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Tim Allan Former Blair spin doctor faces tough task in No 10
The Guardian
|September 03, 2025
Tim Allan once acknowledged that under Tony Blair's No 10 press operation it was a mistake that "spin doctors became the story".
Now he is returning to Downing Street more than 25 years later at the request of Keir Starmer - and will be hoping to avoid that destiny of so many political press chiefs, from Alastair Campbell and Steve Hilton, to Fiona Hill and Dominic Cummings.
A former deputy press secretary under Blair, Allan is a smooth and impeccably well-connected PR man, according to those who have worked with him. But he has a job on his hands to turn around the faltering communications effort of Downing Street, which is struggling to cut through against Nigel Farage's noisy populism.
He will also have to deal with criticisms of his previous clients, with some No 10 insiders having resisted his appointment on the grounds of his former communications company, Portland, having historically taken on work to help improve the Kremlin's image.
This story is from the September 03, 2025 edition of The Guardian.
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