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Downing Street Press Secretary

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Downing Street
Press Secretary
Royal Arms as used by His Majesty's Government
Incumbent
Sophie Nazemi
since July 2024
Prime Minister's Office
AppointerPrime Minister
Formation1945
First holderFrank Williams
Website10 Downing Street

The Downing Street Press Secretary is an adviser to the Prime Minister of the United Kingdom on news media and how to manage the image of the British government to the press. The position is part of the Prime Minister's Office and involves using information on what is happening in the UK and around the world, to decide on how the Prime Minister should present his or her reaction to the media. The incumbent also advises on how to handle news stories and other information which could affect the current Prime Minister or the Ministry.

The current Press Secretary is Sophie Nazemi. [1]

Role

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The Press Secretary will address the lobby correspondents at 10 Downing Street to give journalists information on events attended by the Prime Minister, as well as current affairs in Downing Street and in Parliament.[2] The Press Secretary works within the Prime Minister's Office and the Downing Street Press Office.

History

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Various political advisers have in the past acted in a press secretary role. The first dedicated press officer, appointed in 1931 'to meet the need of a full-time public relations officer in the Prime Minister's Office',[3] was George Steward,[4] who remained in post until 1944. Francis Williams, a journalist who had served in the Ministry of Information during the Second World War, served under Clement Attlee,[5] as 'Adviser on Public Relations'.[6] Winston Churchill shunned the role, and did not appoint anyone to the role until several months into his premiership, when he hired Fife Clark.[6] In 1997 Alastair Campbell was appointed by then-Prime Minister Tony Blair. When David Cameron was elected, Gabby Bertin who had previously served as the head of press for the Conservative Party became the Downing Street Press Secretary.[7] She was later replaced by Susie Squire in 2012.[8] In July 2016 when Theresa May became Prime Minister, Lizzie Loudon was appointed as her Press Secretary. Following the resignation of Loudon in April 2017, Paul Harrison took over the role after the general election on 8 June.

Rob Oxley was appointed Press Secretary immediately following Boris Johnson's appointment as Prime Minister on 24 July 2019;[9] he served until March 2020, when he moved to perform a similar role at the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office.[10] On 8 October 2020 it was announced that Allegra Stratton would take over from him in an expanded role[11] to include fronting new daily televised press briefings. These were originally scheduled for launch in November 2020 but were repeatedly delayed before being scrapped on 20 April 2021, without any taking place.[12][13][14][15]

Stratton was replaced by Rosie Bate-Williams, a former media special adviser in Downing Street,[16] who in turn was replaced by Alex Wild as part of the Truss ministry in September 2022.[17] On October 25, 2022, following the replacement of Liz Truss as Prime Minister and leader of the Conservative Party by Rishi Sunak, Nerissa Chesterfield was appointed by Sunak as the new Press Secretary.[18]

List of Press Secretaries

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Press Secretary[19] Years Prime Minister
Francis Williams 1945–1947 Clement Attlee[5]
Philip Jordan 1947–1951
Reginald Bacon 1951
Fife Clark 1952–1955 Winston Churchill[5]
William D. Clark 1955–1956 Anthony Eden[5]
Alfred Richardson 1956–1957
Harold Evans 1957–1963 Harold Macmillan[20]
John Groves 1963–1964 Alec Douglas-Home[21]
Trevor Lloyd-Hughes 1964–1969 Harold Wilson[22]
Joe Haines 1969–1970
Donald Maitland[23] 1970–1973 Edward Heath
Robin Haydon[24] 1973–1974
Joe Haines 1974–1976 Harold Wilson
Tom McCaffrey 1976–1979 James Callaghan[25]
Henry James[24] 1979 Margaret Thatcher
Bernard Ingham 1979–1990
Gus O'Donnell[26] 1990–1993 John Major
Christopher Meyer[5] 1993–1996
Jonathan Haslam[27] 1996–1997
Alastair Campbell 1997–2001 Tony Blair[6]
Godric Smith 2001–2004
Tom Kelly 2004–2007
Damian McBride 2007–2009 Gordon Brown[28]
Gabby Bertin 2010–2012 David Cameron
Susie Squire 2012–2013
Graeme Wilson 2013–2016
Lizzie Loudon 2016–2017 Theresa May
Paul Harrison 2017–2019
Rob Oxley 2019–2020 Boris Johnson
Allegra Stratton 2020–2021
Rosie Bate-Williams 2021–2022
Alex Wild (interim) 2022 Liz Truss
Nerissa Chesterfield 2022–2023 Rishi Sunak
Lucy Noakes 2023–2024
Sophie Nazemi 2024 - present Keir Starmer

