Downing Street
Director of Communications
Royal Arms as used by His Majesty's Government
Incumbent
Nerissa Chesterfield
since 1 September 2023
Prime Minister's Office
AppointerPrime Minister
Formation2000
First holderAlastair Campbell
Websitewww.number10.gov.uk

The Downing Street director of communications is the post of director of communications for the prime minister of the United Kingdom. The position is held by an appointed special adviser.[1]

In September 2022, as part of the incoming Truss ministry, the role was sub-divided into a political and non-political remit, with Adam Jones becoming the political director of communications and Simon McGee the director of government communications.[2][3]

The role sub-division was abolished during the Sunak ministry.[citation needed]

History

The position of Downing Street Director of Communications was created in 2000. The first holder of the position was Alastair Campbell who had previously served as the Downing Street press secretary and as the prime minister's official spokesperson. The position initially held the power to issue orders to civil servants, but this authority was removed after Campbell's departure in 2003.[4]

The post was temporarily vacant from April to July 2017 following the resignation of the former director of communications, Katie Perrior.[5][6][7]

List of Directors of Communications

# Communications Director Years Prime Minister
1 Alastair Campbell 2000–2003 Tony Blair
2 David Hill 2003–2007
3 Michael Ellam 2007–2009 Gordon Brown
4 Simon Lewis 2009–2010
5 Andy Coulson 2010–2011 David Cameron
6 Craig Oliver 2011–2016
7 Katie Perrior 2016–2017 Theresa May
8 Robbie Gibb 2017–2019
9 Lee Cain 2019–2020 Boris Johnson
10 James Slack 2021
11 Jack Doyle 2021–2022
12 Guto Harri 2022
13 Adam Jones (political), Simon McGee (government)[3] 2022 Liz Truss
14 Amber De Botton 2022–2023 Rishi Sunak
15 Nerissa Chesterfield 2023–present

In popular culture

In television series The Thick of It, the Downing Street director of communications was portrayed by actor Peter Capaldi playing the now infamous Malcolm Tucker.[8] Former special advisors (spads) and civil servants were called upon to make the series as close-to-reality as possible. In 2009, Capaldi stated "Malcolm Tucker is Alastair Campbell. But Mandelson is there, too."[9]

See also

References

  1. ^ "Prime Minister's Office, 10 Downing Street". Government of the United Kingdom. Retrieved 26 February 2019.
  2. ^ "Welcome to Trussworld: Meet the new-look team in 10 Downing Street". POLITICO. 8 September 2022. Retrieved 20 September 2022.
  3. ^ a b "Liz Truss installs close allies in top cabinet jobs". Financial Times. 6 September 2022. Retrieved 20 September 2022.
  4. ^ Jones, George (17 June 2002). "Curb Campbell's powers over civil servants, says watchdog". Daily Telegraph. ISSN 0307-1235. Retrieved 26 February 2019.
  5. ^ Mason, Rowena; Asthana, Anushka (10 June 2017). "Theresa May's 'rude, abusive and childish' advisers face calls to quit". The Guardian. ISSN 0261-3077. Retrieved 26 February 2019.
  6. ^ Walker, Peter; Mason, Rowena (6 July 2017). "Theresa May hires BBC's Robbie Gibb as communications chief". The Guardian. ISSN 0261-3077. Retrieved 26 February 2019.
  7. ^ "Lee Cain: Top Boris Johnson aide quits amid infighting at No 10". BBC News. 12 November 2020. Retrieved 13 November 2020.
  8. ^ Sweney, Mark (12 July 2012). "The Thick of It to return with Leveson-style inquiry". The Guardian. ISSN 0261-3077. Retrieved 26 February 2019.
  9. ^ Dee, Johnny (16 October 2009). "Peter Capaldi: Malcolm Tucker is Alastair Campbell. But Mandelson is in there, too". The Guardian. ISSN 0261-3077. Retrieved 12 May 2019.
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