Former News of the World editor Andy Coulson has kept a surprisingly low profile since being named as the Tories’ new communications chief on a reported salary of £275,000 a year.
The Daily Mirror’s associate editor and columnist Kevin Maguire says on his political blog that lobby hacks see more of Coulson’s spin team colleague Henry Macrory, formerly Daily Express deputy editor and Daily Star political editor.
Maguire says: “Much of the credit for the improved image of the Tories deserves to go to gnarled tabloid veteran Henry Macrory. I’ve been struck during recent weeks how often we see the Conservatives’ spinner popping into every newspaper office in Westminster to promote his lot and knock Labour.â€
Maguire, unsurprisingly, does not much like the “knocking Labour†part, but says the old battler is “well-informed, unfailingly courteous and possesses the sense of the absurd that’s crucial in our gameâ€.
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