Who will the PM hire as the press conference spokesperson?
The Prime Minister today launched a search for a spokesperson to host White House-style daily televised press briefings, in a bid to boost government transparency during the pandemic.
An advert for the job posted on the Conservative’s Linkedin page suggested that the successful candidate will be a well-known figure on the political circuit, and assured that the new role would cement their position within government.
The recruitment advert asked for “an experienced and confident media operator who would enjoy working on camera and with senior ministers, political advisers, officials and journalists.”
It added that they would “become a trusted political adviser to the Prime Minister and member of the senior team at Downing Street.”
Government officials are said to be keen to scoop up a female lead for the new position, which will be broadcasted from a fresh spot in Number 9 Downing Street.
However, obvious choices such as Emily Maitlis and Beth Rigby are said to have been ruled out the race already, after vocal criticisms of the government’s response to the pandemic.
Here are the likely candidates for the job:
Allegra Stratton
The former political editor of Newsnight has enjoyed a high-profile broadcast career at both the BBC and ITV, as well as a long career as a print journalist. She has previously worked at the Times, the Independent, the New Statesman and the Guardian, where she presented the paper’s weekly politics podcast.
Stratton replaced Michael Crick as the political editor of BBC’s newsnight in 2012, where she stayed for three and a half years. In 2015, she quit the BBC to join ITV News as a national editor, where she co-presented Peston on Sunday until May 2018.
In April this year Stratton left ITV to become chancellor Rishi Sunak’s director of strategic communications. The presenter, who is married to the Spectator’s political editor James Forsyth, is widely tipped to be the frontrunner for the job.
Amber de Botton
The head of politics at ITV News has enjoyed a successful career in journalism. De Botton spent a year as a parliamentary reporter with Dods Group, before becoming political correspondent and later political editor of Total Politics.
In 2012 she became deputy head of politics at Sky News, where she remained for more than five years, before quitting to join ITV. De Botton is said to have a strong relationship with Number 10.
Isabel Oakeshott
Oakeshott has had a long career on the Westminster beat, starting out on regional newspapers in Scotland. After a three-year stint at the Evening Standard as health correspondent, Oakeshott joined the Sunday Times as deputy political editor in 2006, before being promoted to political editor in 2010.
She was awarded Political Journalist of the Year at the 2011 British Press Awards, and went on to join the Daily Mail as political editor-at-large in 2016. The girlfriend of Brexit Party chairman Richard Tice is a familiar face on political panel shows such as Daily Politics and Question Time.
In 2015 Oakeshott co-authored Call Me Dave, an unauthorised biography of David Cameron, alongside Michael Ashcroft. The book contained the explosive allegations that the former Prime Minister performed a sex act on a dead pig, which caused wide-scale controversy.
She flew to the defence of the PM’s chief aide Dominic Cummings after it emerged he broke lockdown by travelling from London to Durham.
James Landale
One of just two male figures high on the list of favourites, Landale is currently the BBC’s diplomatic correspondent.
He spent 10 years as a reporter with the Times, becoming Brussels correspondent, assistant foreign editor and later the Times’ Westminster correspondent.
Landale joined the BBC in 2003, where he has presented programmes such as The Andrew Marr Show, The Westminster Hour, and Daily Politics.
Landale missed out on the BBC’s political editor role to Laura Kuenssberg, and is said to have turned down a director of communications job to Theresa May while she was in Number 10.
Vicki Young
Young has served as BBC News’ chief political correspondent since 2014, following the departure of Norman Smith.
Young has led BBC coverage into more than four UK General Elections and occasionally serves as a relief presenter on BBC News.
She has enjoyed a long career at the public service broadcaster, first joining the One O’Clock News as a political correspondent, before becoming a correspondent on BBC Breakfast in 2008.
Young tweeted an ominous: “Well”, when the press briefing spokesperson job was announced, prompting a barrage of comments in her favour.
Mark Wallace
Wallace is best known for his job as chief executive of the Conservative Home political website, where he has worked since 2013.
The pro-Brexit journalist co-founded the Better Off Out campaign in 2006, which called for the UK to leave the European Union. In 2007, he became campaign director of low-tax pressure group the Taxpayers’ Alliance, where he pressed for government transparency on MPs’ expenses.
Wallace has also had a lengthy career in journalism, having written on politics for the i paper, the Guardian, the Financial Times, the Times and the Telegraph.
He has stated that his particular interest is in “the way political machines are evolving in the age of low party memberships and digital innovation”, and has published investigations into the successes and failures of various Conservative party campaigns.
Sophy Ridge
Ridge is an experienced broadcaster, and has been the host of her own Sky News show aired on Sundays since 2007, which is said to be a hit with Number 10.
She covered the 2015 General Election as a senior political correspondent, reporting on Labour’s campaign and delivering exclusives on Ed Milliband’s resignation as leader and Jeremy Corbyn’s victory in the proceeding leadership race.
Ridge joined Sky News in 2011 as a political correspondent and travelled with David Cameron to Afghanistan, New York and Brazil.