All power to the new Tories

Josh Neicho
26 Jul 2010

Last month, the Spectator axed its Tamzin Lightwater column that had run for four years as a spoof diary of an imaginary young assistant to David Cameron. However, just as Tamzin retired from the stage, a new generation of young political advisers as well-spoken and lively as author Melissa Kite's creation were being appointed to influential roles working for Cabinet and other ministers.

These children of Blair's Britain, many still in their twenties, mark a change of tone from the abrasive New Labour spin doctors and a break with the Tories' Thatcherite past. Affable, charming, always very clever and often extremely well-connected, they are proof that the Conservative Party under Cameron is fashionable again.

Few of the more prominent younger advisers came up through a party political route or were active in student politics. Several started as high-fliers in media, consultancy or thinktanks and their long-term commitment to Wesminster politics or the Conservative Party is unclear.

More important is their loyalty to ministers — George Osborne has been particularly good at attracting younger talent. They show an overriding attachment to Cameron and his brand of liberal Conservatism, and an enthusiasm towards the idea of coalition and the daunting challenges of making it work with their Lib-Dem colleagues.
Here are six of the top-rated young guns.

Rupert Harrison
Chief of staff to George Osborne
Age: 31
Earns: £80,000
Family and education: A middle-class boy from Surrey who became an admired head boy at Eton and played in a schoolboy indie band. Tutored by Labourite Stewart Wood, now working on Ed Miliband's leadership campaign, at Magdalen Oxford where he avoided the Union but led the student anti-euro campaign and earned the top first in the university in PPE.
Circle: Moves with a glamorous- sounding set — actors Simon Woods and Rosamund Pike, poet and Krupp armaments heir Claus von Bohlen und Halbach — but characterised by his kindness and strong values. In 2004, he married Jo Orpin, a Magdalen contemporary who is a lawyer. They are expecting a child in December.
Career: At the respected Institute for Fiscal Studies for four years before asking Osborne for a job in 2006. Earned an economics doctorate while working full-time. Attacked over his research about the impact of a national insurance rise during the Tory election campaign; praised for the clarity of the budget.
Known for: Huge policy brains and fine judgment, a man who can pour oil on troubled waters.
X-factor: *****

Ellie Shawcross
Economic adviser to George Osborne
Age: 27
Earns: c. £55,000
Family and education: Grandfather was lead Nuremberg prosecutor Hartley Shawcross, royal biographer William is her father and trendy conceptual sculptor Conrad her brother. Rowed heartily at St Paul's and at University College, Oxford; something of a fascination to smitten Oxford undergrads.
Social circle: Formidably well-connected: both George Osborne and former Cabinet Secretary Robin Butler attended her 25th birthday at Brown's. Neocon author Douglas Murray is an old friend. Sails and runs in her free time. Currently single.
Career: So impressed columnist Danny Finkelstein after a talk he gave at her school that he introduced her to Osborne in 2007 when she was working at Boston Consulting Group. Seconded to Boris Johnson's mayoral campaign, where she sat clapping in the front row at events. Protests she does not want to be an MP but friends reckon she loves her role, which in opposition involved a mix of generating ideas, research and speechwriting.
Known for: Seriousness at her job, highly able and personable. Far from naively ideological or partisan.
X-factor: ****

Rohan Silva
Senior policy adviser to the PM
Age: 29
Earns: £60,000
Family and education: Born in Wakefield, won a scholarship to a Yorkshire independent school. Read law at Manchester and did an internship with Labour minister Nigel Griffiths. Reading Popper and Isaiah Berlin for his Masters at LSE made him suspicious of Left-wing utopianism.
Social circle: Connects Tories with thinktanks, innovators and academics. Close to Spectator political editor James Forsyth and the FT's James Crabtree. Lives in N16 with Australian architect girlfriend Kate.
Career: Snapped up in 2006 from the Treasury. A skilful operator who worked principally for Osborne but as a protégé of Steve Hilton often moved between the shadow leader and chancellor's interconnecting offices; now fully redeployed at Number Ten.
Known for: Animated and amiable ideas man, passionate about the potential for new technology in government, transparency and environmentalism; flag-waves for the Big Society. A natural supporter of the coalition who some see as a political chameleon. Wide interests outside politics including photography and theatre — he is a board member of Battersea Arts Centre.
X-factor: *****

POPPY MITCHELL-ROSE
Special adviser to George Osborne
Age: 30
Earns: c. £47,000
Family and education: From posh Scottish stock, father Colin ran a traditional paint company. At Fettes and then Durham.
Career: Rising fixer and gatekeeper for George Osborne — the young Sue Nye (Gordon Brown's ex-minder) of the coalition. Worked for BBC and Reuters before becoming media adviser to Liam Fox. Transferred to Osborne's press team in 2006 and, as his role has expanded, has moved on to organising set-piece events and oiling the wheels of office.
Known for: Discretion, top-notch people skills, grounded in a crisis. Many disappointed to learn she has a long-term boyfriend, Ben Wright, BBC journalist and son of veteran Labour MP Tony.
X-factor: ****

Henry de Zoete
Adviser to Michael Gove
Age: 29
Earns: c. £55,000
Family and education: A scion of the de Zoete banking family. At Ludgrove and Eton in the year above Prince William, then Bristol university.
Social circle: A social chap who goes drinking with the other media advisers; keeps separate friends outside politics including football buddies and Lefty Eton pals whom he house-shared with in Hackney. Currently single.
Career: Unexpectedly earned adviser role after five months working for Gove after Andy Coulson reportedly vetoed the more experienced Dominic Cummings. Praised for his media savviness and understanding of policy gained during his time at the Reform thinktank and at Portland PR. Helped on Gurkha campaigning with Joanna Lumley. A libertarian liberal who has long been enthusiastic about reforming schools for the poorest pupils.
Known for: Charms parents and teachers across social divides with an ability to show a genuine interest. Breezy laddishness conceals a conscientious character, much missed during the furore over school rebuilding cancellations when he was on a long-scheduled trip to watch the World Cup.
X-factor: ****

Susie Squire
Media adviser to Iain Duncan Smith
Age: 25
Earns: c. £55,000
Family and education: Daughter of Welsh rugby international Jeff Squire. Went to a mixed private school in Newport, high school in Johannesburg, and read philosophy and English at the University of Cape Town.
Social circle: A brilliant networker, she built an event management role at free-market EU business organisation, the Stockholm Network, after arriving as an intern. Popular with young Tory stalwarts such as Cameron's original chief of staff Alex Deane and political journalists including Andrew Neil. Loves literature. Has long-term boyfriend.
Career: Arrived at the Taxpayers' Alliance in autumn 2008, left at the end of 2009 and hired after the election as Iain Duncan Smith's media adviser, having presumably impressed Nick Wood, PR man for IDS's Centre for Social Justice, which shares offices with the Alliance. Has written as a freelance for Condé Nast, worked as an editor and travel writer and modelled professionally. Still needs to convince sceptics following her rapid rise.
Known for: Confidence, eye for detail and permanent smile. Allegedly fooled admirers at last Tory conference by misdirecting one smitten delegate to the room of another.
X-factor: ***