivery point of sorts, kinda…
A mass email was sent to Tory members last night from Kemi Badenoch – she largely repeated her ConHome op-ed from yesterday. It made painful reading for battered party staff…
Badenoch told rank and file Tories:
“The constant ‘feast or famine’ of the last few decades means CCHQ has not built up capability over the long-term. Many joined not because they were dedicated to the Conservative mission, but a springboard into special adviser jobs in government. Every election cycle and change of leader, cleaned out an additional cohort of talent as the new regimes favoured a new cadre… A few weeks ago, the Telegraph published stories that we were running out of money and forced to make redundancies. This is far from the truth. The Electoral Commission has recently reported that since November we raised more than Labour, the Lib Dems and Reform combined. Ignore ill-informed media reports from the disgruntled. My job is to do what is right, not what is popular.”
That’s one way of looking at it – another is (like the staff of any political party) anyone with talent in CCHQ has always worked at a significantly lower salary than their colleagues in the private sector – because they are committed to the party’s mission. That springboard to government jobs has certainly dried up since the party went down to its worst defeat in modern history…
Guido revealed last month there would be another round of incoming redundancies at CCHQ. It is being framed as a re-organisation of the CCHQ operation towards campaigning. Voluntaries are underway, to be followed by involuntaries, bad times…
After the recent departures of top online media supremos Aaron Newbury and Robbie Caprari-Sharpe there are now two press officers remaining in CCHQ. They are led by director of communications Josh Grimstone and deputy director Harriet Smith. The remaining press officers are now also having to deal with broadcast issues. Tough times in the trenches…
Reform has four press officers including their director of communications Ed Sumner after a recent hiring drive. That’s not ideal for the Tories in any way. CCHQ will need to expand, not cut back, to get back in the fight…
Yesterday afternoon Tory staff at CCHQ were informed there would be another round of redundancies. Voluntaries are being asked for first…
There was last a redundancy call after the election when many long-serving staff and election take-ons left of their own accord. That’s before others were asked to leave. About 20% of existing staff left at that point…
This new cull is being framed as a re-organisation of the CCHQ operation towards campaigning. The news has been delivered to each Tory department by their department head – i.e. through normal management channels – as a preamble to a restructuring. No details of that restructuring have so far been given to CCHQ staff…
The news comes on the back of an all-staff address from Kemi last Monday at which the Tory leader complained about poor performance and said those who didn’t believe in the mission “shouldn’t be here.” Guido is told general morale dropped further from that point. CCHQ insiders say they are having to take time out of their jobs to justify their performance to party honchos. One tells Guido: “We’re working ten times harder for no credit.” Usually what happens when the coffers aren’t looking healthy…
A void of funds is obviously blamed for the staff cuts. Party operations always slim down after election losses – safe to say the Tories are heading firmly out of that grace period now…
Guido first reported that Matthew Parker Street’s break clause was coming up back in September last year. There has been talk of CCHQ moving office this week as donation inflow jitters mount…
CCHQ’s “red wall” Leeds branch has been understaffed for years and would be first up for the chop in a cost-cutting drive. That is no guarantee that Matthew Parker St is safe…
Farage’s Reform has expressed an interest in occupying the property in the Tories’ stead. It is currently based in creaky Millbank Tower, though the idea from Reform may just be a trolling exercise…
Guido is told 4MPS was included in the estate agent’s portfolio when they were last searching for an office and it was viewed in summer last year. Interest among has picked up again among senior staff with new talk of CCHQ decamping. Many Tories, for their part, would be glad to see the back of their current two floors which are eye-wateringly expensive as well as suffering from faulty heating and water leaks. The symbolism might be too tempting for Reform to resist though…
Former leader of the SNP in Westminster Ian Blackford told Times Radio why he believes Nicola Sturgeon’s claim that she spent no time in the kitchen and therefore didn’t see any of her husband’s purchases:
“She doesn’t have a passion for cooking.”