James Forsyth James Forsyth

Blunted Flint

PR Week, which has delivered an impressive string of scoops during the Brown era, has an interesting little anecdote about Caroline Flint’s resignation:

“Westminster sources said Flint toned down her resignation letter on the advice of friends. One insider even claimed it originally contained words such as ‘devious’ and phrases such as ‘sexist pig’.”

If Flint hadn’t praised Brown on Thursday night, her resignation could have been devastating to him. But instead it looked like she was just angry about not getting the promotion she thought she was owed. After all, that’s what had changed in the 18 hours since she had offered Brown her support.

P.S. If Flint had really wanted to damage Brown, she shouldn’t have pretended on Friday that she had accepted his offer and then told the media she was quitting. It would have left Brown completely flummoxed during his press conference.

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