How many does Brown need?The Prime Minister that claimed to want to move past the constant spinning of his predecessor is no longer content to just spend more taxpayers money on spin than Blair, but now has two political spin doctors where Blair managed with just one.
This is perhaps understandable given that Brown is hopeless with presentation, especially giving interviews. The poor bloke needs all the help he can get.
Damian McBride - McPoison to his enemies such as Lord Mandy the Dandy - has been replaced with John Woodcock (ex SpAd for John Hutton at the Department for Business) and Michael Dugher (currently a special adviser for Geoff Hoon at Transport).
The news was broken by Rosa Prince earlier.
Justin Forsyth, who had temporarily filled the void left by McBride who assumed a backroom strategic role, has now also returned to his backroom role in international development.
Andrew Sparrow says exact details of their "job share" have yet to be finalised, but there's going to be an increased emphasis on spinning the regional media.
It will be interesting to see how this works out for the PM. The working relationship between the three will need to work well without egos intruding. How will responsibilities be divided? Who will the media turn to for briefings - both equally? One can easily see how an unhealthy rivalry could develop between Woodcock and Dugher with both wanting to be seen as top dog internally (i.e. with PM) and externally (with the Lobby).
Problems could lie ahead...
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