The latest PR Week scoop about what is going on in Downing Street has revived my suspicions about who is doing the leaking. The story says that Gordon Brown is obsessed with Andy Coulson, the former News of the World editor who is now the Tory’s chief spinner, and blames him for his current troubles.
Now, the first person to come out of this story looking bad is the Prime Minister; it seems rather unseemly—and a little bit pathetic—for Brown to be spending his time worrying about the opposition’s spin doctor. But equally, it reflects badly on Stephen Carter and the people that he has hired as they were meant to do for Brown what Coulson had done for Cameron. On balance, it is Carter’s lot—who are suspected of being the source for PR Week’s string of scoops—who are hurt by this story. So, maybe it really is the old guard who are leaking to PR Week to try and make it look like the new hires are untrustworthy and more interested in puffing themselves in a trade publication than in getting Labour re-elected.
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