The Guardian, which has a supposedly liberal-left face, has hired Rishi Sunak’s former director of communications as its communications chief.
The outlet appointed Amber de Botton in June after she served Sunak from October 2022 to September 2023.
The revolving door at the Guardian
The appointment is another instance of the revolving door between corporate media and politics in the UK. People who work in the media are supposed to critique those in politics, not have a cosy relationship.
Yet, before becoming Sunak’s spin doctor, de Botton held two top roles at ITV and was Sky‘s deputy head of politics. Now she works at the Guardian, suggesting all these outlets may share Tory values.
De Botton’s new role came two months before Mirror political editor John Stevens left to join the new Labour government. Stevens will now be special advisor to Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster Pat McFadden. Before working at the Mirror, Stevens was deputy political editor at the Daily Mail for five years.
More: the BBC and the Conservative Party
Then there’s the BBC. Robbie Gibb is the brother of former Conservative minister Nick Gibb. He initially worked as a political researcher at the BBC. Then, he became chief of staff for Conservative MP Francis Maude in the late 1990s. After that, the revolving door went back around and Gibb returned to the BBC as an editor of various flagship news shows such as Daily Politics and the Andrew Marr show. That’s until he left the BBC in 2017 to become Conservative prime minister Theresa May’s director of communications. The revolving door here makes one dizzy because Gibb then rejoined the BBC as a non-executive board director in 2021.
Former BBC Newsnight presenter Emily Maitlis said in 2022 that Gibb is an “active agent of the Conservative Party” at the broadcaster and acts as the “arbiter of BBC impartiality”.
David Cameron, meanwhile, appointed Craig Oliver as his director of communications in 2011. Oliver is a BBC stalwart, having spent several years editing news at six and news at ten.
And Boris Johnson employed Guto Harri as his director of communications in 2022. Another BBC stalwart, Harri previously held roles at the supposedly public service outlet as journalist, presenter and chief political correspondent.
Another example is sitting BBC director general Tim Davie, who was deputy chairman of Hammersmith and Fulham Conservatives in the 1990s. He later stood unsuccessfully as a Tory council candidate.
Featured image via WikiCommons
