The Labour official who sent out the notorious ‘Cash for Croissants’ invites is now running a lobbying shop round the corner from No10 North. Lobbying firm Lowick Hedry announced yesterday that Liam Didsbury, Labour’s North West Regional Director from 2021 to 2024, has joined as Partner to head up its new Manchester office. Who better to get access…
Back in October 2024, Didsbury emailed businesses offering breakfast with Business Secretary Jonathan Reynolds at The Ivy in Manchester for £30,000 – or a photo with the minister for a £15,000. Reynolds pulled out and Labour claimed he was “completely unaware”. Naturally…
Didsbury had quit the regional director job only a fortnight after the 2024 election, with Labour insisting he left “to spend more time with his young family”. At the time The Post in Liverpool alleged he had “unprecedented control” over the regional party, from MP shortlists to council leadership. Labour responded by threatening the paper with legal action for writing about his sudden departure from the powerful position…
In a promotional video for the firm, Didsbury said:
“I know how decisions get made here and who makes them… we make sure our clients are heard right across the North West”
The firm’s launch post boasts the Manchester office will cover Greater Manchester and the Liverpool City Region, “as well as engagement with Number 10 North”. Handy…
Lowick Hedry’s co-founder Kevin McKeever ran Andy Burnham’s 2015 leadership campaign. He told the FT last month the firm picked Manchester over Leeds for its northern base because of Burnham’s new outpost:
“You’ve got to be in the local ecosystem, you can’t do [public affairs] from a train and a Marriott… We decided on Manchester after the Number 10 North stuff. That tipped the balance.”
The wheels on the Manchester Bee go round and round…
Robert Jenrick on the Today programme:
“Can you now give a guarantee to your listeners this morning that no BBC presenter in the future will be exposed as a paedophile, as a number have been in the recent past? No, of course you can’t…”