Thursday, May 08, 2008

Guto Harri: If I Can Handle Zimbabwe, I Can Handle Boris

In the last hour I have been speaking to Guto Harri who confirmed that he has resigned his job with Fleishman Hillard to start as Boris Johnson's Director of Communications on Monday. Guto and Boris were at Oxford together and where he says he was "a shy boy from South Wales meeting the witty, erudite secretary of the Oxford Union, who was terrific fun."

I asked him how the appointment came about. Guto told me: "I met Boris on Sunday afternoon for drinks at his house and he was on terrific form. I accepted the job this morning, signed all the vetting forms this afternoon and resigned my job with Fleishman Hillard at 6pm this evening. We were going to tell the Evening Standard tomorrow... but you've beaten me to it."

I joked that he would no doubt be earning an enormous salary but he quickly pointed out that if he was in it for the money he would have stayed in PR. He was quick to pay tribute to his former employer, Fleishman Hillard:
I genuinely feel Kevin Bell and his team have been very good towards me. I was very happy there and they have been fantastic about me going. It was a bit of a shock and I had certainly not expected to leave after such a short time. I am deeply embarrassed at one level about moving on so swiftly. It was only because this job is such a unique opportunity that I decided to do it. It will be a fantastic experience to work for such a brilliant guy who has really caught the imagination of Londoners.

I've been to San Diego and Washington DC and have just spent four weeks advising Morgan Tsvangirai - a real rollercoaster of an experience. If I can handle Zimbabwean politics I should be able to handle Boris Johnson!
I asked Guto about rumours that he had been approached to work for David Cameron some time ago. In short, I asked him, why Boris, not Dave? He confirmed that some "conversations were had" but it went no further. He was happy working as North American Business Correspondent and his family were happy living in the US. "Being in the private sector, albeit for a short time, kicked me into shape," he says, clearly more willing to take a few risks nowadays than he would have been able to within the BBC.

On a personal level, I really wish Guto luck. On a professional level I know from my own dealings with him over the years that he's going to do a fantastic job.

PS With apologies to the Evening Standard....

30 comments:

Scipio said...

Good steal - excellent for the blogosphere as well as BoJo!

Ellee Seymour said...

Nice one Iain, and always great to get one over the printed media.

Anonymous said...

Now you've just got to get him to put a good word in for you...

Iain Dale said...

Er, why?

Anonymous said...

Portillo just said on This Week he didn't vote for Boris

Anonymous said...

Off topic, but... Portillo just refused, on This Week, to say who he'd voted for in the mayoral election, and as good as indicated that he didn't even vote for the Conservative candidate!

Anonymous said...

Let's hope he's on hand to wipe away Boris' tears when he hears the devastating news that Portillo didn't vote for him.

Anonymous said...

Let's also hope that that BBC sofa is soft and comfy given that it's being sat on by a slapped arse.

Anonymous said...

Iain,

It's rather odd that, in this picture of Guto, he seems to have rather more dark hair than in the one a few posts down.

Can you explain this? Is it a subliminal message?

Does supporting Boris induce a hair gain?

Anonymous said...

Typical BBC, full of left wing... err hang on. What?

Anonymous said...

i thought you said there were no tories at the bbc? (see comments to later story) looks like there were once at least...

Anonymous said...

this interview gave you a boner - love it

Anonymous said...

He was at Oxford with Boris? Hmm.. then this was obviously an appointment based on merit and surely nothing to do with the old school tie then.

Didn't Nick Boles go to Oxford as well? Hopefully Boris will realise that he can't run London properly if he surrounds himself with people of an insular, narrow minded background. Let's have some City Hall appointments on merit, please.

Anonymous said...

I wonder how long it will take Boris to pronounce Guto's name correctly..

Anonymous said...

Yes incredible: More evidence that the BBC is biased to the tories. If this had been him joining the tories we would have heard hours of bile that the BBC was biased to labour.
FACT
BBC REPORTER JOINS THE CONSERVATIVE SPIN MACHINE
So where is the pro labour bias.

Anonymous said...

