Guido’s seminal SpAd list is once again fully up-to-date for the first time since Boris’s reshuffle. Coronavirus certainly hasn’t dried up the government jobs market, with Ministers having taken on 15 new advisers since Guido’s last list. The changes in full: 

No. 10

• Ben Gascoigne move from PM’s private office to political team
• Meg Powell-Chandler new in the No. 10 press team
• Joel Winton new deputy head of No. 10’s policy unit
• Ben Warmer move from the policy unit lead on AI & Tech to “Data”
• Alison Wolf leaves as policy unit lead on Skills & Workforce
• Daniel El-Gamry new to policy unit with “Equalities” brief
• Clare King new to events team
• Katie Lam leaves business relations team
• Danielle Dove new to business relations team
• Rupert Yorke moves from the political team to join the Joint Economic Unit

Joint economic unit

• New: Michael Webb
• New: Allegra Stratton
• New: Aled Maclean-Jones

Cabinet Office

• New: Emily Maister takes role as Tory Chairman Amanda Milling’s SpAd

BEIS

• Cameron Brown moves back to BEIS after a stint in No. 10
• New: James Phillips

DEFRA

• New: Sam Richards

Education

• New: Celia McSwaine

DWP

• New: Jess Prestige

MHCLG

• New: Jack Lewy

Scotland

• New: Geoff Mawdsley

Chief Whip

• New: David Sforza

Guido’s also added a new maternity leave section, currently occupied by Nikki De Costa (No. 10) and Saratha Rajeswaran (DEFRA).

In other SpAd news, Guido understands a location for the trailed “away day” has not yet been set, with No. 10 weighing up Chequers versus Downing Street. Another Cummings innovation: the first office away day to take place in the office…

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

The Tories know that in order to win the next general election there has to be a new offer to the under 45s who, despite the stonking majority won by Boris, were still overwhelmingly likely to vote for left-of-centre parties. Many in Number 10 feel that the housing crisis is the single biggest barrier to breaking through to the next generation, and without doing something serious about it demographic change alone will dislodge them from power. Which is why some SpAds were delighted to hear last night that the housing crisis is Dominic Cummings’ first priority post-Covid…

In Cummings’ first SpAd briefing since DurhamGate, the SpAds’ head honcho listed a number of policy areas the Government is set to focus on beyond the pandemic. Notably first and most passionately alighted on was reform of Britain’s restrictive planning system, which was described as making it far too difficult to build. One SpAd told Guido that although Cummings did not go into much detail with regard to what the planned reforms will be, he spoke about planning reform with a real zeal. Owning your own home is a fundamental aspiration in a well functioning property-owning democracy. It is also good politics, without any capital few will support a party that defends capitalism. If they get this right, a second term will become a lot more likely…

Policy Exchange seem to be getting on the front foot when it comes to think tanks’ influence over the Government, becoming further entwined with the Boris administration since No. 10 hired from their fold in February. Guido now learns PX has taken on Nusrat Ghani MP as a Senior Fellow researching Maritime Business and focusing on launching a new era for British shipping; leaping on Boris’s February Greenwich trade speech that promised “an explosion of global trade propelled by new maritime technology”. Ghani takes the role having been freed from ministerial duties in the reshuffle…

PX also takes on Chris Brannigan as a ‘national resilience’ fellow, having served as a SpAd to the PM working on defence and space policy.

In return Policy Exchange are donating Dr. David Shiels, who only recently joined PX when Open Europe was absorbed by them, and who is leaving to become a Northern Ireland SpAd to Brandon Lewis.

Since last week, Guido hears;

• Leonara Campbell is on the No. 10 briefing team
• Alex Hitchcock has moved to BEIS, after previously having worked with Alok Sharma at Work and Pensions
• Ben Jafari has become the third MoJ SpAd, with Rajiv Shah going joint with No. 10’s policy unit on a non-specific legal oversight brief

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

Whilst there remains no signs of a fully-updated internal SpAd list leaking from No. 10 (they must have other priorities at the moment), hires and reshuffles are still going ahead. Guido brings you the latest:

• Cass Horowitz has been hired by Rishi Sunak, presumably as comms rather than policy judging by his history managing social media content for ITV’s Peston. He joins the joint No.10 Economic Unit set up after Javid’s resignation…
• As Guido reported in January, former Scottish MP Luke Graham has now been hired by No. 10 to head up their ‘Union Unit’
• Will Sweet, former Tory PPC for Putney, has been taken on board by Anne-Marie Trevelyan
• Sweet replaces Cameron Brown, who has been seconded to No. 10’s Coronavirus comms operation
• Attorney General Suella Braverman has gained her first SpAd; Dr. Christopher Jenkins, who brings expertise to what could be quite a tough role over the coming years in the form of a PhD from Cambridge. Let’s hope he did a PhD in curbing judicial reviews…

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

A couple of quiet SpAd moves have gone on amidst the Coronavirus pandemic, with Guido revealing this morning that Education Secretary Gavin Williamson has scooped up ITN’s Angus Walker after 20 years with the broadcaster.

Signing off from @itvnews tonight after best part of 20 years with ITN. Had a great run: Political Correspondent, UK Editor and China Correspondent have been amazing jobs. Will miss such amazing, talented colleagues. New exciting role awaits, watch this space.

— Angus Walker (@anguswalkertalk) March 31, 2020

After No. 10 scooped Hugh Bennett from Jacob Rees-Mogg’s office, Guido also learns Rees-Mogg is bringing Fred de Fossard – formerly of PRU and currently at Public First – on board as his replacement. Jacob wasn’t the first SpAd job Fred went for however; back in February, @PoliticalPics snapped newly-appointed Northern Ireland Secretary Brandon Lewis leaving No. 10 with a CV in his arms.

There’s aren’t many Westminster wonks who were event coordinators at Pong Cheese Ltd…

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

Downing Street’s overzealous cyber-security firewall has puzzled those who work in the building today, as advisers have found Number 10’s own new ‘Spad Jobs‘ recruitment website is prohibited. Does Dom not want SpAds to find out if their own jobs are being advertised?..