Last month Guido unveiled the 2024 Nepo-Baby Candidate List. Now he is happy to release the next in the series – the Nepo-Baby SpAd List. Here are the SpAds proving that climbing up the greasy Westminster pole can be fun for the whole family…
- Alice Hopkin, Home Office SpAd, is the daughter of James Cleverly donor the car dealer Glyn Hopkin.
- Horatio Lovering, in No 10’s political unit, is the son of No 10 Head of Operations Lisa Lovering. Bonus points: Lisa’s daughter (and Horatio’s sister) Antigone Lovering has a job as Sunak’s staffer in his Parliamentary office…
- Simon Finkelstein, Treasury SpAd, is either former Private Secretary to the Chancellor Tamara Finkelstein’s son or nephew* and definitely Lord Finkelstein’s nephew.
- Sophia True, Energy Security SpAd, is Lord True’s daughter.
- Sophia Falkner, in No 10’s political unit, is the daughter of EHRC chief Baroness Kishwer Falkner.
- John Bew, No 10’s foreign affairs adviser, is the son of Lord Bew, Chair of the House of Lords Appointments Commission until last year.
- Eleanor Shawcross, running the Cabinet Office’s Delivery Unit, is married to Lord Wolfson and is the daughter of the current Commissioner for Public Appointments, William Shawcross.
Staffers around Westminster are always amused to hear lines like: “Hold on, I’ve just got to pick my Dad up from the Lords”. Remember, Guido isn’t accusing them of nepotism, though politics has always been a family business…
*Different source say different.
- Joe Dancey, Labour candidate for Stockton West, is Wes Streeting’s partner.
- Josh MacAlister, candidate for West Cumbria, is Wes Streeting’s ex.
- Hamish Falconer, candidate for Lincoln, is son of Former Lord Chancellor and Secretary of State for Justice, Charlie Falconer.
- Liam Conlon, candidate for Beckenham and Penge, is Sue Gray’s son.
- Imogen Walker, candidate for Lanark and Hamilton East, is Labour campaign director Morgan McSweeney’s wife.
- Jake Richards, candidate for Rother Valley, is the son of former New Statesman political editor Steve Richards. Jake is also brother-in-law of fellow nepo-baby Gregor Poynton.
- Emma Foody, candidate for Cramlington and Killingworth, is the wife of Labour MP and Shadow Minister for Policing Alex Norris.
- Jo White, candidate for Bassetlaw, is the wife of former Labour MP for Bassetlaw John Mann.
- Markus Campbell-Savours, candidate for Penrith and Solway, is the son of former Workington MP Lord Dale Campbell-Savours.
- Chris Murray, candidate for Edinburgh East, is the son of former Glasgow East MP Margaret Curran.
- Gregor Poynton, candidate for Livingston, was previously married to former Labour MP Gemma Doyle.
- Maureen Levy, candidate for Blyth and Ashington, is the wife of Ian Levy, sitting MP for Blyth Valley. About half of the new constituency is covered by her husband’s current one…
- Aphra Brandreth, candidate for Chester South and Eddisbury, is Gyles Brandreth’s daughter.
- Poppy Simister-Thomas, candidate for South Norfolk, is the wife of David Thomas – Tory candidate for Norwich South.
Honourable mentions:
- James Naish, Alastair Campbell’s nephew, has been shortlisted for the Labour candidacy for Rushcliffe.
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Maddie Henson, running to be Labour’s candidate for Croydon and Sutton GLA, also runs with her husband the firm which produced Labour’s much-criticised Anonyvoter online voting system.
Guido isn’t accusing them of nepotism, though politics has always been a family business…
In 10pm tweet last night Owen Jones went after moderate Labour MP and Corbyn critic Angela Smith: “hiring your husband as your researcher is blatant nepotism”. Guido doesn’t say this often, but he agrees with Owen. This site has covered the MPs who employ their family members and connected parties on large taxpayer-funded contracts for years. Now Owen has picked up the campaign against nepotism, Guido looks forward to him calling out the jobs given to family members of top Corbynistas:
- Seb Corbyn, son of Jezza, in John McDonnell’s office
- David Prescott, son of Prezza, in Corbyn’s office
- Laura Murray, the Shadow Cabinet adviser and daughter of Corbyn aide Andrew
- Deirdre Campbell, caseworker for her husband the Corbynista MP Ronnie
- Jackie Bate, office manager for her husband the Shadow Housing Secretary John Healey
- Hilary Lavery, secretary to her husband Ian
- Michelle Morris, secretary to Grahame
- Ish Osamor, “senior communications officer” to his mum Kate
- Nadeem Ashraf, who works for his wife, the Shadow Justice minister Yasmin Qureshi
- Lois Blasenheim, “executive secretary” to her boyfriend Dennis Skinner
- Paul Townsend, who works for his wife the Shadow Commons Leader Valerie Vaz
Bet they’re all really grateful for Owen’s tweet…
