James Purnell is George Osborne’s adviser’s ex

James Purnell, the former Labour Culture Secretary, who is now a very big honcho at the BBC, went through one bumpy period during his meteoric political career. It was January 2007, when he was accused of using his ministerial car to take his new girlfriend on dates. She was a producer for the Newsnight, who booked him to appear on the programme and be interviewed by Jeremy Paxman. Afterwards there were howls of complaints from the Tories that Paxman had given him the softball treatment because he was the producer’s boyfriend. Her name is Thea Rogers. If she ever embraced the Labour Party, she doesn’t now. Far from it, she now works as a special adviser by the Chancellor, George Osborne.

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