unicornnews: McBride discusses downfall

Gordon Brown’s former chief spindoctor Damian McBride has given his first interview about the scandal that ended his career at Number Ten and rocked Gordon Brown’s goverment.

McBride, who was forced to resign after sending an email to Derek Draper suggesting the spreading of various made up rumours about senior Tories on a new Labour-supporting website, spoke to the Guardian as he prepared to start work away for the political communications world as a business liaison officer for his old school.

He admitted it was a mistake to ever send Draper the email suggesting various Tory slurs, admitting “I let [Downing Street] down appallingly”, and adding “I was brought down by the newspapers, and obviously my own stupidity”.

Recalling the weekend when he realised that political blogger Guido Fawkes had obtained a copy of the Draper email and was about to make it public, McBride told the Guardian: “I lost my dad three years ago. He was from a religious Scottish upbringing, very stern, and he would have hated reading those emails. I remember thinking, ‘Thank God my dad didn’t have to see this’, but the way Gordon reacted to me that day, it was as bad as telling my dad. He was just so angry and just so let down he could barely even speak to me”.

He used the interview to apologise to Brown and the Tories he proposed slurring in the email, though he still showed a little bitterness to those that exposed his slip, remarking “as far as I was concerned, those emails went in the bin shortly after they were written… and that’s where they should have stayed”.

After his resignation, there was speculation as to whether McBride would find a role in one of the big lobbying firms; though most thought it unlikely given the scandal surrounding his departure from Number Ten, the ongoing belt-squeezing at most major agencies, and the fact McBride’s Labour-heavy address book may only be useful for a short time, given next year’s General Election is still too close to call. Come next Summer some of those Tories McBride proposed slurring could be in the key positions of power.

It’s not clear whether the former spindoctor ever plans a return to politics or communications, though he did admit he’d kept a diary of his fall from grace, so a mini-career as a writer may be on his agenda.

Posted Monday July 27 2009 by Chris Cooke

Related categories: Political Communications