Labour’s spin doctors struggle in the real world

It seems the army of spin doctors and media consultants thrown out of Downing Street when Gordon Brown lost the May general election have become a little big for their boots - with the result that few of them can find new jobs.
 
According to a report in PR Week, most of the former aides, perhaps unaware that the economy encountered a few problems while they were beavering away in Westminster, are apparently demanding salaries in excess of £80,000.
 
Their demands have stunned industry experts. One told the magazine: "You pay that for a director, but there's not a hope in hell that some of these people will earn that. They need to get in the real world."
 
To make matters worse, many of the aides jettisoned by Labour have decided that they want to move into the corporate world, and are turning up their noses at jobs with a public affairs focus.
 
But PR Week's source points out that having served their apprenticeships in the hallowed cloisters of Westminster, they have little commercial experience. "You've got to earn your spurs first," he says.
 
Some of Labour's abandoned spin corps have found work, but in the charity sector. They include Peter Hain's former aide Claire McCarthy (at 4Children), Jack Straw's former helper Mark Davies (at Rethink) and Justin Forsyth, once a senior Brown strategist (at Save the Children).
 
Two of Brown's former press handlers have landed on their feet: Mick Dugher and John Woodcock have both become MPs. Not a bad salary – but lousy expenses, of course. ·