Guto may be working with Boris now but I can reassure you that he was certainly not a Tory at Oxford. Just to complete the small world, Guto was not just at Oxford with Boris but was also at the same college (Queen's) as Brian Paddick.

Anonymous said...

It's a miracle cure!!!

Iain, please ask Guto how he grew so much hair in the space of a few hours (check out the two piccies on your blog).

Anonymous said...

He spent 4 weeks advising Morgan Tsvangirai? During the period when he would take part in the run-off/wouldn't/would?

There was an influx of leftward leaning journalists into the BBC in the run up to the 1997 election as evidenced in the Wilson Report.The interchangeable use (in brand terms) of Labour/New (improved) Labour was matched by the introduction of the use,first in BBC radio newscasts in mid? 1996 then the rapid migration onto BBC television newscasts as the election approached of the Conservative/Tory brand muddying strategy.Labour/New Labour could be and were used depending on the context of the story to emphasise traditional Labour views or to appeal to middle Britain.Conservative/Tory were used in the same manner but in reverse.The most influential place for a person to 'practice' bias would be a news editing suite.Ian Duncan Smith was described as visiting housing estates 'wondering what to do about' the broken society.Just as the 'buzz' came that Brown was about to call an election.With the use of technology this kind of abuse will become harder to perpetrate.My funds are about to increase dramatically and this problem is high on my agenda to address.

Anonymous said...

Anonymous 9.23 am said...
"I wonder how long it will take Boris to pronounce Guto's name correctly.."

I wonder how long it will take Iain to spell Guto Hari's surname correctly?

Iain Dale said...

I checked with Guto this morning, and he confirms his surname has 2 'r' s.

Anonymous said...

Interestingly the Wikipedia entry for Guto Harri wrongly spells his surname with one 'r'.

Anonymous said...

Another sign of the forthcoming Nationalist-Tory alliance eh Iain?!

Seriously though, the idea that Guto H. is a Tory is ridiculous. The real story here, as I'm sure you are aware, is that this appointment is another sign of the new Tories big tent approach to politics....

Cymro

Oscar Miller said...

Iain - Did you know you got a name check from the BBC today in their article about Guto Harri?

He earlier told Iain Dale's blog he had been in Zimbabwe for the past four weeks advising Movement for Democratic Change leader Morgan Tsvangirai.

So at least they're reading your blog.

Anonymous said...

2:28 PM Ofcourse he is a tory. It is utterly ridicuklous to say he is not a tory. How desperate are the tories to claim there is BBC bias. There is not never has been, and never will be.

Anonymous said...

Poor Dirty European Socialist! Been drinking?!

As it happens I agree that Tory accusations that the BBC is systematically anti-Conservative are nonsense. But that doesn't change the fact that Guto Harri is no Tory. Check out his background; learn something about Wales and the attitudes of Welsh speakers towards the Tories going back over a century. Even if he was centre-right, which he might be these days (though certainly wasn't), he is not a Tory. It's the big tent... Better get used to it.

Cymro

Anonymous said...

May 09, 2008 4:07 PM You are a Welsh translation of a carrot. He is a tory spin doctor which means he is a tory. The fact there are lots of welsh people who do not support the tory party does not mean he is not a tory.

Anonymous said...

So I suppose Liam, Fox is not a tory because most people in Scotland are not tories.

Anonymous said...

DES may find it psychologically comforting to believe that Guto Harri was and is a Tory (he wasn't/isn't), but for those who are less mentally fragile, the fact that Tories choose him to mind one of their most precious and potentially fragile assets represents a potenially important development. Seems that the Cameroons really are adopting the pre-97 NuLab play-book...

Anonymous said...

Llongyfarchiadau Guto!

Catholic Conclave said...

Forgive me if I am wrong, but at the last count, Guto was married to the daughter of the late Geraint, later Lord Howells who was a Liberal Democrat.

He is a member of Siân Lloyd's London-based club SWS - Social, Welsh and Sexy. While she was at school with Ffion Hague, she also is Lembit Opik's ex-fiancee.