Political obsessives will have been looking forward to the Policy Exchange/Conservative Home webinar yesterday afternoon entitled “One Nation Conservatism: what does it look like after COVID-19?”. A rare appearance by the deliberately low profile Isaac Levido – whose name is currently being floated as the possible next No. 10 Chief of Staff – was top billing. The respected political strategist set tongues wagging by pulling out of the online event with no explanation proffered to those logged on to see him. It was a virtual event, so Guido’s guess is that he just didn’t fancy risking being cross-examined about recent events in Downing Street. Even if there were overtures from Boris regarding the Chief of Staff appointment, Isaac would be reluctant to walk away from his new start-up firm…
The exponential rise in reporting on SpAds has finally culminated in a shake-up of recruitment ordered by No. 10, including the launch of spadjobs.uk, both to increase transparency in the recruitment process, and to encourage more corporate and professional appointments. Guido’s not sure Downing Street will attract corporate professionals with current SpAd pay grades…
It’s also been announced that all new appointments will be screened and vetted by the Conservative Party with the help of Hanbury Strategy (the consultancy co-founded by Vote Leave’s Paul Stephenson), before having a phone interview and an interview panel with Isaac Levido. Lee Cain will then have the final say. Guido spots the site was registered by the Tories on the 17th February – the day Andrew Sabisky resigned…
