The transport Department is seeing a total SpAd change-over as policy man Rupert Reid is following popular former comms SpAd Emma Barr (who recently departed Government for international comms agency Grayling) out the door. Reid is taking his love for ‘transport’ to heart by moving to Morocco to join his other half who has been posted there as a diplomat. Reid had been with the Transport Department since August 2019, implemented many of the recommendations he produced while at Policy Exchange. It’s been a busy department – reversing many Beeching cuts, banning internal combustion engine cars by 2030, veterans railcard, Brexit prep, and a Hydrogen Transport Hub in Tees Valley.

Reid’s last task was to assemble a new team. Guido can exclusively reveal they are…

• Meera Vadher – previously Chief of Staff for Andy Street. Knows how to run a team and deliver local transport priorities.
• Ryan Hopkins – A rising star from the Conservative Research Department. Hopkins was one of the two CRDers who produced the famous ‘Cost of Corbyn’ dossier in the 2019 election…
• And… Neil Tweedie returns. The former Transport SpAd who had left Government at the behest of Lee Cain is back. Well liked in Fleet Street, his job will be to help spot the traps lurking in transport that Grayling fell into and so far Shapps has mangaged to avoid…

It will be a baptism of fire with the Brexit transition period ending in just 31 days time…

Keep up to date with Guido’s rolling SpAd list here…