New appointment raises possible conflict of interest
Alastair Campbell’s replacement, David Hill, is expected to divest himself of share options in his public relations company, Chime Communications, Downing Street has said.
Downing Street made the announcement after critics raised concerns about possible conflicts of interest.
Mr Hill, a former Labour Party communications chief, will give up 95,000 of his shares when he takes over from Mr Campbell, the “spin master” who resigned from his post on Friday, the day after Mr Blair gave evidence to the Hutton inquiry into the apparent suicide of weapons expert Dr David Kelly.
Mr Hill’s share options would run out as soon as Chime Communications received notification of his resignation, Downing Street reported.
Chime Communications has clients including the GM food company, Monsanto.
Claire Oxborrow, a spokesperson for Friends of the Earth said Mr Hill’s appointment pointed to a “serious failure” in the Government’s judgement.
“Friends of the Earth is deeply concerned that there still is a conflict of interest here.
“Things like GM are the next big problem for Tony Blair, and he’s going to be taking decisions about whether to grow genetically modified crops very soon.
“To have somebody in such an influential position, at such a critical time, is a serious failure of judgement.”
