Guido has long suspected Times Radio would struggle to stay, though it sounds like their unpublished listener numbers are falling well below what they need. Launching a new apprenticeship drive today, the second question asked of applicants is “how would you get your friends to listen to the station?” Perhaps coercion and bribery would work?
The surely desperate listening figures improvement drive comes just a day after one of their original star signings, Gloria De Piero, quit the station in favour of GB News. Her broadcast partner Tom Newton Dunn looks to be readying a lifeboat in case the station hits the iceberg, starting a column with the Evening Standard. Times Radio’s digital whizz-kid Gareth Milner, a former DExEU SpAd, has also jumped ship to GB News to become their new digital producer. A year ago, Guido calculated Times Radio would have to generate 35,000 new Times Digital subscriptions to make it financially viable. Wonder how that’s gone?
Guido brings you another one of the teams behind the Tory leadership hopefuls – this time it’s Sajid Javid who is hoping to come through the chaos as the compromise candidate. Sajid was flying high as the front-runner last summer. However his star has waned as Brexit has taken over the agenda. His unexpected decision to vote for remaining in the EU three years ago – despite once being an outspoken Eurosceptic – fatally undermined his hitherto Thatcherite brand with a substantial section of the Tory membership and will not be forgotten. Can ‘The Saj’ revitalise his leadership hopes now?
Sajid’s long-serving former SpAd Nick King is back and heavily involved, alongside his work at the Centre for Policy Studies. Sajid also has an able team of current SpAds behind him, including yet another Hanbury connection in the form of Olivia Robey as well as ex-ConservativeHome / ex-CCHQ operator Sam Coates… who very usefully knows the contours of the Tory rank and file well.
There’s also a Vote Leave connection – Sajid has snapped up former Vote Leave and TaxPayers’ Alliance Chief Executive Matthew Elliott who is providing informal advice at this stage. Guido understands that Team Saj has also recently been bolstered by the arrival of CCHQ’s former Head of Media Monitoring and meme guru Gareth Milner. Like Nick King he’s also splitting his time between Team Saj and the CPS…
On the Parliamentary side, Rob Halfon is coordinating support for Javid amongst MPs, while ministers Chris Skidmore and John Glen are also Saj supporters. Sajid will be hoping the Brexiteers take each other out, allowing him to come through as the compromise candidate with the best free marketeer credentials…
Social media support: Avid 4 Javid hasn’t quite hit the heights of Ready for Raab yet but has 218 loyal followers, Sajid himself has an impressive 112k followers and his Facebook has 14k.
Mainstream media support: Tim Montgomerie publicly declared his support for Javid last year, the Home Secretary will also be looking for support from law-and-order focused papers like the Daily Mail now they’ve gone soft on Brexit.
ConservativeHome members survey: 5.4% (5th)
YouGov public recognition: 35% (5th)
PaddyPower odds: 11/1 (5th=)
Guido can reveal yet more departures from CCHQ. Head of Media Monitoring Gareth Milner has become a bit of a legend at Matthew Parker Street after surviving two deployments to Afghanistan and the 2017 general election campaign. Milner is much-loved by colleagues – not just for the sizeable amount of Lego he has installed around the office – he is one of the good guys in Westminster, has a great nose for a story and a thug life meme, and will be extremely tough to replace. Milner has been poached as the new Head of Digital at the Centre for Policy Studies starting in October, a great hire for them. Congratulations…
The CCHQ digital team has been hit by heavy losses. Head of Online Marketing Tony Hinds and Head of Film and Video Jonny Piper have left. Hinds and Piper are the last links to the Craig Elder 2015 digital team and leave the current operation with just three people and no election experience. Which hardly bodes well when the Tory digital output is already outclassed by Labour and Momentum on a daily basis. Starting to resemble the Marie Celeste over there…
