Why does Ken Livingstone need three times more press officers than Gordon Brown?

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Why does Ken Livingstone need three times more press officers than Gordon Brown?

By Mark Pack | Mon 14th January 2008 - 11:14 am

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This morning is the official launch of Brian Paddick’s London Mayor campaign, along with his new website. The headline story from Brian’s launch is his crime-fighting pledge:

“I will cut crime in London by 5% every year over the course of my first term in City Hall. And I will take personal control of ensuring this target is met by chairing the Metropolitan Police Authority. If I fail to reach my target after four years, I will not stand again.”

But this snippet also caught my eye:

The number of press officers working under the Mayor’s control is approximately three times bigger than Downing Street.

Read more by Mark Pack or more about brian paddick.
This entry was posted in London and News.

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2 Comments

Bernard Salmon 14th Jan '08 - 12:36pm

Because Ken is three times as open and responsive as Gordon Brown, perhaps?
Or more prosaically, does that figure include press officers working for bodies such as Transport for London, which although ultimately under Ken’s ‘control’, aren’t actually directly working for him. Indeed, I believe the Lib Dems have a press officer working for the LD group on the GLA. As that person is presumably employed by the GLA, would that be covered by this?
NIck 14th Jan '08 - 2:00pm

Bernard,

If you were to look at the output of Transport for London’s press office I can assure you that, although nominally not under the control of the Mayor, no release they issue or comment they put out on TV and radio is not “approved” or known about by the Mayor’s office.

And yes you are right the London Assembly Lib Dems do have a Press Officer, who is employed by the GLA, but no they are not counted in the figures.

Actually that last paragraph should be in the past tense, as the LD team’s Press Officer resigned before Christmas to work on the Mayoral and Assembly campaign to avoid any hint of public money being spent on political campaigning. One might expect a number of resignations from the Mayor’s press office for the same reasons, but I wouldn’t hold your breath.

Anybody interested in this issue, and more on how an executive Mayor can evade public scrutiny should watch Channel 4 Despatches programme next Monday January 21st.