See also

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References

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  1. ^ "Who are the key people inside Labour's leadership team?". The Guardian. 8 July 2024. Retrieved 10 July 2024.
  2. ^ "Lobby correspondents". BBC News Online. 1 October 2008. Retrieved 29 September 2015.
  3. ^ Jones, G. W. (1976). "The Prime Ministers' Secretaries: Politicians or Administrators?". In Griffith, J. A. G. (ed.). From Policy to Administration: Essays in honour of William A. Robson. London: Routledge. p. 18.
  4. ^ Blick, Andrew; Jones, George. "The Institution of Prime Minister". GOV.UK. Retrieved 26 February 2024.
  5. ^ a b c d e Colin Seymour-Ure (April 1998). Memorandum submitted by Colin Seymour-Ure, Professor of Government, University of Kent at Canterbury (Report). Public Administration Select Committee. Archived from the original on 30 September 2015. Retrieved 29 September 2015.
  6. ^ a b c Seymour-Ure, Colin (2003). Prime Ministers and the Media: Issues of Power and Control. John Wiley & Sons. ISBN 0631187677.
  7. ^ Singleton, David (19 May 2013). "Warning to Cameron as Tory advisers take Downing Street comms jobs". PR Week. Retrieved 29 September 2015.
  8. ^ Owens, John (31 October 2012). "Prime Minister picks Jean-Christophe Gray and Susie Squire for top comms roles". PR Week. Retrieved 29 September 2015.
  9. ^ Peston, Robert (24 July 2019). "Vote Leave takes over Boris Johnson's government". ITV News. Retrieved 27 July 2019.
  10. ^ "Robert Oxley LinkedIn". LinkedIn. Retrieved 10 February 2021.
  11. ^ Stone, Jon (8 October 2020). "Who is Allegra Stratton, Boris Johnson's new spokesperson?". The Independent. Retrieved 9 October 2020.
  12. ^ "Ex-Journalist Stratton to lead No 10 TV briefings". BBC News. 8 October 2020. Retrieved 10 October 2020.
  13. ^ Walker, Peter (2 January 2021). "PM's press secretary Allegra Stratton to self-isolate due to Covid rules". The Guardian. ISSN 0261-3077. Retrieved 18 February 2021.
  14. ^ "No 10 televised briefings hosted by Allegra Stratton delayed again due to third lockdown". inews.co.uk. 6 January 2021. Retrieved 18 February 2021.
  15. ^ "Downing Street scraps plans for White House-style press briefings". BBC News. 20 April 2021. Retrieved 20 April 2021.
  16. ^ Allegretti, Aubrey; Elgot, Jessica (21 April 2021). "Few tears likely to be shed as plan for No 10 TV press briefings dropped". The Guardian. Retrieved 29 April 2021.
  17. ^ "Welcome to Trussworld: Meet the new-look team in 10 Downing Street". POLITICO. 2022-09-08. Retrieved 2022-09-20.
  18. ^ "Who's who in Team Sunak - new PM's core aides". 25 October 2022.
  19. ^ Colin, Seymour-Ure (April 1998). "DOWNING STREET PRESS OFFICE". UK Parliament. Archived from the original on 2001-02-24. Retrieved 10 February 2022.
  20. ^ Seymour-Ure, Colin (1996). "Prime Minister and the Public". Churchill to Major: The British Prime Ministership since 1945. Routledge. ISBN 1563246368.
  21. ^ "John Groves". The Daily Telegraph. 2 January 2008. Retrieved 29 September 2015.
  22. ^ "Sir Trevor Lloyd-Hughes". The Daily Telegraph. 22 February 2010. Retrieved 29 September 2015.
  23. ^ "Sir Donald Maitland". The Daily Telegraph. 25 August 2010. Retrieved 29 September 2015.
  24. ^ a b Ball, Stuart; Seldon, A., eds. (1996). The Heath Government 1970-74: A Reappraisal. London: Routledge. ISBN 0582259916.
  25. ^ Hoggart, Simon (11 November 1999). "No joke for No 10 when a Hague gag hits the target". The Guardian. Retrieved 29 September 2015.
  26. ^ Smedley, Tim (28 January 2015). "Gus O'Donnell: Number 10's ultimate insider". Financial Times. Retrieved 29 September 2015.
  27. ^ Cann, Richard (7 January 2005). "Profile: Grand schemer - Jonathan Haslam, director of group communications, Jarvis". PR Week. Retrieved 29 September 2015.
  28. ^ Seldon, Anthony; Lodge, Guy (2011). Brown at 10. Biteback. ISBN 978-1849541220.
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