Exclusive: senior official leaves Brown to work for Blair
The Prime Minister's Appointments Secretary is to leave Downing Street tomorrow in order to become Director of Policy for the new Faith Foundation being set up by Tony Blair, political and religious sources have told The Independent tonight. William Chapman, who has helped draw up lists for appointing Bishops and other figures to the House of Lords for eight and a half years, is the latest senior figure to become part of an “exodus” of officials leaving Number 10 under Brown. A downcast Downing Street was not set to announce this departure until tomorrow or next week.
Church of England sources say that Chapman today sent an “operational note” to Bishops and Deans with whom he works, announcing that he would be leaving his job “as from tomorrow”.
Meanwhile political sources confirm that Chapman will become Policy Director at the Tony Blair Faith Foundation which will be run by Blair’s former aide Ruth Turner, who was caught up in the cash for questions saga.
This resignation follows that of Spencer Livermore, the director of political strategy at Number 10 who has worked with Brown for 10 years, and now is jumping ship to join the advertising agency Saatchi & Saatchi and Fallon (SSF). It also comes after the departure of Tom Scholar, the Downing Street chief of staff, who has left to return to the Treasury. Those moves followed the arrival of Stephen Carter, the former head of Ofcom, who became head of strategy at Number 10 in January.
Chapman’s departure is, I'm told, “unrelated” to the arrival of Carter, who is said to have “ruffled feathers” since his arrival at Number 10; and in his note yesterday, Chapman emphasised that he will continue to advise the Prime Minister on ecclesiastical affairs.
Nonetheless, the fact that such an experienced civil servant is leaving to work for Brown’s predecessor will be seen as a blow to the Prime Minister – and a considerable coup for Blair.
Chapman has been a civil servant since 1976, serving as private secretary to several ministers and speech writers to Cabinet Ministers before becoming Private Secretary at the Home Office and then eventually to the Prime Minister between 1991 to 1994. He has served as Appointments Secretary to Number 10, and Ecclesiastical Secretary to the Lord Chancellor since 1999, two years after Blair took office.
The former prime minister, who is the international envoy to the Middle East, is in the process of setting up his Faith Foundation to be launched later this year. As part of his time on this he will teach a series of seminars at Yale on "faith and globalisation". The foundation will work with Christians, Muslims, Jews, Hindus, Sikhs and Buddhists. For that, Chapman is likely to be an asset, and a loss to Downing Street, which has so far kept ominously quiet about the move.
Phwoar. james MacIntyre. Phwoar.
Posted by: Angela Phillips | Thursday, 20 March 2008 at 09:48 PM
I'm sure the unguent Mr Rent-a-Tool will be gushing about the Faith Foundation on these pages very soon.
Posted by: Neil McGowan | Friday, 21 March 2008 at 12:01 AM
How soon til they start selling indulgences rather than honours?
Posted by: Hugh Jardon | Friday, 21 March 2008 at 12:53 AM
God wants you to mass-murder people. Tony Blair says so, God sent him several sms messages saying so.
Posted by: Neil McGowan | Friday, 21 March 2008 at 07:08 AM
I am standing by ready to answer Gordon's call. I have excellent qualifications for any job in Parliament - in fact the same as most people working there. I've not had a proper job, only think-tanks, never managed staff, can't do sums, but can speak with many references to values, missions, togetherness, enabling and choice. There is nothing on my cv - but that's OK, because there isn't a job specification for the work of anyone in Parliament (no kidding). I like the fact that there are no fixed hours, liberal expenses and that the restaurants are subsidised - and I would hope to get a free kitchen make-over. But that's not important. What is important is, that I would serve both the Prime Minister and my Country. I would hope that my particular brief would be to stamp out this slanderous talk of our living in a banana republic.
Posted by: john problem | Friday, 21 March 2008 at 07:35 AM
Excellent CV John Problem, just the person we are looking for. Can you start first think next week.
Posted by: flipped | Friday, 21 March 2008 at 09:54 AM
Both Blair & Brown are starting to reap the seeds of their illgotten ways - the duping of the masses. are the press & media neutered in respect of telling the whole truth? it seems that way.
Posted by: steve | Friday, 21 March 2008 at 11:51 AM
Many thanks 'flipped' for your kind comments. Alas, on the way to an interview for the job, I went up a one-way street on my scooter and got nabbed. Not by a policeman of course (seen any recently?) but by a reporter for the New Statesman magazine. I fear my political career is in shreds - but I'll charge Gordon for a first class rail ticket and at least get something out of it. Again, thanks.
Posted by: john problem | Saturday, 22 March 2008 at 08:55 AM
Hey 'John Problem' and 'flipped' - don't worry about the New Statesman - its main frontman Martin Brighton has no real power; he is just unable for some reason or other along with its proprietor to recognise the meaning of the words 'Mea Culpa' ...... It's a little bit like 'self-incrimination' if you know what I mean ... nudge, nudge, wink, wink, - [Don't tell anyone else though; guys]
Posted by: steve | Saturday, 22 March 2008 at 09:31 PM
Martin Bright 'on message for who?'[So Dim] gave a 'fringe meeting speech' at the Labour Conference in Bournemouth in 2007 - he spoke eloquently of his 'backing' for a Foreign Office 'whistleblower' [I TAPE RECORDED the fringe meeting] - I put some questions to the Panel - which they did not like.
Chris Mullen MP - WAS GIVEN SOME DOCUMENTATION at the end of the meeting - He 'flattered me greatly' - by smearing me at what I further openly stated to him. Was he scraping the bottom of the barrel with his pathetic and pitiful smears at me? [you guys decide]
Smears are the last resort of THOSE IN DENIAL of the truth.
Posted by: steve | Monday, 24 March 2008 at 11:57 PM